Methodology
The research will use a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to obtain a conclusion. The quantitative part consists of a survey that aims to incorporate the viewpoint of every resident of the country. The qualitative aspect will work with secondary sources, reviewing contemporary scholarly literature on the topic to identify the solutions that have been developed by other scholars in the field. It is critical to capture the opinions of both members of the public who were involved in police brutality and other researchers who may have created effective local or global solutions to the problem. To that end, the contributions of both will be analyzed separately and considered in equal detail. The goal of doing so is to develop a solution that both addresses the problem and does so in a manner that includes everyone in the conversation.
Population and Sampling
For the quantitative approach, a questionnaire will be used to evaluate the views of the victims of police brutality regarding the problem and inquire into the solutions that they think may be effective at addressing the issue. To that end, it will be necessary to contact a sufficiently large random sample of this population and convince them to participate in the survey. With that said, it can be challenging to acquire a reasonably large amount of responses to ensure high-quality statistical analysis. It is further important to consider the respondents’ potential biases, as the rational choice theory posits that increased police violence is a response to rising crime rates in a community (Ramey & Steidley, 2019). Overall, considering the factors that may motivate one to answer the survey sincerely or refuse to do so, the authors expect to obtain approximately 30 feasible replies.
The literature on the topic will undergo qualitative analysis, which requires fewer sources than its quantitative counterpart because of the review’s increased depth. However, this approach also necessitates that the sample chosen depicts the consensus on the topic descriptively and in substantial detail. To that end, the authors will attempt to refine their search as much as possible. The databases used will include comprehensive sources such as Google Scholar and JSTOR. The authors will incorporate a wide variety of different viewpoints and consider as many options as possible. Ultimately, they expect to be able to produce a thorough review of at least ten various works of literature on the topic, including both scholarly articles and books. These texts should be compilations of research on different solutions that can be associated with particular preferences of the survey respondents and researched further if they prove to be popular.
Respondent Acquisition and Data Sources
The authors will attempt to contact members of different ethnicities that have been victims of police violence. However, these people do not necessarily publicize their situations or are open to discussing the problems that they have had with law enforcement. Moreover, it is not feasible for the authors to search communities for police brutality victims because of the time constraints and the effort involved. To that end, the authors will contact organizations that help people deal with police brutality and attempt to contact victims with their assistance. They can provide the researchers with access to their clients, likely under conditions of anonymity and other clauses that are intended to protect their privacy and health. These propositions are also at the core of the authors’ research, and, therefore, they are acceptable, particularly if the study can reach its goal and contribute to improving the situation of these people.
As the research topic concerns a sensitive matter that is closely associated with crime and law enforcement, the authors will observe the strictest ethical guidelines. They will inform each respondent about the nature and purpose of the study before asking them to choose whether to respond. Their beliefs and views will be respected, and they will be able to opt out of the research at any time of their choosing. The authors will undertake efforts to protect each respondent’s anonymity, eliminating any information that may provide indications as to their identity. They will also conduct their research fairly and transparently, attempting to remove any biases and acknowledge those that they cannot address. With these matters considered, the authors hope that their study will be ethical in nature and contribute to the improvement of the situation surrounding police brutality in the United States and worldwide.
For the secondary sources, the authors will initially conduct a search of the databases indicated above as well as others that may be beneficial. The primary keywords used for these purposes are “police brutality,” “solution,” and “women.” The authors will also apply filters such as the discipline of sociology, publishing time, which should preferably be less than five years ago, and sources, with scholarly books and articles prioritized. The secondary keywords used to refine the analysis will be “literature review,” “meta-analysis,” “cross-cultural,” and others. Following this step, the authors will use manual reviews to confirm or reject the articles as suitable for the study. Theories such as the rational choice theory (Ramey & Steidley, 2018) and the anomie theory (Bleakley, 2019), as well as the solutions that derive from these approaches, will receive particular attention. As mentioned above, the goal of the sampling is to discover as many potential solutions as possible.
Data Collection
The survey for the quantitative portion of the paper will consist of two distinct parts: a closed-answers one and an open-answer addendum. The closed-answer portion will use a 5-point Likert scale to evaluate the strength of the respondent’s answer to each aspect of police brutality and the effect on a person that it has. A variety of statements will be presented to the person, and they will rate their degree of agreement with them, with 1 indicating strong disapproval and 5 suggesting strong approval. The open-answers portion will ask the respondent for their ideas regarding the solutions for the problem. Some of the questions will suggest general options and ask the person for their opinion on the measure. Others will request that they provide freeform ideas based on their considerations and contribute to the solution of the problem.
For the secondary sources, the authors will conduct content analysis to extract the critical information that is contained within. The approach has proven effective and has been used in a variety of different scholarly works, such as that by Fridkin et al. (2017). Through a consideration of the contents of the various sources, the authors will be able to identify the primary frames that are used to describe police brutality and the potential options that can help address it. Many of these frameworks will likely overlap, and it will be necessary to find and eliminate these redundancies. Having uncovered these primary options, the researchers will then proceed to analyze them in additional detail.
Data Processing and Analysis Strategy
The authors will process the information generated throughout the survey through both qualitative and quantitative measures. The results of the closed-choice portion will be analyzed using the software SPSS to discover the averages and trends within the data. The outcomes of the open-choice part will undergo content analysis with the purpose of determining the primary topics discussed by the respondents and the commonalities between them. The authors will then consider and categorize the options proposed by the respondents and attempt to evaluate their relation to the issues discovered in the earlier part. Having done so, they will present the options that appear to align with the needs of the communities that are harmed by police brutality. The processes of these considerations will feature the results of the analysis performed in the literature.
Following the content analysis and the identification of the most prominent themes, the authors will research these topics using the findings of the reviews previously analyzed in the qualitative study. They will consider the arguments for and against each individual solution shown to have a high potential of being successful, particularly focusing on any applications and their negative ramifications. It is critical that every option be considered from all angles, both in terms of the potential gains and the dangers that are involved in the change necessary to achieve such an effect. As the change needed to address police brutality would likely have to be fundamental, the other effects it may have, such as increases in crime, have to be considered.
References
Bleakley, P. (2019). A thin-slice of institutionalized police brutality: A tradition of excessive force in the Chicago Police Department. Criminal Law Forum, 30(4), 425-449.
Fridkin, K., Wintersieck, A., Courey, J., & Thompson, J. (2017). Race and police brutality: The importance of media framing. International Journal of Communication, 11, 3394-3414.
Ramey, D. M., & Steidley, T. (2018). Policing through subsidized firepower: An assessment of rational choice and minority threat explanations of police participation in the 1033 Program. Criminology, 56(4), 812-856.