Leadership Style and Performance in Law Enforcement

Senior Project Paper Guidelines
Topic-Leadership Style and performance in Law enforcement
Research question: Does management's ability to change leadership style based on each subordinate law enforcement officer lead to a greater performance in law enforcement interactions with the community?
Hypothesis: By management having a unique leadership interaction with each subordinate law enforcement officer, it will lead to officers wanting to perform at their best capabilities. When people are understood and addressed as unique individuals they will undoubtedly want to excel not only for themselves, but to show their appreciation to their leader.
Part 1- write a one page proposal which will constitute the "bone structure" for the research paper. Appendix and References should appear on page 2.
Proposal should follow this outline:
Chapter I: Introduction
Describe the problem or opportunity that will be addressed in the study. Purpose of the study. “The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of (the independent variable) on (the dependent variable).” Hypothesis: Importance of the study: explain the theoretical and practical importance of the study. Delimitation of the Study: explain what will and what will not be studied.
Chapter II: Review of the Literature
What do we know about the subject? What do we not know but need to know about the subject? Hypothesis 1 – Find one or two studies that support the hypothesis. Provide a brief summary of each study and explain how/why that study is related to the hypothesis. Why/how is our study different from the existing studies that are reviewed?
Chapter III: Theoretical Framework
Find a theory that can explain why the independent variable leads to the dependent variable in each hypothesis. Briefly explain the theory and explain how/why that theory is related to the hypothesis. Present a model diagram.
Chapter IV: Methodology
Research design. Inductive or deductive research process. Specific design used. Unit of analysis. Identify the independent, dependent, and control variables for the hypothesis. How will the variables be measured. List the variables and their indicators. Sampling: define the study population and sample. Plan of analysis. Data acquisition and management procedures. Analysis methods.
Appendices
May include survey or in-depth interview questions, model diagrams, preliminary data, and/or other relevant information.
References
Articles and books, include minimum of 5 scholarly articles.
Part 2- Write a 14 page research paper double spaced, times new roman size 12pts. Appendix should not be counted as part of the 14 pages. Research paper should follow this outline:
Abstract Page
Provide an abstract of the senior project paper, which is a brief summary of the content of the full paper. should show the newness, theory(s), topic, method, findings and contribution. Some phrases or words are “abstracted” from the main body of the proposal and so, some repetition is acceptable. The length should be less than half a page (usually about 150 words). The abstract is usually included on a separate page, although it is often acceptable to have it on top of the first page of the proposal. It should be single-spaced (all other sections of the text should be double spaced; table of contents, references, and texts inside the tables should be single-spaced). It is a good idea to write an abstract after all the other sections of the proposal are completed.
Chapter I: Introduction
Two most important things in the introduction section are the purpose and significance of the study.
Introduction should contain the following:
Explain why the topic is important (statement of the problem): what is the (social, administrative, or management) problem that will be studied? If no specific problem will be addressed, some basic information about the topic can be provided in this section.
Specify what the manuscript is about (Purpose of the study): this section begins with “The purpose of this study is ….”
Theoretical underpinning: express the link between the level of theory and the level of observation. Present the hypothesis in the research hypothesis format (not in the null hypothesis format). Directional hypotheses are preferred. Each hypothesis should indicate the dependent and independent variables. Limit the number of hypotheses to 2 or 3.
Definitions of terms: Defines unusual terms and phrases (this is an optional section and it may go to an appendix, if necessary).
Importance (significance) of the study: explain how the study fills a need for research (fills a gap, resolves a paradox, etc.) Why should we care about the topic? Why is the study important? (Is it because it solves some real world problems? Is it because it adds new pieces of information to the existing literature?)
Anchor the manuscript to a field of research: the manuscript should make a contribution to the development or advancement of theory.
Delimitations of the study: This section defines or narrows the scope of the study by explaining what will be studied and what will NOT be studied. In most cases, we cannot study all aspects of a topic because we do not have enough time, energy, or technical skills. So, we delimit the scope of the study by focusing on only one or more aspects of a topic. For example, assume that we plan to study the issue of quality of life. We may state that we will study the issue of quality of life only in terms of social relationships (excluding the financial, health, and other aspects of quality of life). Then, we are delimiting the scope of the study. We may also delimit the scope of the study by defining or narrowing the study population. For example, we may state that the study will deal with the issue of quality of life only among the senior citizens in one city. This way, we are delimiting the scope of the study to the population of senior citizens in that city.
Chapter II: Review of the Literature
This chapter presents an organized review of the relevant literature. The review should explain the current status of the literature on the topic. The most important item that needs to be included in this chapter is the review of the studies that support the respective relationships in the stated hypotheses. In the process of presenting the studies that support the hypotheses, we may also present some studies that contradict the hypotheses. It is best to organize the literature review around the research hypotheses (or around the dependent and independent variables). A suggestion is to identify the relationship being tested in each hypothesis and using these as the sub-headings. The last part of this chapter should clearly explain why/how your study is different from the existing studies that are reviewed in this chapter. We need to review a minimum of 5 scholarly articles that are written on the chosen topic.
Chapter III: Theoretical Framework
This chapter explains the theories that are behind the hypotheses. Theories explain why the independent variable leads to the dependent variable in each of the hypotheses. You should find a theory or theories that explain each of your hypothesis. You should name your theory and explain the background, structure, and components of the theory or theories. Diagrams or figures may be useful in explaining them. More specifically, this chapter may need the followingcomponents: Theory Specification---we select a theory or theories and explain what they are; Theory Connection---we explain the relationships between the independent and dependent variables in connection with the theories specified previously; Theoretical Models---we provide a diagram that depicts the relationships among the components of the theories. In most cases, that means that we specify the relationships between the independent, dependent, and control variables. The chapter will culminate into (2 or 3) hypotheses correctly formatted that: state the direction of the expected effects; are specific; are testable, and test complex ideas (e.g., specify the nature and direction of the relationships)
Chapter IV: Methodology
Methods: Adequate description of appropriate research methods that match the question being studied (e.g., appropriate levels of analysis, avoidance of common method bias)
Research design: Overall research process: inductive or deductive? The units of analysis (observation)? What is the specific design that will be used to test the hypotheses? Some examples are: cross-sectional design, classic experimental design, one group pre-test post-test design, longitudinal design, correlational design, case study design, qualitative design, etc. The independent, dependent, and control variables of each hypothesis should be stated as well.
Sampling: Define the study population and sample. What is the specific sample that will be used? How will the sample elements be selected? For a survey, the minimum sample size should be 50. For an in-depth interview project, the sample size should be about 8-20.
Research Methods: What is the method by which the necessary information will be collected? Is it an experiment, test, survey, existing data (secondary data), focus group, content analysis, indepth interview, etc.? What are the actual data collection procedures?
Measurement of variables (Instrumentation): How will the concepts (variables) in the hypotheses be measured? More specifically, what are the indicators and instruments of the variables? If the variables are measured with survey questions, specific survey questions should be attached in an appendix. However, which instruments measure what variables should be explained here.
Plan of Analysis: Data acquisition and management procedures (coding, inputting, cleaning, etc.). (Statistical) Analysis methods (what methods and why they are appropriate).
Chapter V: Data Analysis
Sample characteristics: This section describes the characteristics of the sample. If the population characteristics are available, we should compare them with the sample characteristics to see if they are comparable.
Analysis results: This section reports the results of data analysis. Because we are testing several hypotheses, it should be organized around each of the hypotheses (each hypothesis should be a sub-heading for this section). Supplement narrative explanations of your findings with tables. The explanations of results include specific hypothesis tests showing how each was supported or not
Chapter VI: Conclusions
In general, this chapter serves to integrate key elements introduced in the previous chapters.

Summarize findings: this section summarizes the findings that are presented in Chapter 5

Summarize contribution: the section should interpret Chapter 5 findings in terms of the previous research (tie back to the literature review in Chapter 2) and theories (Chapter 3) that were
Mention both the strengths and weaknesses of the study
Explain practical implications of the study: how practitioners can improve their decision making based upon the findings of this study
Identify possible fruitful avenues for future research that build on this study
Endnotes
If there are any, and if footnotes are not used in the text.
References:
A minimum of 10 sources, five (5) of which must be scholarly/peer reviewed sources are expected—those cited only in the text must be in the Reference section Students are encouraged to use ProQuest, EBSCOHost, and other electronic databases at the library website. In so doing students will also be able to export the citation in the appropriate format. Students should also consider utilizing various library services. Others references such as newspaper and magazine articles, books, company annual reports, and budgets can also be included.
Appendixes:
Survey or in-depth interview questions, transcripts for in-depth interviews, and/or other relevant information should be included.
*Note-Data collection among human subjects is not allowed.