Northern Virginia Community Freddie Peacock Case Research Paper
The Paper must contain 3 factors which was associated with the case:
False accusation or perjury
Mistaken Identification
False Confession
I have uploaded a rubric to aid with this assignment. The paper must be 12 pages not including the reference page. References must be APA format. The paper must be double spaced.
Research Paper (50% of final grade; breakdown below)
Students will be required to write a research paper addressing a specific known case of wrongful conviction. The paper should consist of three parts: 1) a description of the case; 2) a thorough analysis of the factors in the case that led to the wrongful conviction (i.e., an analysis of the three issues you used to choose your case; see below); and 3) development and discussion of 2 research questions that stem from your chosen case, the literature on your three factors, or both. Feedback will be given on all sections, and more detailed rubrics will be posted on BB. 5
Case/paper topic and Keywords (5% of grade)
Students must have their cases approved. Keywords are words you use to conduct literature searches in library databases. Your list should include 5 to 10 keywords. Can upload onto BB or hand in hard-copy to instructor.
Introduction and Purpose of Paper (5% of grade)
Draft an Introduction to your paper, which includes a broad-based statement about wrongful convictions in general, the case you are analyzing, and your three chosen factors. Also include a purpose: one or two sentences about what you plan to accomplish in the paper or what you want the reader to learn by reading the paper (e.g., In this paper, I will provide a detailed analysis of the case of……; The purpose of this paper is to fairly present…..”).
Part 1: Case Description (10% of grade)
The description of the case should be thorough but should focus on the errors that you will analyze. [~2-3 pages double-spaced]
Part 2: Analysis of Errors/Role (10% of grade)
The analysis of errors/role should be considered the “meat” of your paper. Your analysis should be in-depth and tied to appropriate legal, scientific, and policy sources (your assigned readings and readings you find on your own). THIS ANALYSIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CASE. Rather, you are reviewing the research on your 3 chosen factors per the scholarly literature. [~4-5 pages double-spaced]
Part 3: Research Questions (10% of grade)
Derive two questions that need to be addressed by researchers from your case and/or the review of the literature (Parts 1 and 2 of your paper). Clearly STATE your research questions. Discuss WHY they should be addressed. That is, you will need to justify why your questions should be answered via scholarly research. One way is by determining that your questions have not already been researched (by searching google scholar and other databases), or if researched, the research base is sparse (only 1 or 2 studies; the studies were not done well, etc.). Discuss HOW you would answer these two questions. What kind of studies would need to be done? Interviewing people (who?); Analyzing criminal justice data (what kind?); Conducting an experimental study (what would be manipulated?). [~3-4 pages double-spaced]
Final Paper [revised based on feedback] (10% of grade)
The paper must be based on research comprised primarily of scholarly references, including appropriate legal materials, social scientific and/or natural scientific sources, and policy materials. Newspaper and other reference sources (like Wikipedia) also may be used, as appropriate, but should be used sparingly. Papers should be approximately 10-12 double-spaced pages (not including references). DO NOT exceed 12 pages of text. References should be in APA format. All authorities must be appropriately cited and also included in References section.
