Identify research questions

“Is there a connotation between good prison management and inside prison violence?”.

Developing a research question?

As a student learning foundations of social research, in developing a research question, I have gone
through the process by which Dewey believes research is concerned with and that is questioning
(Dewey, 1998). By that he means, Dewey Research is not concerned with answers; it is concerned
with questions also Dewey suggests that research is not the art of finding answers but of asking
questions He says, “Thinking is inquiry, investigation, turning over, probing or delving into, so as

to find something new or to see what is already known in a different light. In short, it is questioning
(Dewey 1998, 265) Other scholars such as Schon also share the same belief According to Schon
(1963) he too suggests that research is questioning He illustrates questioning as
central to reflection, saying that one who reflects “may ask themselves, for example,
‘What features do I notice when I recognise this thing? What are the criteria by which
I make this judgement? What procedures am I enacting when I perform this skill?
How am I framing the problem that I am trying to solve?’” (Schön 1963, 50)
Schön says that reflection-in-action serves as a corrective to overlearning
• It allows us to see that the problem before us is different, and to see it for what it is
•It allows us to notice things •But he also says, as does Dewey, that surprise triggers
reflection

I have learnt previously in order to be a good practitioner we must reflect and engage in continuous
process of learning (Schon, 1983). Reflection allows us to notice things that are different and thus
surprising. It avoids the practitioner from overlearning and being inattentive (Schon, 1983) In order
to solve a problem, we must understand it •In order to understand it, we must first notice it.
Engaging in readings related to my filed for almost 3 years, I reflected back into one of the lessons in
my corrections classes in the past about the rates of violence inside the prison. I found something
surprising. A question prompted in my head, I wondered if “there is any association between good
prison management and inside prion violence?”
I tried to understand why there is violence inside the prison if there are guards. Is this related to the
prison management, if not what are the causes? I realised that this is a meaningful and researchable
question as finding the answer will assist in solving the problem. Problem is an intellectual puzzle
that the researcher wishes to explain (Mason, 2002). My question is a comparative puzzle according
to Mason (2002) in which I have to compare different prisons in order to get an appropriate answer.
What data will you need to answer your question?
Reflecting on what date you need

Answering research questions requires finding out some relevant information called data (Phelan
2017: week 6, slide 7). There are a variety of methods by which this can be done. Some of these
methods serve better the purpose of data collection for the research question. In order to pursue an
answer to the research question posed, there are a series of questions that need to be answered
which this section will explore. Initially it is important to find out what information is required in
answering the research question posed. In this case, the question is “Is there an association between
good prison management and inside prion violence?” Therefor the information we gather should be
on whether there is an association between good prison management and inside prison violence.

Next question that needs to be answered would be what serves as information. This depends on our
view of what we need to know about, hence what we need to get information about in order to know
about the thing we are studying (Phelan 2017: week 6, slide11). In general, there are two anthological
views of naturalist and social constructionism (Phelan 2017: week 2 slide 14) in looking at social
phenomena. From naturalist view social phenomena require observation as they have objective
existence (Phelan 2017: week 2 slide 19). From a social constructionist view, social phenomena have
subjective existence hence why we need to ask what people think about it (Phelan 2017: week 2 slide
20).

In identifying the view on the research question the first question to ask would be is “good prison” an
objective or subjective thing? If objective, certain things here constitute as good prison including
employment rate of prison officers who work there, low statistics on inside prison violence and
reputation of the prison. If subjective, then a good prison would be based on prisoner’s experience
inside the prisons and how they feel and think about it. Objective: the rating of the prison according
to public Subjective: the experience of prisoners inside the prison and what they say about it. Or it is
both objective and subjective? In that case then an empirical observations need to be done.

If the view of the question is objective, some data collection methods are better in getting
information on. Including, questionnaire, structured observation, and document analysis- content
analysis. If the view is subjective, information is required about what people think about it and data
can be collected by using methods such as interviews, focus groups, unstructured observation and
document analysis- discourse. Sometimes, a nature of a question requires the researcher to look at
it from different angles rather than single. In that case both methods views objective and subjective
can be incorporated to get an in depth understanding of the question (Deniz 2012).

How will you create data? Selecting methods of date creation

Once, the view of the question is identified, we need to look at the features of each different method
and pick the best method for getting the data we need. Questionnaires for example are a list of
questions that are mostly closed questions which the respondent must choose one only. The possible
answers are pre-determined and are restricted. (Phelan 2017: week 7slide, 7). Questioners are best
to use in circumstances where the results can be best obtained from the respondents, brief answers
are required, reliable information could be collected, an adequate response is expected and the
researcher knows how to use the answers (Vogt, W. Paul, Dianne C. Gardner, Lynne M. Haeffele,
2017). Questioners are one of the methods which are suitable in creating data for the research
question “Is there an association between good prison management and inside prion violence?” as
they could be used to briefly survey the prisoners to rate their safety and give numbers on how often
they face violence or feel threatened. However, the fact that questions are rigidly categorised and not
open to interpretation unable the researcher to other possible answers and as a consequence, the
researcher might not be able to collect data right.

Experiment is one other data creation method. In this method, the researcher is required to test a
hypothesis (Phelan 2017: week 7slide, 13). The researcher manipulates the variables in order to
recognize significant factors and may introduce or exclude them in order to observe their effect
(Denscombe, 2014). This introduction or exclusion allows the researcher to pin down factors that
actually causes the observed outcome to occur (Denscombe, 2014). Experiments are a suitable
method as they allow the researcher to get collect data on why things happen and how they happen
(Denscombe, 2014).For example, the researcher could conduct an experiment on prison officer’s
treatment towards the prisoners for a set period of time. The strength within this method is that it
allows the researcher to get an understanding of the factors that actually trigger violence inside the
prison. The limitation within this method is that the researcher is not able to get the appropriate
response, as the experiment may only target certain category. For example the experiment could only
target inside prison violence between the prison officer’s and prisoners. It may miss to find the cause-
effect for prisoner to prisoner violence. Moreover, the experiment could involve things such as getting
the officer’s to mistreat and as a consequence harm prisoners, which would be unethical solely for the
sake of research.
Interviews are another method considered to be suitable for creating data for the question “Is there
an association between good prison management and inside prion violence? Research interviews are
mostly a set of unspoken assumptions in regards to a situation which are not related with a normal
conversation (Denscombe 1983; Silverman 1985, 2013). Interviews are mostly suitable for matters in
which the researcher is seeking an in depth answer especially key players who can provide valuable
insight based on their experiences (Denscombe, 2014). For example, the researcher could interview
the prisoners to define what a good prison is to them or provide feedback on the prison management.
Or even what causes inside prison violence based on their experiences which could not be answered
thorough a survey questionnaire. The strength with this method is that it allows the participants to go
broad and bring in answers beyond the researcher’s expectations.

Identifying existing sources of data

First method Interviews are the best method in answering the question given the nature of their view
being subjective. Given the drawn evidence are from real world setting. Most importantly they open
up the researcher to other possibilities being valid. In order answering this question What causes prison
violence and how can it be prevented or reduced? Another method can be used in this research is a selective
and explanatory review of the literature which draws on well-designed empirical studies and theoretical models
rather than a formal systematic review.

The research strategy for the research question “Is there an association between good prison management
and inside prison violence?” has been looking at number of different documents. Fortunately, few of these
literatures found to be relevant in answering our research question enabling the research strategy to fulfil its
purpose. In selecting these documents the researcher has taken the “what is the problem represented to be?”
(WRP) approach because how the problem is represented brings out all the implications of how the issue is
thought about and is framed (Bacchi 2009).

Hence, the documents selected for this research strategy have farmed the issue differently while reflecting an
alignment with our research question. For instance, some of the search terms used in searching for studies
were, prison and violence, good prison management, violence inside prison. One of the relevant literatures to
our question framed the inside prion violence due to lack of programs meeting gender specific needs (Bartels
and Gaffney, 2011). This document very well is relevant to our research as it reflects an alignment to our
research question relating to a good prison management. Using this document, we can find some of the good
practice models that could be established inside the male prisons meeting their specific needs. Maybe lacks of
these gender specific needs are the reason there is violence inside our prisons.
The weaknesses of this research strategy is that it only focuses on adult prisons management and excludes the
management system employed within the juvenile detention centres, which could potentially assist in
reducing violence inside the prison.