Critical Approach to Studying Social Sciences: Worksheet 6, SAC4009-B

This assignment, titled "Worksheet 6: Designing Research," explores the correlation between family breakdown and the rise in gun-related crime, employing both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The study considers various demographics, including families with absent fathers, high-crime communities, and single-parent households, along with the age of the children, mothers, and fathers. Participants for this study include single-parent families headed by mothers, families experiencing broken marriages, neighborhoods with high concentrations of fatherless families, and adults with prior criminal records. The data collection process involves state-by-state analyses of single-parent homes, neighborhood data, and literature reviews. The assignment outlines both primary data collection methods, such as interviews and surveys, and secondary data collection methods, like literature reviews. The questions asked are descriptive and objective, aiming to understand the factors contributing to gun crime. The assignment also discusses the use of social constructionist and systems theories to analyze the relationship between family dynamics and criminal behavior.

Running head: STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Worksheet 6
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
Question 2........................................................................................................................................2
Question 3........................................................................................................................................2
Question 4........................................................................................................................................4
Question 5........................................................................................................................................4
Reference.........................................................................................................................................6

2STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Question 1
The demographics that will be considered for the study will include the following:
 For the past 30 years, there has been a steep rise in crimes or gun violence in the
families that have been abandoned by the fathers. The demographics of such
families will be required pertaining to the age of the children, age of the mother
and father. Furthermore, gender of the of
 The communities with high crime are characterized by the concentration of the
families that are abandoned by the fathers. Due to this, demographics of such
communities will be considered for this study (Patrick 2019).
 The single parent homes will be considered for the study due to the rise in the
percentage of the children that are living with a single parent. A state by state
analysis will also be required for the study to find the percentage of children
living with a single parent (Roberson and Wallace 2016).
Question 2
The participants for this particular study the single parent families that are only headed by
the mother, the families that have undergone broken marriage, the neighbourhood and
communities that have the highest conglomeration of families abandoned by the fathers, the
adults that have previous of record of participating into the crime (Muncie 2014).
Question 3
Data collection procedure will include state by state analysis of the single parent home
data, along with the neighbourhoods/communities that have the high conglomeration of the
families abandoned by fathers. The official websites of the state governments that exclusively

3STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
deal with the demographics data will be used for the study. The other datasets can also be
collected from the literature reviews conducted on the adults indulging in gun crime and that hail
from the single parent families. Research articles and studies that were conducted on the gun
violence committed by the juveniles and adults (Butts et al. 2015).
Example of the primary data collection approach-
Data collection techniques Type of data collected
Interviews with the parents of the single
parent homes
The behaviour of the child during and the
types of peers they mix with.
Interviews with the mother of the juveniles
that are associated with the gun crime
The type of the hardships a child have faced
during their growth
Survey of the communities/neighbourhood To find out the exact numbers of the people
residing in a community
Example of the secondary data collection approach-
Data Collection techniques Types of data collected
Literature reviews The concluding remarks and the overall
account and effect of the marriage on gun
crime will be assessed
Literary works The relationship between family breakdown
and gun crimes can be assessed through the
research articles.
The data will help me to explore the different types of questions like the type of
relationship between the family breakdown and the increase in the gun crime; the age group of
juveniles and the adults that are associated with the gun crime; the demographics of the one
parent and the number of the home that are abandoned by the fathers; the total number of the
communities that are associated with the juvenile and adult gun crime.

4STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Question 4
The type of the questions that I will be asking will mainly be descriptive, objective.
The list of objective questions are as follows:
 The ways by which a juvenile came in contact with gun?
 The kind of the friends and peer an individual mix when staying in a community?
 The age of the child when the family breakdown took place?
The list of the subjective questions are as follows:
 Why juveniles and adults are indulging into gun crimes?
 What impacts the most when a child is brought up by a single parent?
What are the type of mental trauma that a child or an individual goes through when they
are within a condition where the parents are always quarrelling?
Question 5
The type of theories that would be used during the research procedure includes social
constructionist theory and the systems theory.
The social constructionist theory says that violence is generally and strongly is associated
with the males and commit more violent acts. While it is the tendency of the males to indulge
into activities that are more violent. For example, majority of the gun shooting activities is
associated with a male individual that has committed the crime (Loseke 2017).
The systems theory is an amalgamation of both the pragmatic and philosophical approach
of analysing situations. The systems theory is used to predict the nature of interaction existing
between the groups, families and individuals. For example, the peers, friends and the kind of the

5STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
family in which a child is brought up impacts the child psychology and development. The
experiences of violence during the growth years often leads to disruption of the experiences
(Lawson 2012).

6STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH
Reference
Butts, J.A., Roman, C.G., Bostwick, L. and Porter, J.R., 2015. Cure violence: a public health
model to reduce gun violence. Annual Review of Public Health, 36, pp.39-53.
Lawson, J., 2012. Sociological theories of intimate partner violence. Journal of Human Behavior
in the Social Environment, 22(5), pp.572-590.
Loseke, D., 2017. Thinking about social problems: An introduction to constructionist
perspectives. Routledge.
Muncie, J., 2014. Youth and crime. Sage.
Patrick, F., 2019. The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family,
and Community. [online] The Heritage Foundation. Available at:
https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/report/the-real-root-causes-violent-crime-the-
breakdown-marriage-family-and [Accessed 6 Jan. 2019].
Roberson, C. and Wallace, P.H., 2016. Family violence: Legal, medical, and social perspectives.
Routledge.

7STUDYING SOCIAL SCIENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH