Discussion Board Forum 4-CJUS740 Reply 2

Reply must be at least 200-300 words and at least 2 citations from sources such as your textbook, peer-reviewed journal articles, and the Bible. The thread and replies must follow current APA format.

Maxfield, M. G., & Babbie, E. R. (2018). Research methods for criminal justice and criminology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. ISBN: 9781337091824.

*Brian C*

Focus groups in research seek to develop insights and direction. It helps identify different perceptions about an issue to generate better solutions, (Carey & Asbury, 2016).The criminal justice system needs to reform how punishments and criminals will be rehabilitated instead of long-term imprisonment. Prisoners may serve a long time in prison but may depict no change, but researchers claim that there are changes in their personalities. They may have a difficult time in prison, but with time they have to adapt to the environment in the jail because it is like a new home for them. 
A focus group can be approached in different ways; for example, the researcher can use open-ended questions in the discussion when they are discussing and acquiring facts from the focus group. A focus group is a technique that can be used along with surveys whereby the research has to survey in a community through questions that might provide more answers to the problem. Interviews may involve one-on-one information which can add value to the on-going discussion. Questionnaires can also be employed when dealing with focus groups. Polls and surveys may be inaccurate because the participants may be biased in their opinions and feedback. 
I believe that the use of interviews can be beneficial to the contribution of ideas and trying to get the real picture of how events might come out. Interviews will be the most appropriate in this case, because they will help the researcher to collect in-depth information about the issue of long term imprisonment, (King, et.al, 2018).  Its impact of the individual, what the state can do to change the existing system of punishment for a criminal offense, and how criminal justice can reduce the high rates of prisoners. Interviewing a focus group can contribute to the content of the research and even influence the quality of the results. 
In this case, if I were searching for a study subject, I would turn to ex-prisoners and those who are still serving a term in prison. This is important to the study because it will help generate more information about the conditions they experienced, or they are experiencing in prison. What is the situation like for both the white and black race prisoners? Ex-prisoners can be interviewed to provide adequate information about their reintegration in society and changes in behavior after serving a long time in prison and finding out whether the prison was a better rehabilitation or not can contribute a lot to the study. 
The focus group technique can be instrumental in research when interviews are used because they provide the researcher with a ton of information that needs to be analyzed. Observational and narrative data can be gathered when the researcher acts as an insider. One can notice the facial and physical reactions they exhibited when they are being asked the questions which make the information to be authentic, (Wolgemuth, et.al, 2015).  I don’t believe in questionnaires and surveys because most of the time, the information does not lead to any solutions, and opinions may be biased. Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The Bible is talking about testing thing using different methods to prove if they will work. 
                                                                                                       References 
Carey, M. A., & Asbury, J. E. (2016). Focus group research. Routledge.
King, N., Horrocks, C., & Brooks, J. (2018). Interviews in qualitative research. SAGE Publications Limited.
Wolgemuth, J. R., Erdil-Moody, Z., Opsal, T., Cross, J. E., Kaanta, T., Dickmann, E. M., & Colomer, S. (2015). Participants’ experiences of the qualitative interview: Considering the importance of research paradigms. Qualitative research, 15(3), 351-372.