My research topic is about intimate partner homicide. I hope to answer, or at least gather more information, about why women are more likely to be killed in intimate partner homicides than their male counterpart. My hypothesis that women are killed disproportionally to men in these types of homicides because in our society some males (or for some women, the dormant partner in the relationship) see themselves as dominant over females (or submissive partner) and that is their excuse for domestic violence.
My independent variable is the dominant and abusive partner truly believing they are above and superior over the submissive partner; the dependent variables are domestic violence and intimate partner homicide.
I chose this method because it is the best at studying topic that are best understood in their natural setting, behaviors that are better observed and interpreted in person. Field research allows the researchers to recognize nuances of attitude, behavior, and setting that escapes researchers using other methods. In other words, it gives a comprehensive perspective to the researcher.
Field research can be used to make sense out of an ongoing process that cannot be predicted in advance, such as domestic abuse that can lead to intimate partner homicide.
How I will conduct my research is through face to face interviews. I wish to meet with men and women in jail or prison for intimate partner homicide, to study their answers, behavior, body language, and any other signs that could help me answer my research question. Ideally these subjects would lead me to their friends or acquaintances that are in the same positions on the outside, men and women in abusive relationship that could lead to homicide.
This would mean my sample is in the form of snowball sampling, “initial research subjects (or informants) identify other persons who might also become subjects who, in turn, suggest more potential subjects, and so on” (Maxfield, Babbie; 309).
To conduct my research this way, I will need cooperation from a few jails and The Oregon State Penitentiary; Clackamas, Hillsboro, Klamath, Marion County, and Multnomah County. With access to these correctional facilities. With interviewing inmates with backgrounds in domestic violence, I aim to gather data about these subjects about why they commit domestic violence, what are the predictors of DV, and why women are more likely to be the victims in intimate partner homicide. The men and women in our community who are suffering from or creating the dangerous and abusive relationships that lead to intimate partner homicide is who I want to be able to draw my conclusions about. They are who I want to be a good representative of who is involved in these types of relationships and crimes.
My sample size will be a population, which is good to study behavior and characteristics, “Population sampling is the process of taking a subset of subjects that is representative of the entire population” (Maxfield, Babbie: 311). The population is intimate partners in abusive relationships and men and women who have committed intimate partner homicide. Because sampling in field research tends to be more complicated than in other kinks of research, I chose population sampling via snowball sampling – starting from initial interviews with inmates to acquaintances in our society. To the extent that field researchers observe only a portion of what happens, then, what they so observe is a de facto sample of all the possible observations that might be made.
I will collect my data from field notes I take during my interviews, I will also video record to capture anything I miss, such as small changes in body language or tells. My field notes will include both empirical observations and my interpretation of the, “They should record what we ‘know’ we have observed and what we ‘think’ we have observed. It is important, however, that these different kinds of notes be identified for what they are” (Maxfield, Babbie; 313). Being able to see in person how the subjects will respond to my questions and how they react, while also recording will allow me to collect as much as possible.
I will analyze and organize my data in an explanatory bivariate table, in the form of a contingency table. This way I will divide the cases into groups according to how and why the dominant partner abuses their submissive half. Each of these subgroups will be described in terms of the amount and type of abuse. From this clearly laid out and organized data, I will be able to interpret the data and form my own conclusions. How I will breakdown the data into subsets is by having heterosexual intimate partners, of at least two years, from ages 18 years old to 25 years old, and 26 years old to 45 years old. I will report my findings in a written report and publish it in a journal to then be peer reviewed. I want to do it this way because students like me can analyze and learn to further their studies. Also, an important part of the scientific process is retesting and finding new ways to test and new questions.
Excuse For Domestic Violence. (2022, Nov 15). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/excuse-for-domestic-violence/