discussion 2

Please read the attached articles to answer question 2
We’ve read some interesting articles this week as well as the Appendix in Pete Simi’s book about making contact and gathering information on the groups he has studied. 
For this forum, I’d like you to think about the kinds of research methods you would use for a particular research question. But here’s the rub: you have to come up with the question. Don’t get too hung up on this, but think about what interests you in the study of hate groups and group violence. For example, do you wonder about how people are recruited into hate groups? Do you wonder how many hate groups there are in the U.S. (or around the world), and whether that number is growing? Perhaps you wonder how the current American political scene influences hate group membership. Task 1 for this forum is to come up with a question similar to any of these or that relates somehow to what we’re studying. You don’t need to get too in depth with the question. Just tell everyone what’s on your mind. 
Then, task 2 in this forum is to describe how you would research that question. Two of our readings this week gave us the pros and cons of using qualitative or quantitative methods in criminological research. What kind of method(s) would you use to answer your question? Would you survey respondents? Interview them? Use existing data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report or from the Southern Poverty Law Center? Remember, you can combine methods if you think that would be helpful.