Criminal Investigations

Fall 2020 CRM 465 Criminal Investigations Final Paper Directions

The topic of the final paper is a comparison critique of the Reid interview technique vs. Geiselman & Fisher’s cognitive interview technique. I want you to use the research literature to support your critique of each technique and answer the following questions: 1. Does either technique have a place in police-criminal investigations? Why?/Why not?2. Which technique do you argue police should emphasize and why?3. What are the strengths and/or weaknesses of each? 4. What does the scholarly literature say?

The deadline for this paper is 11/18/20.

Paper format instructions:

1. Make sure you include an introductory paragraph. In academic writing, a thesis statement is expected – the thesis of a paper is an interpretive statement about the topic or subject matter. Tell the reader what you are writing about.
2. Each paragraph must have a minimum of 3 sentences. You may have more than 3 sentences, but not less than 3.
3. Write in third person– do not include personal opinions or the use of personal nouns such as “I”, “we” or “me”. Argument writing is impersonal.
4. Avoid contractions. Spell out such words as “can’t”(cannot).
5. Inclusive language should be used in the paper (for example: gender references should be written as “they” when the gender is unknown – avoid assumptions).
6. In-text reference citations are absolutely necessary. If you expect your work to be evaluated appropriately, you must reference all of your claims. Points will be deducted from unsupported argument positions.
7. You must have an APA style reference page.
8. Double-spaced – 12pt. Times New Roman font.
9. Reference/citation information (APA 7th ed. Style).
10. Use quotes sparingly – points are earned based upon your analysis of the material – not using the words of another over and over. Do not use quotes in excess of 40+ wordsalso referred to as “block quotes.”I consider them space fillers in academic papers. I count more for your paraphrased analysis.

The paper must be at least 8 pages in length – no more than 10. This doesn’t count the reference page. Cover page should follow APA (7e) guidelines. No abstract is necessary. Neither cover nor reference pages will be counted in your page total. The following will help with APA rules:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_changes_7th_edition.html

The following will help with starting an outline of how to organize your paper:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/developing_an_outline/how_to_outline.html

You must include at least 16 (*peer reviewed) academic (scholarly) sources you find through your own research of this topic-you may certainly use more. You may also use the course textbooks as sources. Sources should be embedded in-text throughout your paper where appropriate (see the apa rules) using the proper APA format and included on your reference page (use the format for sources listed on a reference page). Nonacademic sources like Wikipedia, Times Union, CNN, FOX and other main stream style news are not acceptable. If you have a question about sources, give me a shout.

This paper should be written in analysis/persuasive argument style (not opinion based-do not use discussion post language such as – “I think” etc.). Following assignment instructions, in-text references, coherence in writing, quality of content, and compliance with APA writing style rules will be considered in grading. As your decision to opt out of the cognitive interview role plays, this assignment is worth 100 points toward your final grade.

• What’s helped me write research papers along the way is scratching out an outline of ideas on how I want to put it together – start out with a strong introduction/thesis to catch the reader’s interest-build a solid but brief (balanced) literature review to show the reader I’ve done my homework and know the topic, The body of the paper clearly frames my central arguments and offers ample evidence of referenced scholarship to support my claims-my arguments show contrasting views of the topic and are not one-sided-I want my paper to show my depth of knowledge in the subject matter and not try to impose my positions on the reader. To the informed reader this is evident. My conclusion ties in my main themesalready discussed which reminds the reader of the major points-the reader shouldn’t have to go back into the paper and find these major points. Don’t leave issues unanswered.