SECURITY AND CRIME SCIENCE
SECU0028 ASSIGNMENT – 23/24
Please read the guidance notes which appear on the following pages carefully.
Failure to follow submission instructions may result in penalties.
Module Name: Quantitative Methods
Module Convenor: Juliana Gómez-Quintero
Email: [email protected]
Assessment Type: Assignment
Deadline: 16:00 on Monday 8th January 2024
Length: 2,000 words, excluding graphics, tables (under reasonable use), the reference
section, the abstract, and any appendices.
Quantitative Methods Assignment
In this Assignment, you must demonstrate your knowledge of quantitative methods by
completing and reporting the analyses for a specified research project. This project is a
small survey, and you will be provided with the collected data. Your task for the
assignment is to develop hypotheses, perform appropriate statistical analysis, and write
up your findings in the style of a short journal article.
In what follows, section A) provides details of the specific research project – section A1)
describes the nature of the project, and section A2) describes the procedure used to
collect the data. The text in section B) then guides as to how the reports should be written.
Section B1) provides an overview of what is expected of students, while section B2)
provides a more specific indication of how marks will be allocated.
A1) Research Project
Surveys are often used to collect data on people’s perceptions of issues, or to ask how they
believe they would act under specific conditions. However, when asked directly about
sensitive topics such as crime or politics, respondents may refuse or may not answer
honestly, providing what they believe to be a socially desirable response.
For this reason, researchers have developed methods of eliciting respondents’ views on
issues without asking them directly. One method you will use in this assignment is the list
experiment or item-count technique (e.g., Glynn, 2013 1 ). For this method, survey
participants are randomly allocated to one of two or more groups. The ‘control’ group is
presented with a list of (say four) items and asked to indicate how many they agree with
but not to specify which ones. The precise question they are asked depends on the topic
of interest, so if the research is concerned with types of behaviour, participants might be
asked to indicate how many behaviours they would engage in rather than how many
statements they agree with. The ‘experimental’ group is presented with the same list as
the control group but with one additional item added, representing a ‘sensitive item’ of
interest. They are then asked to respond in the same way as the control group: to specify
the number of items they agree with.
The logic of the approach is that, by comparing groups, it is possible to estimate the extent
to which people (in the aggregate) agree with the sensitive item. Assuming that
respondents are randomly allocated to conditions, the mean difference between the
number of items indicated by respondents in the ‘control’ and ‘experimental’ groups will
correspond to the level of agreement with the sensitive item (since it is the only thing that
changes between the two groups). As respondents are not asked to directly indicate
which statements apply to them – only the number – the method is intended to increase
participants’ willingness to answer accurately. The approach has been used to estimate
the public’s perceptions of crime, religion, and politics, among other topics.
The study on which this assignment is based was designed according to this principle. A
small survey examined people’s perceptions of whether they would engage in two forms
of activity under specific conditions. The first concerns how they would behave if they
discovered a lost smartphone – the sensitive item being whether they would attempt to
sell it for profit. The second concerns how they would react when given an opportunity to
commit fraud – the sensitive thing being whether they would take advantage of an
1 Glynn, A. N. (2013). What can we learn with statistical truth serum? Design and analysis of the
list experiment. Public Opinion Quarterly, 77(S1), 159-172.
erroneous delivery of an item purchased online. A further experimental condition was
introduced for the second activity: participants were either informed that the retailer was
a large corporation or a small independent business.
A2) Data Collection
The data was collected by surveying people on the street at UCL or near the UCL premises.
Participants were randomly allocated one of six questionnaires (see Appendix 1). The
data was collected so that the proportion of respondents for each questionnaire was
uniformly distributed (i.e., each questionnaire had roughly the same number of
respondents). The following table describes the characteristics of each of the
questionnaires. The first four questionnaires correspond to the experimental design
using the item-count technique, where participants only need to answer with the number
of items they agree with. The last two questionnaires involve asking participants to
specify the items they agree directly with. Appendix 2 contains an ethics form that
respondents should have read before participating.
Table 1 Characteristics of questionnaires
Questionnaire Control/Experimental Large/Small Business Indirect/Direct
1 Experimental Large Indirect
2 Experimental Small Indirect
3 Control Large Indirect
4 Control Small Indirect
5 N/A Large Direct
6 N/A Small Direct
A dataset with the raw collected data is available on Moodle – this is the data you
should use to perform your analysis.
A set of notes for this dataset are also available on Moodle. Please carefully read them,
as they will help you understand how the dataset is organised. The fact that the data is
raw means you will need to clean and process it so that it is ready for analysis (e.g., there
might be typos and missing data); this is part of real-world data analysis, and it is up to
you how you do so.
In writing your report, you must draw on relevant literature to introduce the study and
formulate a testable hypothesis or hypotheses. While the design of the data collection
process is pre-determined, exactly how you use the data in your analysis is up to you.
There is no prescribed analysis to be performed, and numerous different hypotheses
could be investigated.
B) Report Structure
1. OVERVIEW
Authorship – Although students may discuss and analyse the data together, they should
write reports and produce tables/figures independently.
Format – The report should be formatted in the style of a journal article. You should select
a journal and follow the formatting guidelines associated with that journal. For most
journals, these can be found in the ‘Instructions for Authors’ (or similar) sections of their
websites. These guidelines should be applied unless they refer to aspects where specific
alternative instructions are given in this document (e.g., word count). Please indicate the
journal you select on the front page of your assignment.
Length – 2,000 words, excluding graphics, tables (under reasonable use), the reference
section, the abstract, and any appendices. Submissions over 2,000 words are
unacceptable; part of the task is communicating using the available word limit.
Focus – Since this is a research methods assessment, you should devote more
words/space to the methods and results sections. The introduction should introduce the
topic but not be as detailed as a journal article. Make sure you specify your hypotheses
and explain the motivation for these in the introductory text.
2. MORE SPECIFIC GUIDANCE
In this section, the numbers in parentheses estimate the balance of marks appropriate for
each section. This is only intended as a guide, however, as students may discuss some
issues that would gain marks in several sections (e.g., the assumptions of statistical tests
might be addressed in the methods, results or discussion sections). Alternatively,
students may write high-quality methods and results sections but misinterpret their
findings in the discussion, suggesting a lack of understanding concealed in the earlier
sections.
TITLE – should be concise.
ABSTRACT (5 marks)
• Should be about 100-200 words (max).
• Describes purpose, techniques, results, and implications.
• Does not provide a detailed description of the methods.
• Should summarise the key features of the study.
• Be accurate, concise, self-explanatory, and specific.
INTRODUCTION (15 marks)
• Clearly defines the problem or issue.
• Starts general and becomes specific.
• Places the study in the context of previous research (literature review). Useful to
present relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature.
• Use subheadings selectively if they help organise the material better.
• Final paragraph clearly and explicitly states why the study was performed (e.g.,
the purpose of this study was…). Any hypotheses introduced should be motivated
by the text that they follow.
METHODS (25 marks)
• Must contain enough detail so that someone else could replicate the study.
• Often, the following subheadings are used:
o Participants
o Design
o Materials (e.g., a summary of a questionnaire)
o Procedure
RESULTS (35 marks)
• Be explicit about (for example) the sampling design used and indicate why
participants were randomly allocated to conditions. Present things in a simple
way.
• Start with descriptive statistics and suitable figures or tables so the reader can
understand the data collected.
• Tell a story using appropriate inferential statistical tests. Indicate whether the
assumptions of the tests you used were met.
• Do not include raw data. Similarly, including raw output from Stata (i.e., cutting
and pasting statistical results) is bad practice and will be penalised. Any results
should be intelligible as they are displayed.
• Tables/Figures
o Make figures as clear as possible, ensuring that all aspects are explained
in the legend or the figure itself.
o Make figures as uncluttered and as easy to read as possible.
o Use the style of the table specified by the journal.
o It is reasonable to use figures produced in Stata, but as with statistical
output, they should be intelligible in the report's context.
DISCUSSION (15 marks)
• Summarise aims and central findings.
• Evaluate and interpret results.
• How do your findings relate to the literature reviewed in the introduction and
your hypotheses?
• Restrict discussion to the results (i.e., do not go beyond the data).
• Discuss any limitations of the current work or any future research needed.
REFERENCES (5 marks)
• Make sure you use the referencing style the journal requires (see Instructions for
Authors on journal website).
• Software such as EndNote, Mendeley or Zotero can make this easier.
• Ensure all items cited in the paper are listed, and no listed references are uncited
in the text.
Appendix 1a – Questionnaire (LIST – EXPERIMENTAL – GROUP 1)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each scenario, I’d
like you to tell me how many of the actions listed you would consider – please don’t
tell me which ones; only how many.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please just tell me how many you would consider doing; not
which ones specifically.
a) Leave the phone where it is
b) Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and return
the phone
c) Give the phone to the police
d) Sell the phone for a profit
e) Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
Number of actions: ______________
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a large corporate retailer. The
package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company agrees
to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail. Which
of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please just tell me how
many you would consider doing.
a) Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
b) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and sell the original on eBay
c) Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
d) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop to
charity
e) Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
Number of actions: ______________
Appendix 1b – Questionnaire (LIST – EXPERIMENTAL – GROUP 2)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each scenario, I’d
like you to tell me how many of the actions listed you would consider – please don’t
tell me which ones; only how many.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please just tell me how many you would consider doing; not
which ones specifically.
a) Leave the phone where it is
b) Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and return
the phone
c) Give the phone to the police
d) Sell the phone for a profit
e) Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
Number of actions: ______________
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a small independent retailer.
The package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company
agrees to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail.
Which of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please just tell me
how many you would consider doing.
a) Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
b) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and sell the original on eBay
c) Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
d) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop to
charity
e) Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
Number of actions: ______________
Appendix 1c – Questionnaire (LIST – CONTROL – GROUP 1)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each scenario, I’d
like you to tell me how many of the actions listed you would consider – please don’t
tell me which ones; only how many.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please just tell me how many you would consider doing; not
which ones specifically.
a) Leave the phone where it is
b) Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and return
the phone
c) Give the phone to the police
d) Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
Number of actions: ______________
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a large corporate retailer. The
package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company agrees
to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail. Which
of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please just tell me how
many you would consider doing.
a) Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
b) Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
c) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop to
charity
d) Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
Number of actions: ______________
Appendix 1d – Questionnaire (LIST – CONTROL – GROUP 2)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each scenario, I’d
like you to tell me how many of the actions listed you would consider – please don’t
tell me which ones; only how many.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please just tell me how many you would consider doing; not
which ones specifically.
a) Leave the phone where it is
b) Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and return
the phone
c) Give the phone to the police
d) Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
Number of actions: ______________
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a small independent retailer.
The package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company
agrees to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail.
Which of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please just tell me
how many you would consider doing.
a) Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
b) Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
c) Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop to
charity
d) Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
Number of actions: ______________
Appendix 1e – Questionnaire (DIRECT – GROUP 1)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each option, I’d like
you to indicate whether you would consider following that course of action.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please say whether or not in each case.
£ Leave the phone where it is
£ Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and
return the phone
£ Sell the phone for a profit
£ Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
£ Give the phone to the police
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a large corporate retailer. The
package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company agrees
to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail. Which
of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please say whether or not
in each case.
£ Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
£ Keep the replacement when it arrives, and sell the original on eBay
£ Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
£ Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop
to charity
£ Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
Appendix 1f – Questionnaire (DIRECT – GROUP 2)
Please tick here to confirm that you have read the Participant Information Sheet,
are over 18 years old, and consent to taking part in this survey:
£ I consent
1. Please indicate your gender:
£ Male
£ Female
£ Other
2. Please state your age: _______
3. In which country were you born?
_______
The following two questions include descriptions of scenarios and, in each case, a
number of possible courses of action that you could take. For each option, I’d like
you to indicate whether you would consider following that course of action.
4. Suppose you found a mobile phone on the ground, presumably lost but still in
apparently working condition. Which of the following do you think you would
consider doing? Please say whether or not in each case.
£ Leave the phone where it is
£ Use any instructions on the lock screen to contact the owner and
return the phone
£ Sell the phone for a profit
£ Use the lock screen instructions to contact the owner, then rob them
when they arrive to collect the phone
£ Give the phone to the police
5. Suppose you have ordered a laptop online from a small independent retailer.
The package does not arrive when expected, so you complain and the company
agrees to send a replacement. The next day, the original order arrives in the mail.
Which of the following would you consider acceptable? Again, please say whether
or not in each case.
£ Notify the company and return the replacement by mail
£ Keep the replacement when it arrives, and sell the original on eBay
£ Demand that the company collects the replacement from you
£ Keep the replacement when it arrives, and donate the original laptop
to charity
£ Keep both laptops and use the one that is believed to be lost to access
illegal content online
UCL FACULTY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES
Moral Attitudes Survey – Department of Security & Crime Science
Participant Information Sheet
You are being invited to participate in a brief survey about moral attitudes conducted by students from
University College London. Before you decide whether to participate, it is important for you to understand
what participation will involve. Please read the following information and decide whether you wish to take
part. You can keep this form.
What is the project’s purpose?
This is a small survey being carried out by students enrolled on a Masters course in the Department of
Security & Crime Science in order to examine the public’s attitudes towards moral dilemmas.
Why have I been chosen?
You have been randomly selected to participate.
Do I have to take part?
No – your participation is entirely voluntary and there will be no consequences for you if you do not wish to
participate. You can withdraw at any time without any penalty.
What does taking part involve?
You will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire about moral attitudes, which should take no more than
1-2 minutes to complete.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
While there are no immediate benefits to you, the data collected during this project will enable students to
carry out coursework as part of their degree programme.
Will my participation be kept confidential?
No information will be collected that will allow you to be identified – please do not write your name or any
other identifying information on the questionnaire. In any subsequent publication, data will be presented in
a completely anonymous form.
Where can I receive further information?
We are happy to answer any questions you may have. If you subsequently have any further questions, these
can be addressed to the module leader, Dr Toby Davies, via [email protected].
To whom can I complain?
If you have any complaints, please contact the module leader, Dr Toby Davies, via [email protected] in the first
instance. If, after this, you feel that your complaint has not been handled to your satisfaction, you can contact
the Chair of the UCL Research Ethics Committee via [email protected].
Thank you for reading this information sheet – you can keep this form.
Appendix 3 – Submission Guidelines
Your coursework must be submitted electronically through Turnitin, either as a PDF
(.pdf) or as a Microsoft Word document (.doc/.docx). You can find further information
about Turnitin in the handbook. Please read the UCL plagiarism guidelines carefully to
make sure that you understand what constitutes plagiarism.
Assignment contents
The title page of the assignment must include the following:
• Assignment title
• Module name and code (e.g., SECU0028 Quantitative Methods)
• Candidate number (a combination of 5 letters and numbers - see * below)
• Word count
• Submission date
• The journal selected for formatting purposes
* Your Candidate Number is a combination of 5 letters and numbers, and can be found on
Portico. If you are a returning student, either post-interruption or mod/flex, your candidate
number will change each year. Please ensure you use the correct Candidate Number.
Please DO NOT include your name or student ID number (the long number on your
ID card) anywhere in your assignment, including the title page. This is crucial as we
mark students' work anonymously and cannot do so unless only your candidate number
is used.
Naming your file
If your file is not named correctly, your submission will be deleted, and you will be asked
to resubmit; if this is after the deadline, a penalty may be applied.
The name of the file should ONLY contain (in the following order): your Candidate
Number (see * above), the module code, and your word count e.g., ABCD1-SECU0028-
1968.pdf
Turnitin gives you the option to name the document you are uploading – this will override
the name of your file, so please ensure you use the above naming convention if you do
this.
Further information
Please see the Assessments tab of the SCS Student Handbook for further information on
assessment guidelines, e.g., penalties for exceeding the word count and late submission,
what to do if you feel you are going to miss the submission deadline, etc.
