Do you want to know why crime is so low in El Paso?

Are you interested in being part of faculty research?

Do you want advanced research skills?

 

Then... join our Research Team!

 

You will receive course credit in upper division or

graduate-level courses in Criminal Justice and/or Sociology.

 

The Basics

Requirements:  

Students must have access to reliable transportation. Bilingualism is a plus.

Benefits:  

This opportunity to join our research team will provide you with highly advanced research skills that are in demand among employers and graduate schools. You will also receive course credit toward your degree plan.

Enrollment:  

You must receive permission from Dr. Curry (trcurry@utep.edu) or Dr. Morales (mcmorales@utep.edu). Keep in mind that space is limited!


The Details

Recently, UTEP faculty members Dr. Ted Curry, Dr. Cristina Morales, and Dr. Harmon Hosch received an award from the National Science Foundation to collect survey data from adult residents in El Paso. The purpose of the survey project is to study why crime is so low in El Paso and whether having a large population of immigrants is (as we believe) a key reason for our low crime rate. The funding we received will pay for the data collection effort: developing and printing the survey, the sampling design, financial incentives for respondents, and gas money for you, the Student Researcher.

Student Researchers will enroll in a class for spring 2014, for which they will receive normal course credit (3 hours per course) and pay tuition and fees as per usual.

Student Researchers can be either undergrads or grad students.

There are a number of options for the specific classes in which you will enroll, depending on your degree plan needs:

CriJ 4300
Immigration & Crime 

This class can be taken multiple times for credit and counts as a Block Elective, or CJ major or minor elective.

Soci 3341
Special Topics: Advanced Research Methods  

This class can be taken multiple times for credit and counts as a Block Elective, or sociology major or minor elective.

Soci 3311
Methods of Research

This class is required for soc majors and minors, or can count as a Block Elective.

Soci 5341
Special Graduate Topics

Can be taken multiple times for credit and counts as an elective for graduate students.


If these options do not appear to work for your degree plan, please see Dr. Morales or Dr. Curry and we will find SOME way to make it count toward your degree plan.

 Regardless of which classes you take for credit, the actual courses will be team-taught by Dr. Curry and Dr. Morales.

 

More Details on the Classes

Spring 2014 Class  

This class will be a hybrid online and regular classroom course. Student researchers will gain important practical experience in this class by collecting and entering the data from the respondents selected in our sampling procedure.

Summer 2014 Class  

This class is optional and will meet in a regular classroom. Student researchers will be trained in data analysis techniques using the data they collected in the spring. Student researchers will complete a research paper based on their own interests that can be presented at scholarly conferences or submitted for publication.

 

Still More Info if You're Interested

Here is a link to the proposal we submitted to NSF.

Please email any questions you have to Dr. Curry (trcurry@utep.edu) or Dr. Morales (mcmorales@utep.edu).