The purpose of the study done by Brunton-Smith (2011) was to find a causal relationship between fear and disorder. The author wanted to test three hypotheses: “1. there is a positive correlation between prior perceptions of disorder and current levels of fear 2. There is a positive correlation between prior levels of fear and current perceptions of disorder 3. Fear of crime and perceptions of disorder are co-determined by external influences” (Brunton-Smith, 2011, 889). This study used a longitudinal research design. There are three different types of longitudinal research designs and Brunton-Smith (2011) utilized a panel longitudinal research design. A panel longitudinal research design looks at the same group of people over time (Maxfield
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The survey ran for four years between 2002 and 2006. The different points the young people were surveyed were considered waves. The author wanted to identify the relationship through which fear and disorder are linked. The analytic sample by the end of the waves was 1,884 participants’ ages 10 to 15 years old and 1,495 participants’ ages 16 to 25 years old. The restriction of the sample including only 10 to 25 year olds is very different from any other nationally representative survey. Usually surveys that are conducted in England and Wales have individuals aged 16 to 90 plus years old (Brunton-Smith, …show more content…
To measure perceptions of disorder, the author “combined data from six items measured as dichotomies” (Brunton-Smith, 2011, 890). The participants had the choice of choosing 1 for the absence of and 0 for different forms of disorderly behaviors. The six items included were nosey neighbors, teenagers causing problems around the neighborhood, people sleeping on the streets or in public places, people being harassed because of their skin color, drugs (using or buying), and drunkenness (Brunton-Smith, 2011). Another possible independent variable could be age. The age of the respondent was indicated by whether or not they were between 10 years old and 25 years old. The dependent variable was fear of crime. The author measured fear of crime using three items to assess the level of worry for a particular crime. The items were measured on a four point Likert scale. The options on the Likert scale ranged from not at all worried to very worried. For example, “how worried are you about your home being broken into and something stolen?” (Brunton-Smith, 2011,
The survey ran for four years between 2002 and 2006. The different points the young people were surveyed were considered waves. The author wanted to identify the relationship through which fear and disorder are linked. The analytic sample by the end of the waves was 1,884 participants’ ages 10 to 15 years old and 1,495 participants’ ages 16 to 25 years old. The restriction of the sample including only 10 to 25 year olds is very different from any other nationally representative survey. Usually surveys that are conducted in England and Wales have individuals aged 16 to 90 plus years old (Brunton-Smith, …show more content…
To measure perceptions of disorder, the author “combined data from six items measured as dichotomies” (Brunton-Smith, 2011, 890). The participants had the choice of choosing 1 for the absence of and 0 for different forms of disorderly behaviors. The six items included were nosey neighbors, teenagers causing problems around the neighborhood, people sleeping on the streets or in public places, people being harassed because of their skin color, drugs (using or buying), and drunkenness (Brunton-Smith, 2011). Another possible independent variable could be age. The age of the respondent was indicated by whether or not they were between 10 years old and 25 years old. The dependent variable was fear of crime. The author measured fear of crime using three items to assess the level of worry for a particular crime. The items were measured on a four point Likert scale. The options on the Likert scale ranged from not at all worried to very worried. For example, “how worried are you about your home being broken into and something stolen?” (Brunton-Smith, 2011,