EPHUMA247 Law in Action
Task:
Your task as a researcher.
Step 1. Summary/Description of one Criminal Myths topic.
You need to imagine that your editor has asked you to do some preliminary research by selecting one of the above four topics produced by the BBC in Criminal Myths (accessible through the links provided above and/or in the Assessment 3 resources) and creating a summary of it in your own words. This summary should be organised in a logical flow that lets the editor grasp the overall message of the topic in about 200ish words. It should focus on the main ideas and include any key supporting details mentioned in the BBC piece. You need to be mindful of the overall message -for example, Topic 4 can be read as being about the relationship between mental illness and violent crimes generally, not just mass shootings (which are comparatively rare in Australia). Please note this summary should not contain your personal opinion of your selected topic. It is more of a description, an introductory background and therefore ‘what, when, who and where’ should be included.
Step 2. Summary of 2 journal articles
The editor then requires you to research the above summarised topic and find evidence relating to the current situation in Australia. In order to do this your editor requires 2 relevant journal articles to be found and summarised in about 150 of your own words. The articles both need to contain Australian evidence and research, these can be mixed content, but very importantly they must include some Australian content. If either summary does not address Australian information, and make clear what this information is, then the editor will not read it. Also, if either article is not particularly relevant, then the editor will not be impressed, and you may lose your imaginary job. Even worse you will lose real marks under the requirements of the rubric, so do not use the first article that you find that may be vaguely relevant. Be selective, do not let those other researchers find better material and show up your lack of research skills and dedication to the task. Further to this, for the research to be authentic and current enough for the website, the editor will only accept articles that have been published from 2015 onwards. You will need to perfectly reference your summary of each article according to AGLC4 footnoting where indicated in the template, so the editor can find the articles later. You will also need to include a Bibliography entry for these articles as well as the original BBC topic article that you use (see sample answer at the end of these instructions).
Step 3. Critical analysis of journal articles.
After summarising each journal article, you need to evaluate the information and let the editor know your opinion on how your Australian evidence compares to what is said in your selection from Criminal Myths, and generally what the journal article says about the topic. This is known as critical analysis and it is your own subjective writing because it expresses your evaluation of an article. It may be that, in your opinion, the journal article supports your selected and summarised Criminal Myths topic, it may be that your new evidence refutes the original’s arguments. Please be very mindful that this section is not just a summary of your previous summary, but an analysis that weighs up one piece of information against another and evaluates the significance of the information.
