The purpose of this research is to determine whether bureaucratic deficiences obstruct the enforcement of drug laws. To this end, the study will survey four groups of professionals (policemen, prosecutors, judges, local politicians) whose occupations place them in a position of having direct experience/knowledge of the impact of bureaucracy on drug law enforcement. This chapter of the study presents all of the methods and procedures that will be used in the collection and analysis of opinion data supplied by these professionals.
This study will use a survey design and a descriptive research approach. According to Best (1981), descriptive research has five characteristics which distinquish it from other types of research. These characteristics are:
1. Descriptive studies are nonexperimental in that they deal with the relationships between nonmanipulated variables in a natural rather than laboratory setting. Since the events or conditions have already occurred, the researcher selects the relevant variables for an analysis of their relationships.
2. Descriptive studies involve hypothesis formulation and testing.
3. Descriptive studies use the logical methods of inductive-deductive reasoning to arrive at generalizations.
4. Descriptive studies employ methods of randomization so that error may be estimated when inferring population characteristics from observations of samples.
5. In descriptive research, the variables and procedures are described as accurately and completely as possible so that the study can be replicated by other researchers.
Subjects will be drawn from a single large U.S. city. The investigator will obtain permission to conduct the study from the relevant bureaus and then, using city documents, records, and files will obtain lists of all city policemen, prosecutors, judges and local politicians. The survey will be sent to all names on the list and those who return the completed surveyes will c...