Debates about guns tend to revolve around these two issues: 1. Violent victimization 2. Defensive gun use Some of these debates are moral ones. For example, imagine that a ban on guns was enacted, and everyone turned in their guns. There were no more guns in the United States. However, people still used other weapons. An intruder breaks into a womans home, threatens her with a bat, and commits a rape. She says, Before the gun ban, I had a handgun by my bed. I could have stopped him. We need guns for safety even if some people might be killed in violent gun crimes. Her neighbor says, Well, before the gun ban my son was killed in a mass shooting. We need to ban guns even if that means some people cannot defend themselves. This is a moral, ethical argument, but it is not a research argument. Your job is to tell me, in approximately two paragraphs, how you would answer the following research question: How many defensive gun uses were there in 2019? This research question is descriptive in nature. You are just describing the data. Most research questions are not descriptive, but we will start here because they are easy. For this assignment you are to explain how you would go about determining or estimating the number of defensive gun uses in 2019. You are NOT answering the question. You are just explaining the steps you would take to answer this question. For the purposes of this assignment, assume that you have up to two years to answer the question. Your assignment must explain the steps you would take to answer the research question. You should also explain your rationale for those steps (i.e., why did you choose that way to answer the question). Finally, you should discuss the challenges of answering the question using your method. There is no right or wrong answer here. The goal is to get you thinking about research methods before you learn about research methods. You are only assessed on demonstration of effort and taking the question seriously.
