prep 4.1-4.3

Prep Assignment #4.1: Gender and Victim-Offender Relationship in Assault Cases

Background Story

Researchers collected data on 200 assault cases in your city. For each case, they recorded the gender of the victim and whether the offender was a stranger or a known person (family, friend, partner, etc.).

The contingency table below summarizes the raw counts.

Contingency Table: Victim Gender Offender Relationship

Offender Relationship	Female Victims	Male Victims	Total
Stranger	25	45	70
Known Person	95	35	130
Total	120	80	200

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Guidelines

Instructions

Calculate Column Percentages (Open a New Excel Sheet use it for Calculations)

• For each gender column, compute the percentages of cases involving strangers vs. known persons.

Interpret the Patterns

• Which group (male or female victims) is more likely to be assaulted by someone they know?

Answer the Following Questions:

Column Percentages

• What percentage of female victims were assaulted by someone they knew?
• What percentage of male victims were assaulted by someone they knew?
• What percentage of female victims were assaulted by a stranger?
• What percentage of male victims were assaulted by a stranger?

Comparisons

• Which group (male or female victims) is more likely to be assaulted by a known person?
• Which group is more likely to be assaulted by a stranger?

Interpretation

• What do these differences suggest about the risks faced by women compared to men?
• Why might these patterns matter for criminal justice policies (e.g., prevention strategies, victim support services)?
• How could these findings challenge common stereotypes about violence and victimization?

Add your answers to the Excel sheet in a text box.

Prep Assignment #4.2: Gender and Leadership in Policing

Background Story

A recent study in your city examined the ranks of officers in the police department. While women are increasingly joining the force, questions remain about whether they advance into leadership positions at the same rate as men. Your task is to use the provided dataset to explore whether women officers are equally represented across different ranks.

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Guidelines

Instructions

Open the Police_Department Attached

Dataset

• Review the file. Each row represents an officer, with their rank and gender recorded.

Create a Contingency Table

• Construct a table with Rank as the rows and Gender as the columns.
• Include a Total column/row to see the overall distribution.

Calculate Column Percentages

• Compute percentages within each column (Male and Female).
• This will show, for example, what percentage of all women are Police Officers vs. Lieutenants or Captains.
• Compare this with the mens distribution.

Interpret the Table

• Look for patterns. Ask yourself:
  • Do women appear in the higher ranks (Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Chief) in the same proportion as men?
  • Where are women most heavily concentrated?
  • Which ranks appear hardest for women to reach?

Write a Short Reflection (12 paragraphs)

• Summarize what your contingency table reveals.
• Explain how the Todak 2023 article helps you interpret why women may be underrepresented in leadership positions.
• Reflect on why these disparities might matter for fairness, organizational culture, and policing outcomes.

Note: You do not need to run formal statistical tests for this exercise. The goal is simply to observe differences in the distribution of ranks between men and women using column percentages.

Prep Assignment #4.3: Race/Ethnicity and Traffic Stops

Background Story:

Civil rights advocates and policymakers often debate whether certain racial or ethnic groups are disproportionately stopped by police. Data from a sample of traffic stops in your city were collected, including the drivers race/ethnicity and the outcome of the stop. Your task is to create a contingency table to examine whether patterns of outcomes differ across groups.

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Guidelines

Dataset

Open the

file. Each row represents a traffic stop. Variables:

• Driver Race/Ethnicity: White, Black, Latino, Other
• Stop Outcome: Warning, Citation, Search Conducted, Arrest

Instructions

Create a Contingency Table

• Rows: Stop Outcome
• Columns: Driver Race/Ethnicity
• Add row and column totals.

Calculate Column Percentages

• Show the distribution of outcomes within each racial/ethnic group.
• For example: What percentage of Black drivers stopped were given a warning vs. a search? Compare this to White drivers.

Interpret the Table

• Look for differences:
  • Do some groups appear more likely to receive harsher outcomes (search, arrest)?
  • Are others more likely to receive lenient outcomes (warnings)?
• Identify patterns that might suggest disparities in treatment.

Write a Short Reflection (12 paragraphs)

• Summarize the key disparities you observe.
• Reflect on what these differences might mean for perceptions of fairness and legitimacy in policing.

Note to Students: You are not being asked to run formal statistical tests. The goal is to observe and describe differences in the percentages across groups and think critically about what they imply.

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