Some Research Questions and Rationales: How would you help the researchers to improve the way the search is constructed?

1.  How can I better relate Elizabeth Loftus's work to the DiBiasio case?  This will help my best reader understand the connection between the two seemingly different topics and fields. 

I already have a psychology book and books written by Loftus to use for my research.

2.  I want to find out if there is any research that shows that the burglary statute in Rhode Island might affects a citizen's decision to start shooting at an intruder in a heavily populated area.

I am using JSTOR to see if there is anything from sociologists, criminal justice scholars, or philosophers have to say about this, or if there have been any significant studies linking laws like this to a higher rate of violence.

3) Question: What is the accuracy of lie detector (polygraph) tests?  Why I need to know: To determine if using lie detector tests to prove “reasonable belief” in a self-defense cases would be an successful solution.

What I did to answer it: a. who I talked to b. what did I look for: polygraph tests and government/law/crime  c. what did I use: Lexis-Nexis, Google, Major Newspapers, peer reviewed web-sites
 

4)  Your question for the research: What are the best non-lethal defensive weapons?  Why you want to know?  Information about non-lethal defensive weapons

What you did to answer it?  Nothing yet  What is the answer? Things involving electricity.
 

5)  What would be the best self-defense law, based on the laws of other states and scholarly opinion?   Was Donn lying in wait and did he have the right to do so?

6)  I would like to look more at the idea that gun education and safety classes could promote less gun violence.  I hope to prove that requiring gun owners to attend safety classes will reduce the number of deaths caused by guns.

I think I could find information on this by looking at statistics of developed countries with much fewer gun related deaths (Canada, for example), and trying to find how many gun owners attend safety classes, or if they're required to when they buy a gun. 

7)  How has the anencephalic organ donation evolved from the Baby Gabriel case in 1987?  I want to know the answer to this question; because I want to see if there have been more cases where anencephalic organ donation saved lives. I want to see if more people donate their anencephalic kid’s organs. I also want to find out if the government has passed any laws concerning this type of organ donation.

I used lexis-nexis, worldcat, and also google to find some articles to answer my question.  Lexis-nexis gave me a few articles on anencephalic organ donations in late 90’s. Worldcat gave me some book references for the laws and regulations passed since 1987, however it didn’t give me upright information. Google gave me a bunch of articles from which I only chose the ones that seemed to be credible (organizations and such.) Some of the terms I used to find my information were “anencephalic”, “organ donation”, and “anencephalic law”.

8)  Questions 1: What is the difference between the number of gun related homicides committed in self defense in states with the shoot first policy vs. states without the shoot first policy. In the case of states without the shoot first policy, what is the rule of self-defense in these states? 

Question 2: What do experts consider the most effective means of home and business security measures and/or self-defense weapons? 

Question 3:What training do police officers receive in making judgments and decisions under threat or pressure that civilians gun owners do not receive?

9)  1) What are the current law enforcement training programs, arrest policies, and other such restrictions of authority. This question would better help me explain my position regarding the arrest of Donn DiBiasio.   2) Are there any police responsibilities to help protect and secure a store, especially one selling firearms, after prior robberies and, if any, what are they?  

I looked on sites like JSTOR and found "A Reexamination of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration", a 1975 review by the Stanford Law Review, "The Importance of Training and Education in the Professionalization of Law Enforcement", from The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, "On the Obligation of the State to Extend a Right of Self Defense to Its Citizens", by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 1999, and a couple of other sources. I am a little concerned about the quality of my sources, I wish I could find something a bit stronger, but with the help of the Reference people at the library I think that I might find something better!