A debate is underway among law enforcement officials in state K regard

Question

A debate is underway among law enforcement officials in state K regarding the effectiveness of the state's parole policy. The state currently mandates that all prisoners who have been paroled (released from prison) must see a state-employed parole officer every two weeks for three years after their release from prison. Proponents of the system say that it discourages released felons from engaging in further criminal activity. Opponents of the system say that its deterrent effect on further criminal acts is too small to justify the amount of resources dedicated to the system, which could be reallocated to other programs proven to reduce crime.

Which of the following studies, if conducted properly, would be most useful in resolving the conflict described above?

A. A study determining the socioeconomic background of both first-time and repeat offenders.

B. A study comparing the percentage of released first-time offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole with the percentage of repeat offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole.

C. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state P, where parolees are required to see their parole officers one time per month for five years after release.

D. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of released felons engaging in further criminal activity in state M, which has no parole system.

E. A study on the effectiveness of prison-based job-training programs in helping released convicts find stable jobs.

TaN1213 · Answer

C for me. A comparison of the results in two states , one where the new mandate has  not  been imposed and other where such mandate has been imposed, would help in deciding whether the mandate is effective.

mrdlee23 · Answer

I think D because you want to compare a system with parole and a system without parole.

As for C, I don't think a difference of 12 visits will determine if the resources allocated are justifiable.

aragonn · Answer

Premise:  Parole policy is in question. Now state policy - all prisoners who have been paroled must see a state-employed parole officer every two weeks for three years. view of this policy proponent - it discourages released felons from engaging in further criminal activity
 Opposite :  too much resource are dedicated to program. too small effects.

Which would be most useful in resolving the conflict described above?
 So what exactly is the conflict -  opponent statement created whole conflict. find that strengthen and weaken it.
 what to do now?  - find a choice that one way help proponent and if not, then help opponent.

A. A study determining the socioeconomic background of both first-time and repeat offenders.  ---- may be someone is not even caught and made a repeat offense. this is not right study. 
B. A study comparing the percentage of released first-time offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole with the percentage of repeat offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole.  ---- first-time offenders vs repeat offenders : not the study we are concerned about. 
C. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state P, where parolees are required to see their parole officers one time per month for five years after release.  --- main study says that parole system should be there or not. here it is talking about changing the parole system.  
D. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of released felons engaging in further criminal activity in state M, which has no parole system.   ----- is study correct- yes!. if result of study says that with parole this percentage is very high. means parole system is not good. opponent wins. otherwise proponent wins. this seems the right answer.  
E. A study on the effectiveness of prison-based job-training programs in helping released convicts find stable jobs.  --- out of scope.

ColumbiaEMBA · Answer

Jumping into it:
Sentence 1: there is a debate
Sentence 2: Evidence for S3. Parolees should see officer every 2 weeks. 
Sentence 4: Opposition. Small crime parolees do not warrant cost and/or person count. Resources could mean money here and likely does (own assumption).

Brainstorm answer: would be good to know statistics between engaging in criminal activity with the system vs. without system. Would be also good to see an answer that talks about resources and spend.

A: Repeat is irrelevant 
B: Repeat is irrelevant 
C: Irrelevant - time of how often parolee sees officer does not matter 
 D: Same as brainstorm answer 
E: Miles away from argument's premise/conclusion

arvind910619 · Answer

I think this not a good question as in D we have percentage that creates problem .We can have different number that can validate or invalidate the reasoning .We should have proper number or per thousand to correctly arrive at the answer .

Any thoughts on this ?
If i am wrong please help me understand this one.

Huahua1987 · Answer

I see D being better but I don't like this question.

To resolve the issues, it's crucial to eventually settle the conflict between keeping the parole system and investing in other programs. I think that simply working on whether parole system is good or bad doesn't solve the settlement, especially when the opponents already agree that the parole system has a good, but not good enough, outcome. How would you settle a conflict when you only have a piece of data evidence of one side not both sides?

Emotionally I prefer E. Since the question already gives the fact that the opponents see the good outcome of parole system, a research on other programs could eventually help both sides compare and settle.

The reason I switched because E only mentions one program instead of several.

Feel free to discuss.

tamal99 · Answer

Basically i dont see any logical difference between C & D. As it is proposed that rule may be implemented, before implementation there is no difference.

jayantbakshi · Answer

Hi, is it ok to compare State K with State M (or any other state) as the demographics could e different. Is this an acceptable reasoning? Thanks a lot.

naturalimproviser · Answer

The question stem provides information about the parole state policy in state K, where the paroled criminals are supposed to meet a parole officer once in two weeks till the next three years. The supporters of the policy believe that it helps in reducing crime, where as the opponents of the policy thinks that the resources that are being used to implement such a policy shall be utilized in a better manner.

"The correct answer choice would be the one that shall help us determine if the State's parole policy is actually helpful in reducing crime."

A. A study determining the socioeconomic background of both first-time and repeat offenders.  "Doesn't provide a link between socioeconomic background and the frequency to commit crimes. - OUT OF SCOPE"

B. A study comparing the percentage of released first-time offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole with the percentage of repeat offenders who engage in further criminal activity while on parole.   "Doesn't determine the effectiveness of state K's parole policy" - Incorrect

C. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state P, where parolees are required to see their parole officers one time per month for five years after release.  "Gives a relatively different scenario, we have no clue about the state P's policy or resource utilization. - Incorrect

D. A study comparing the percentage of parolees engaging in further criminal activity in state K with the percentage of released felons engaging in further criminal activity in state M, which has no parole system.  Correct!

E. A study on the effectiveness of prison-based job-training programs in helping released convicts find stable jobs. -  "Irrelevant - OUT OF SCOPE"

Srija221 · Answer

How can we compare percentage of the criminal activity in state K with percentage of the criminal activity of state M?

Because in option D it's a comparison between two different states!

Posted from my mobile device

VerbalBot · Answer

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A debate is underway among law enforcement officials in state K regard

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