My second sub-hypothesis was investigated by using two methods of data collection; questionnaire and security measures map. From my security measures questionnaire I gathered great deal of information to help me prove or disprove my main hypothesis.
The majority of the data collected from the questionnaire shows that Knighton has the greatest amount of security measures. This is also shown on my security measures map as the majority of the houses in the area I selected had a wider selection and greatest amount of security devices when compared to Spinney hill. Therefore the evidence that I have collected has revealed that security measures are higher in Knighton when compared to Spinney Hill thus my sub-hypothesis has been disproved.
My third sub-hypothesis was studied by using two methods. Firstly I used a questionnaire to gain an insight into the opinions of the resident’s questioned on the issue. The information I gathered from this questionnaire shows that the residents questioned believe that unemployment breeds crime and this issue is a problem. However I needed more evidence to show whether this sub-hypothesis was inaccurate or accurate thus I undertook a second technique of creating chloropleth maps of unemployment and crime rates in each ward of Leicester. Having analysed and compared these maps I have found that there is a correlation between these two variables showing that wards with high unemployment had high rates of crime. This therefore shows that my sub-hypothesis is correct as unemployment does breed crime and as a result this indicates that inner city areas like Spinney Hill with a high unemployment rate have a high crime rate.
My fourth sub-hypothesis was explored by using a series of statistical tests. These tests included Chi-squared, Spearman’s Rank and a line graph.
These tests included Chi-squared, Spearman’s Rank and a line graph. Two of these techniques; Spearman’s Rank and the line graph were vague in determining whether the sub-hypothesis was accurate or inaccurate. The successful method of chi-squared technique resulted in a significant correlation between population and crime rate. The test Spearman’s Rank revealed a 95% confidence that there is a significant positive but weak correlation between the two variables.
My line graph was also successful in determining whether the sub-hypothesis was accurate or inaccurate. The line graph indicated a weak but positive correlation between the two variables.
Although the last two techniques were not very strong as they showed a weak correlation between the two sets of data the correlation was positive indicating that there is a relationship present between the pairs of data.
From this I can deduce that although my sub-hypothesis was not disproved, it wasn’t entirely reliable, as the correlation is weak. I can however conclude that a high population results in a high crime rate by basing this on the Chi-squared technique so thus areas in the inner city with a high population like Spinney Hill will accordingly have a high crime rate.
My finally sub-hypothesis was explored by carrying out an environmental quality survey on three random roads in both wards. Having analysed and compared the results collected for each ward I can conclude that the environmental quality appears to be higher in Knighton.
So thus from this evidence I can deduce that my sub-hypothesis was proven to be correct. Therefore this may indicate that with a higher environmental survey quality in Knighton, Knighton being a suburb may have less crimes based on the quality of the environment and thus Spinney hill being an inner city area with more crimes.
Having considered the evidence presented in the main body of my coursework I can deduce that my main hypothesis is an accurate statement. I can safely say this as the majority of my sub-hypotheses tested were correct. In inner city areas crime is substantially higher when compared to the suburbs. This pattern is shown throughout my investigation while I was exploring my sub-hypotheses. I found that in inner city areas like Spinney hill fear of crime is high, the environmental quality is lower, unemployment is high thus this may breed crime and with a higher population, crime rates were also higher when compared to a suburb like Knighton. This pattern is characteristic of areas with high crime rates. With this evidence I can deduce that my main hypothesis of inner city areas having higher crime rates than suburbs is correct.
However not all of my sub-hypotheses were accurate as one was inaccurate and some of the statistical methods I used were a bit vague in producing a firm conclusion. To overcome this problem I feel that I could have made some improvements while carrying out my investigations. While conducting my questionnaires and surveys I only asked 10 residents from each ward. To make the data I collected from these questionnaires and surveys more accurate and reliable I could question more than 10 residents from each ward. This may give me a better representation of the ward as a whole by providing me with more data to analyse.
Overall I feel that this investigation was a success as I was able to utilise data from my primary and secondary research efficiently and resourcefully and thus deduce that my main hypothesis of inner city areas having higher crime rates than suburban areas is correct.
