Whether to include research in an essay which doesn't directly ask for it

I've got an essay to do for criminology and the title it:
'Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of sociological explanations of crime' and i was wondering as it didn't say 'with reference to relevant research' should i be including studies in the essay?
I feel like in certain places it could be beneficial to the essay for example when discussing the strengths of a particular theory, backing it up with evidence from a study/research. Do you think this will gain marks or not?
Any help/advice would be appreciated, thanks