The Nation’s Two Crime Measures (http://www
UCR vs. NCVS: a Comparison of the Nation’s Two Leading Crime Measures ( retrieved 9/22/2012)
September 2012
The U.S. Department of Justice administers two statistical programs to measure the magnitude, nature, and impact of crime in the Nation: the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Each of these programs produces valuable information about aspects of the Nation’s crime problem. Because the UCR and NCVS programs are conducted for different purposes, use different methods, and focus on somewhat different aspects of crime, the information they produce together provides a more comprehensive panorama of the Nation’s crime problem than either could produce alone.
Uniform Crime Reports
The UCR Program, administered by the FBI, began in 1929 and collects information on the following crimes reported to law enforcement authorities: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Law enforcement agencies report arrest data for 21 additional crime categories. The UCR Program compiles data from monthly law enforcement reports or individual crime incident records transmitted directly to the FBI or to centralized state agencies that then report to the FBI. The Program thoroughly examines each report it receives for reasonableness, accuracy, and deviations that may indicate errors. Large variations in crime levels may indicate modified records procedures, incomplete reporting, or changes in a jurisdiction’s boundaries. To identify any unusual fluctuations in an agency’s crime counts, the Program compares monthly reports to previous submissions of the agency and with those for similar agencies. The UCR Program presents crime counts for the Nation as a whole, as well as for regions, states, counties, cities, towns, tribal law enforcement, and colleges and universities. This permits studies among neighboring jurisdictions and among those with similar populations and other common characteristics. The FBI annually publishes its findings in a preliminary release in the spring of the following calendar year, followed by a detailed annual report, Crime in the United States, issued in the fall. In addition to crime counts and trends, this report includes data on crimes cleared, persons arrested (age, sex, and race), law enforcement personnel, and the characteristics of homicides (including age, sex, and race of victims and offenders; victim-offender relationships; weapons used; and circumstances surrounding the homicides). Other periodic reports are also available from the UCR Program. The state and local law enforcement agencies participating in the UCR Program are continually converting to the more comprehensive and detailed National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The NIBRS provides detailed information about each criminal incident in 22 broad categories of offenses.
National Crime Victimization Survey
The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) NCVS, which began in 1973, provides a detailed picture of crime incidents, victims, and trends. After a substantial period of research, the BJS completed an intensive methodological redesign of the survey in 1993. The BJS conducted the redesign to improve the questions used to uncover crime, update the survey methods, and broaden the scope of crimes measured. The redesigned survey collects detailed information on the frequency and nature of the crimes of rape, sexual assault, personal robbery, aggravated and simple assault, household burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. It does not measure homicide or commercial crimes (such as burglaries of stores). Two times a year, the U.S. Census Bureau personnel interview household members in a nationally representative sample of approximately 43,000 households (about 76,000 people). Approximately 150,000 interviews of persons age 12 or older are conducted annually. Households stay in the sample for 3 years. New households rotate into the sample on an ongoing basis. The NCVS collects information on crimes suffered by individuals and households, whether or not those crimes were reported to law enforcement. It estimates the proportion of each crime type reported to law enforcement, and it summarizes the reasons that victims give for reporting or not reporting. The survey provides information about victims (age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status, income, and educational level), offenders (sex, race, approximate age, and victim to offender relationship), and the crimes (time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences). Questions also cover the experiences of victims with the criminal justice system, self-protective measures used by victims, and possible substance abuse by offenders. Supplements are added periodically to the survey to obtain detailed information on topics like school crime. The BJS published the first data from the redesigned NCVS in a BJS bulletin in June 1995. The BJS’ publication of NCVS data includes Criminal Victimization in the United States, an annual report that covers the broad range of detailed information collected by the NCVS. The BJS publishes detailed reports on topics such as crime against women, urban crime, and gun use in crime. The National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan archives the NCVS data files to enable researchers to perform independent analyses.
Comparing UCR and the NCVS
Because the BJS designed the NCVS to complement the UCR Program, the two programs share many similarities. As much as their different collection methods permit, the two measure the same subset of serious crimes, defined alike. Both programs cover rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft. Rape, robbery, theft, and motor vehicle theft are defined virtually identically by both the UCR and the NCVS. (Although rape is defined analogously, the UCR Program measures the crime against women only, and the NCVS measures it against both sexes.) There are also significant differences between the two programs. First, the two programs were created to serve different purposes. The UCR Program’s primary objective is to provide a reliable set of criminal justice statistics for law enforcement administration, operation, and management. The BJS established the NCVS to provide previously unavailable information about crime (including crime not reported to police), victims, and offenders. Second, the two programs measure an overlapping but nonidentical set of crimes. The NCVS includes crimes both reported and not reported to law enforcement. The NCVS excludes, but the UCR includes, homicide, arson, commercial crimes, and crimes against children under age 12. The UCR captures crimes reported to law enforcement but collects only arrest data for simple assault and sexual assault other than forcible rape. Third, because of methodology, the NCVS and UCR definitions of some crimes differ. For example, the UCR defines burglary as the unlawful entry or attempted entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft. The NCVS, not wanting to ask victims to ascertain offender motives, defines burglary as the entry or attempted entry of a residence by a person who had no right to be there. Fourth, for property crimes (burglary, theft, and motor vehicle theft), the two programs calculate crime rates using different bases. The UCR rates for these crimes are per capita (number of crimes per 100,000 persons), whereas the NCVS rates for these crimes are per household (number of crimes per 1,000 households). Because the number of households may not grow at the same rate each year as the total population, trend data for rates of property crimes measured by the two programs may not be comparable. In addition, some differences in the data from the two programs may result from sampling variation in the NCVS and from estimating for nonresponse in the UCR. The BJS derives the NCVS estimates from interviewing a sample. The estimates are, therefore, subject to a margin of error. The BJS uses rigorous statistical methods to calculate confidence intervals around all survey estimates. The BJS describes trend data in the NCVS reports as genuine only if there is at least a 90-percent certainty that the measured changes are not the result of sampling variation. The UCR Program bases its data on the actual counts of offenses reported by law enforcement agencies. In some circumstances, the UCR Program estimates its data for nonparticipating agencies or those reporting partial data. Apparent discrepancies between statistics from the two programs can usually be accounted for by their definitional and procedural differences or resolved by comparing NCVS sampling variations (confidence intervals) of those crimes said to have been reported to police with UCR statistics. For most types of crimes measured by both the UCR and NCVS, analysts familiar with the programs can exclude from analysis those aspects of crime not common to both. Resulting long-term trend lines can be brought into close concordance. The impact of such adjustments is most striking for robbery, burglary, and motor vehicle theft, whose definitions most closely coincide. With robbery, the BJS bases the NCVS victimization rates only on robberies reported to the police. It is also possible to remove UCR robberies of commercial establishments such as gas stations, convenience stores, and banks from analysis. When users compare the resulting NCVS police-reported robbery rates and the UCR noncommercial robbery rates, the results reveal closely corresponding long-term trends. Each program has unique strengths. The UCR provides a measure of the number of crimes reported to law enforcement agencies throughout the country. The UCR’s Supplementary Homicide Reports provide the most reliable, timely data on the extent and nature of homicides in the Nation. The NCVS is the primary source of information on the characteristics of criminal victimization and on the number and types of crimes not reported to law enforcement authorities. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each program, it is possible to use the UCR and NCVS to achieve a greater understanding of crime trends and the nature of crime in the United States. For example, changes in police procedures, shifting attitudes towards crime and police, and other societal changes can affect the extent to which people report and law enforcement agencies record crime. NCVS and UCR data can be used in concert to explore why trends in reported and police recorded crime may differ.
How Does the Government Measure Crime? September 2012
The US Dept of Justice administers two national data series: (source: , retrieved 10/2/07 not valid now)
* the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), begun in 1929 and administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
* the National Crime Victimization Survey, administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. NCVS data were first published in 1973.
These data series gather crime data from different sources. The UCR is based on crimes reported to State and local law enforcement agencies. The NCVS is based on a household survey of individuals' experiences with crime victimization, whether or not the incidents were reported to police. The NCVS consistently shows victimization levels higher than the those of the UCR. Besides that missing information, the NCVS provides more detail from the victim's perspective, as a complement to UCR information. The UCR program is being expanded through the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which collects more detail about arrestees and police responses than does the NCVS (see for a copy of the 30-page survey itself).
The NCVS is the Nation's second-largest ongoing household survey. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of roughly 50,000 households comprising nearly 100,000 persons on the frequency, characteristics and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. The survey enables BJS to estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft for the population as a whole as well as for segments of the population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial groups, city dwellers, or other groups. The NCVS provides the largest national forum for victims to describe the impact of crime and characteristics of violent offenders. The survey categorizes crimes as personal or property:
• Personal (rape and sexual assault, robbery, simple and aggravated assault, purse snatching/pocket picking)
• Property (burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft)
In addition to estimating the number of victimizations, the NCVS gathers details on each incident. These include:
• the month, time, and location of the crime
• the relationship between victim and offender
• characteristics of the offender
• self-protective actions taken by the victim during an incident and results of those actions
• consequences of the victimization, including any injury or property loss
• whether the crime was reported to police and reasons for reporting or not reporting
• offender use of weapons, drugs, and alcohol.
Whom does the NCVS interview?
The survey collects its data from a nationally representative sample of individuals age 12 or older living in U.S. households. Basic demographic information, such as age, race, sex, and income, is collected to enable analysis of victimizations of various subpopulations. Interviews are translated for non-English speaking respondents. The NCVS does not cover individuals living in institutions.
How are survey participants selected?
Each month the U.S. Bureau of the Census selects respondents for the NCVS using a "rotating panel"
design. Households are randomly selected, and all age-eligible individuals in a selected household
become part of the panel. Once in the sample, respondents are interviewed every 6 months for a
total of seven interviews over a 3-year period. The first and fifth interviews are face-to-face;
the rest are by telephone when possible. After the seventh interview the household leaves the
panel and a new household is rotated into the sample. The interview takes about 1/2 hour. The
NCVS has consistently obtained a response rate of about 95%.
How do you get people to participate in a survey about such private matters?
Over 95% of the selected households participate. Respondents, both victims and nonvictims, generally understand how their information is important for knowledge about crime victimization.
How does the questionnaire work?
The NCVS questionnaire does more than simply ask participants if they have been victimized by crime. A screening section provides respondents with a series of detailed questions and cues on victimizations and the situations within which crimes may take place. If any screening question elicits a positive response to a crime within the scope of the survey, interviewers collect details about the victimization in an incident report. The screening section describes crimes in simple language, avoiding technical and legal terms such
as aggravated assault. Attempting to elicit an accurate account, interviewers provide respondents with detailed features that may characterize a criminal incident, such as offender behavior, crime location, and whether the offender was a stranger, acquaintance or relative. If a feature produces a positive response, details on the incident are gathered.
When is an incident actually counted as a crime?
When NCVS data are processed, incident report data are classified by elements necessary to define the incident as a crime. If an incident does not satisfy these criteria, it is not counted as a crime.
How are NCVS data used?
NCVS data have informed a wide audience concerned with crime and crime prevention. Researchers at academic, government, private, and nonprofit research institutions use NCVS data to prepare reports, policy recommendations, scholarly publications, testimony before Congress, and documentation for use in courts. Community groups and Government agencies use the data to develop neighborhood watch and victim asistance and compensation programs. Law enforcement agencies use NCVS findings for training. The data appear in public service announcements on crime prevention and crime documentaries. Finally, print and broadcast media regularly cite NCVS findings when reporting on a host of crime-related topics.
More Resources:
(Professor William Trochim’s website)
(Oxford Univ’s Student Researcher’s Toolkit)
(Duke University, how to find info)
(Research guide on the Criminal Justice Education website)
(National Criminal Justice Reference Service)
(resource guide for the National Incident Based Reporting System)
(FBI’s FAQ guide to the National Incident Based Reporting System)
(resource guide for the National Crime Victimization Survey)
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