The national crime victimization survey: 34 years of measuring crime in the United States

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Rand, Michael^{; 1}

Affiliations: US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 7th Street N.W., Washington DC 20531, USA. Tel.: +1 202 616 3494; Fax: +1 202 307 1463; E-mail: [email protected]

Note: [1] Paper prepared for the Siena Group on Social Statistics meeting in Helsinki, February 2005. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the US Bureau of Justice Statistics or the US Department of Justice.

Abstract: The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the primary source of information on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. The NCVS was initiated in 1972 because official sources of crime statistics were deemed inadequate to measure the extent and nature of the Nation's crime problem as it existed at the time. Since its inception, the survey has undergone almost constant change, including an extensive redesign implemented in 1992. This paper reviews the history and methodology of the NCVS, and discusses the changes made to the survey and their impact upon survey estimates.

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-2006-23406

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 289-301, 2006