The
National Crime Victimization Survey (
NCVS), administered by the
Bureau of Justice Statistics, is a national survey of approximately 77,200 households in the
United States, on the frequency of crime victimization, as well as characteristics and consequences of victimization. The survey focuses on gathering information on the following crimes:
assault,
burglary,
larceny,
motor vehicle theft,
rape, and
robbery. The survey results are used for the purposes of building a
crime index. The NCVS survey is comparable to the
British Crime Survey conducted in the
United Kingdom.
The NCVS began in 1972 and was developed from work done by the
National Opinion Research Center and the
President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. A key finding of the survey was the realization that many crimes were not reported to the police.
Methodology
NCVS surveys households randomly selected from a stratified multistage cluster sample, with the interviews administered by the
United States Census Bureau.
This methodology has some disadvantages for surveying
domestic violence crimes, since the entire selected household (above age 12) is interviewed instead of just one member selected.
The selected household remains in the survey sample for three years, with interviews conducted every six months. Critics also argue that there is no way to verify much of the information gathered.
NCVS also includes supplemental questions, which allow periodic questions to be asked regarding such topics as
school violence or attitudes toward crime or police.
In response to criticism of the survey design, the NCVS was redesigned in the late 1980s. The survey redesign also incorporated improved survey methodology and asks more direct questions. The redesign went through testing and evaluation before being fully implemented in the 1992-1993 survey.
See also
