Measuring Socioeconomic Status (SES) in the NCVS: Background, Options, and Recommendations

• NCJ Number: 248562
• Author(s): Marcus Berzofsky Dr.PH; Hope Smiley-McDonald Ph.D.; Andrew Moore M.S.; Chris Krebs Ph.D.
• Date Published: January 2014
• Length: 66 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2011-NV-CX-K068
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored

Annotation

This report examines the National Crime Victimization Survey in regard to the impact of socioeconomic status on crime and victimization.

Abstract

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an important source of information on criminal victimization in the United States. Each year, data from a nationally representative sample of about 40,000 households comprising nearly 75,000 persons are obtained on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization. The survey enables the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) to estimate the likelihood of experiencing rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft victimization for the population as a whole, as well as for segments of the population. One of BJS's goals for the NCVS is to continually improve its utility so that victimization can be better understood as crime and its correlates change over time. Recently, BJS has been interested in assessing the measurement of variables that have long been associated with victimization, including factors such as socioeconomic status (SES). The goals of this paper are to: 1) understand how other studies have measured SES and identify variables within the NCVS that could be used to measure or be proxies for SES; 2) explore options for creating an SES index that could enhance BJS's analysis of victimization and its correlates; and 3) assess how components of a potential SES index are currently measured in the NCVS and consider ways in which they can be improved. Section 1 of the report summarizes the literature on how SES has been measured in the scientific literature and how it relates to crime and victimization. Section 2 summarizes the recommended approach for creating a measure of SES via an index that includes imputed income data. Finally, Section 3 recommends changes to the NCVS that would address the current limitations and allow for better measurement of SES and its components.