This assessment report conducted by the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) was published in connection with the third-party report on the results of a BJS Pilot Test of a new methodology for measuring rape and sexual assault that would collect more accurate statistics on the nature and frequency of those crimes.
This report evaluates the methodology of the rape and sexual assault Pilot Test, and it provides context for interpreting data presented in the study, Methodological Research to Support the National Crime Victimization Survey: Self-Report Data on Rape and Sexual Assault – Pilot Test. BJS funded the methodological research to develop and test a new methodology for measuring rape and sexual assault, with the goal of collecting more accurate statistics on the nature and frequency of those crimes. The Pilot Test provided important findings that have helped to inform BJS's ongoing efforts to improve the measurement of rape and sexual assault in the National Crime Victimization Survey. The third-party report detailing the results of the Pilot Test does not provide official government statistics, nor does it provide nationwide statistics.