Comparison of Annual Incidence Rates and Contextual Characteristics of Intimate-Partner Violence Against Women From the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS)

• NCJ Number: 184489
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 6 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 839-867
• Author(s): Ronet Bachman
• Date Published: August 2000
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article compares annual incidence rates and contextual characteristics of intimate-partner violence against women from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) and the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS).

Abstract

Both surveys made it clear that women were more likely to be victimized by intimates and those known to them than by strangers. The NCVS had the advantage of a large ongoing sample, but the NVAWS provided information not obtainable from the NCVS and was able to incorporate a wider range of questions to allow examination of women’s experiences with violence across their lifetimes. The article considers it not surprising that surveys differing in methodology also differ in their findings, and calls for a better understanding of this by both policymakers and the media. It also recommends that reports about violence against women provide information about the way questions were asked and information gathered because data can be highly sensitive to both the actual wording of a survey question and the data collection method. Making this information available may allow and perhaps even encourage data users to have more insight into the meaning of the numbers presented. Tables, notes, references