NCJ Number
220701
Date Published
2007
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This chapter reviews the evolving nature and challenges of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), as well as the direction the survey will likely take in the future.
Abstract
The NCVS remains a reliable source of information about the extent and nature of crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics characterizes the NCVS as "the Nation's primary source of information on criminal victimizations." The improvements introduced in the 1992 survey redesign set the stage for the NCVS to flourish as a tool for providing an understanding of the nature and extent of crime in the United States; however, funding shortfalls continue to impede the possibility of a full assessment of the impact of the redesign, or to study the impact of various aspects of the survey's methodology. The NCVS is longer and more comprehensive and uses a different crime-screening protocol than the original survey; it maintains a close resemblance to the original NCS survey that was considered state-of-the-art at the inception 34 years ago. The stability in methodology has positive as well as negative ramifications. It enables analyses of trends and changes in characteristics over an extended period, however it is no longer considered state-of-the-art, and BJS has been unable to revitalize its ability to address changing societal conditions, or to take advantage of improvements in survey methods and data collection. This chapter reviews some of the survey's history and methodology, discusses evaluations that are being undertaken currently, and explores the possible direction that the survey may take in the future. Figures, notes, references