Chapter 4 - Uniform Crime Reports & Sampling Flashcards
As stated in lecture, what are some alternatives for gathering data?
Social surveys, participant observation, case studies, life histories, measures that don’t attract attention
What is the Uniform Crime Report (UCR)?
An FBI compilation and publication of national crime statistics recorded by the police (most widely cited on crime)
What does Part 1 of the UCR consist of?
-Index crimes which consists of the violent crime index and property crime index
What crimes are listed in the violent crime index?
-forcible rape
-aggravated assault
-robbery
-murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
What crimes are listed in the property crime index?
-burglary
-larceny-theft
-arson (listed
-motor vehicle theft
What kinds of crimes are in Part 2 of the UCR?
non-index crimes (simple assault, vandalism, gambling, drunkness)
According to the UCR, what violent crime is committed the most?
aggravated assault
According to the UCR, what property crime is committed the most?
larceny-theft
Out of violent crime and property crime, which is committed the most?
property crime
what is a crime rate?
A rate expressed as the number of crimes per unit population, usually per 100,000
According to lecture, what factors affect the UCR?
-stats recorded are only a portion of the true crime rate
-increase in crime rate beginning in 60s - 70s resulted due to better communication, recording, and reporting of crimes
-most federal crimes, victimless crimes (ex: prostitution), and white-collar crimes are not contained in the UCR
What was the major change of UCR?
its conversion to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
What are some factors associated with the decline in the crime rate in the 90s
-healthy economy
-crime prevention programs
-decline in domestic violence
-incarceration binge
-compstat and community policing
-decline in crack epidemic
-abortion
What are hot spots?
high-crime areas where police can concentrate their efforts
According to the textbook, what eight things does NIBRS provide?
-A broad range of crime data
-Victimization data categorized by age and type of crime
-Data on victim-offender relationships.
-Info on the timing of victimizations
-Data on victimizations involving weapons.
-Data on co-occurring victimizations in a single incident
-Data on case clearances.
-A more complete picture of crime and victimization
What is the hierarchy rule?
If multiple crimes take place in a single incident, only the most serious crime is recorded
What is the Office for Victims of Crime e-bulletin for?
Designed to aid victim services organizations in understanding the importance of crime date in their work
What is the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?
A survey to try to figure out the dark figure of crime
What is The National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X)?
A program consisting of nationally representative incident-based crime data that can generate detailed national estimates of the volume and characteristics of crime known to law enforcement
What is sampling?
selecting a subset of observations from among many possible observations for other purpose of drawing conclusions about the larger set of possible observations of a population
What is a sampling frame?
Complete list of population under investigation
What are the four major types of probability sampling procedures?
-Simple random
-Stratified random
-Cluster
-Systematic (Multistage)
What are the four major types of nonprobability sampling procedures?
-Quota
-Accidental
-Purposive
-Snowball
What are probability samples?
samples that permit estimation of the probability of each element (usually a person) of the population
According to lecture, what are the 2 types of sampling?
- Probability samples
- Stratified random samples
What are simple random samples?
each element has an equal probability of being selected in a population (Equal Probability of Selection Method [EPSEM])
According to lecture, what is the big advantage and disadvantage of simple random samples?
advantage- enables the use of statistical procedures
disadvantage- need sampling frame to generate this kind of sample
What are stratified random samples?
relies on knowledge of the distribution or proportion of the population characteristics to choose a sample that assures the representativeness of these characteristics
As mentioned in lecture, what are two types of stratified samples?
- proportionate- ex: if population is 25% female in it, the sample has 25% females
- disproportionate- oversampling, taking a larger than proportionate number of cases to make sure there are enough for statistical procedures
What is cluster sampling?
A sampling of areas or sections in face-to-face interviews
What is systematic sampling?
Involves selecting every nth item in a list to be included in the sample
What is multistage sampling?
Combination of stratified, cluster, simple random, and other sampling procedures
What is a nonprobability sample?
any sampling procedure that violates the EPSEM rule
What is a quota sample?
Nonprobability stratified sample in which the researcher attempts to ensure that sample proportions, for example, age, sex, and race, resemble those in the population
What are accidental (aka: haphazard/convenience) samples?
-sampling of convenience in which the researcher makes little attempt to ensure the representativeness of the sample
-person on the-street interviews
What are purposive (judgemental samples)
sample based on the researcher’s needs; includes focus groups and mock jurists
What is snowball sampling?
obtains a first subject and on the basis of this subject obtains entree and intro to other subjects (what Lehman has used for his weed research)
What is deviant case sampling?
find cases that are not representative of the whole
What is sequential sampling?
like purposive sampling. keep finding cases until time, financial resources or energy is exhausted
What is the central limit theorem?
tells us that the sampling distribution (of the mean) is normally distributed even if the population from which the sample was drawn is not (Sample has to be 30 cases or more)
