Crime Survey for England and Wales

Question 1

When is it carried out and how many people are included?

Answer 1

once a year. 50,000 people are interviewed each year, making it one of the largest social surveys in the uk.

Question 2

What is the CSEW?

Answer 2

a victim survey that asks people what crimes they have experienced in the past year, in either face-to-face interviews or over the phone.

Question 3

What percentage of crimes that people have been a victim of do they report?

Answer 3

40%

Question 4

What are the strengths of the CSEW?

Answer 4

• captures undisclosed crime (dark figure of crime).
• longitudinal data for trends.
• focus on public perception and fear of crime.
• broad demographic and socioeconomic data.
• independent of police data.
• it is confidential.
• it is independent of the government so won’t be changed for political gain.

Question 5

What are the weaknesses of the CSEW?

Answer 5

• excludes certain populations eg the homeless.
• sampling and response bias.
• possible underreporting of sensitive crimes.
• 24% of people do not respond.
• people may be unaware they are victims of crime.
• corporate crime is not included.
• people may exaggerate.