Open Science in the Study of Crime and Place

• In Event: Crime and Place: Open Data and Open Science in Studying Crime and Place

Abstract

Existing literature demonstrates that studying local features of crime can offer substantial academic and practical benefits for understanding and preventing crime. However, much research in this area is hampered by lack of access to sufficiently detailed local crime data, and what research exists tends to focus on a single city per study. Recent campaigns under the banner of 'open data' have led many municipalities to begin to open up their crime data to researchers in ways not previously possible. At the same time, the open science movement is advocating the use of open data as part of a wider agenda to make research more accessible and reproducible. This paper will demonstrate the potential that these developments have to further crime and place research, for example by allowing the study of local crime environments across multiple

Author

• Matthew P J Ashby, Nottingham Trent University