An Update on Efforts to Modernize the National Crime Victimization Survey Instruments

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) initiated a multiyear effort to improve the efficiency, reliability, and utility of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The effort had three main goals: modernize the organization and content of the NCVS instrument, increase the quality of information collected and efficiency of the instrument flow, and improve the measurement and classification of crime. The panel will provide a summary of the instrument redesign effort and methodological changes under consideration. Panelists will describe recent progress and key decisions for the new instrument. A high-level overview of the testing efforts on the new instrument and key findings from the NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test will be presented. Finally, testing efforts focused on juvenile comprehension, the use of proxy interviews for juveniles, and strategies to improve measurement of juveniles’ experiences with victimization will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Area XI. Methodology / 78. Advances in Quantitative Methods

Individual Presentations

• Update on the NCVS Instrument Redesign - Jennifer Truman, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Heather Brotsos, Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Crime Victimization Estimates from a Field Test of a Redesigned NCVS Instrument - Sherman Edwards, Westat; David Cantor, Westat; Pamela Giambo, Westat; Jennifer Truman, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Heather Brotsos, Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Redesigning and Testing Revised Questions to Measure Rape and Sexual Assault on the National Crime Victimization Survey - David Cantor, Westat; Sherman Edwards, Westat; Pamela Giambo, Westat; Darby Steiger, Westat; Jennifer Truman, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Heather Brotsos, Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Improving Juvenile Participation in the National Crime Victimization Survey: Lessons Learned from Juvenile Crime Victims and their Parents - Grace Kena, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Christine Lindquist, RTI International; Sarah L. Cook, RTI International; Chris Krebs, RTI International

Chair

• Heather Brotsos, Bureau of Justice Statistics