Statistics
UCR and Self-Report Data
Complete the matrix below. To complete this matrix, list two pros and two cons of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data and two pros and two cons of self-report data.
Statistical Information
Pros
Cons
Official Information: Uniform Crime Report (UCR)
According to “Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics” (n.d.), ” The UCR Program collects statistics on violent crime (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft)”.
“By congressional mandate, arson was added as the eighth Part I offense in 1979. Arson statistics are not available for access on this site” (“Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics”, n.d.).
Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the various unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction (“Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics”, n.d.).
According to “Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics” (n.d.), “Until data users examine all the variables that affect crime in a town, city, county, state, region, or other jurisdiction, they can make no meaningful comparisons.”
Unofficial Information: Self-Report Data
“The great advantage of self-report is that it gives you the respondents’ own views directly” (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005).
The Essay on Juvenile Crime Statistics 2
For simple assault among juveniles there has been little progress in declines since 1980, it has actually rose 156% between 1980 and 1997. There was little decline through 2002 only to rise again in 2006. The past two years since 2006 it has decreased by 10% in 2008, but still is substantially higher since its low in 1980 at still about 146% rise. Violent crimes have been on the rise for both male ...
“The self-report methods can be used to obtain information in situations where observational data are not normally available” (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005).
“People are not always truthful or forth coming with information during studies” (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005).
“The research participants may not be able to provide the level of detail, or use the concepts, that the researcher is interested in” (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005).
Web Resources
Identify one Web resource of official information and one Web resource of unofficial information about the occurrence of delinquency in the United States. Copy and paste the URL addresses into the spaces provided.
Official Information
URL of Web site: http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/ranking.cfm
Name of Web site: Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics
Unofficial Information
URL of Web site: http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/barker/supp/excerpt.pdf Name of Web site: Self-Report Methods
