Compare and contrast Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) and National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS). What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? How has NIBRS improved upon UCR?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The UCR and NIBRS are both data sources that help provide more information on crime rates. They are both longitudinal data sets. Some of the advantages of the UCR are that it is the largest data set in the United States. UCR includes demographic variables (including age, gender, race/ethnicity, location, and region) and allows researchers to compare changes over time. However, the UCR has its disadvantages. First, it only tracks arrest rates, thus any unreported crime is not calculated into the crime rates. Second, it only collects data on certain types of crimes (versus all forms of crime). Third, in the even that multiple crimes are committed in a single event, only the serious crime is taken into account (hierarchy rule). Fourth, participating my agencies has fluctuated over time. Thus, the NIBRS, addresses some of the UCR’s flaws, such as the hierarchy rule. The disadvantage of the NIBRS system is that that transition of agencies to the system has been slow; it is used in 58% of all police agencies in the Unites States.