What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Uniform Crime Report and the National Crime Victimization Survey?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

UCR Strengths:
• The UCR has collected information about criminal incidents of violence reported to the police since 1930 and provides trending data.
• A high percentage of agencies participate.
• SHR is used to provide more detailed information on the most serious crime—homicide.

UCR Weaknesses
• Accurate measurement of crime is questionable due to the following:
• Reports are voluntary—not 100% participation from all agencies.
• Not all crimes are collected/documented.
• Detailed information (e.g., the gender and race of both, the relationship between the victim and offender, the weapon used) is collected for homicides only—not all crimes.
• A large percentage of these victimizations are never reported to police.
• Police are unable to observe all criminal activity.
• There is variation in the recording of “known” crime incidents because of police discretion.

NCVS Strengths
• Captures unreported crime
• Helps identify victimization and offender characteristics
• Provides information about changes in victimization over time
• Provides information on the contexts of victimization including the relationship of victims and offenders and the costs of victimization among other things
• Improved methods in collecting data—representative findings allow for generalization

NCVS Weaknesses
• Collects data on households only—not businesses
• Collects data for those 12 and older only
• May have inaccuracies due to memory recall
• Validity of IPV victimizations are questioned.