THE TARGET POPULATION FOR THE SAFE SCHOOL STUDY, CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, WAS ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS. THE VICTIMIZATION SURVEY METHOD, ADOPTED DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF A UNIFORM AND DETAILED SYSTEM OF RECORDING CRIME IN SCHOOLS, MEASURED THE NUMBER OF TIMES A GIVEN RESPONDENT WAS A VICTIM OF A SPECIFIED INCIDENT FOR A STATED REPORTING PERIOD. SEPARATE VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS WERE DESIGNED AND CONDUCTED FOR SCHOOL PRINCIPALS (INCLUDING INFORMATION ON BUILDINGS), TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS. INFORMATION WAS OBTAINED ON PERSONS, SCHOOLS, AND PROPERTY WITH RESPECT TO DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIAL, AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. ADDITIONALLY, DATA WERE COLLECTED ON VARIABLES RELATED TO VICTIMLESS INCIDENTS, SUCH AS DRUG USE. THE OVERALL RESPONSE RATE FOR SCHOOLS WAS 75 PERCENT. SEVEN DIFFERENT SURVEYS WERE CONDUCTED INVOLVING MAIL SURVEY, ONSITE SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE, ONSITE INTERVIEW, AND INDEPTH CASE STUDY TECHNIQUES. SECTIONS OF THE APPENDIX ON THE STUDY METHODOLOGY DEAL WITH THE SAMPLE DESIGN AND SELECTION, WEIGHTING PROCEDURES, DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURES, DATA PREPARATION, DATA ANALYSIS, AND MEASUREMENT ERROR SURVEYS. PARTS OF THE APPENDIX ON SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS AND INSTRUMENTS USED IN THE STUDY CONCERN THE DESIGN OF THE PILOT SURVEY PLAN, THE LITERATURE REVIEW, THE SAMPLE DESIGN OF THE STUDY, DEFINITION OF LOCATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL DOMAINS IN SAMPLE SELECTION, STUDY INSTRUMENTS, DEFINITIONS OF OPEN-ENDED CATEGORIES USED IN STUDY INSTRUMENTS AND SURVEY OPERATIONS, SURVEY OPERATIONS CORRESPONDENCE (STATE, DISTRICT, AND SCHOOL LEVELS), MACHINE EDIT CONSISTENCY AND EDIT RANGE CHECKS, MACHINE EDIT STUDY INSTRUMENT ROUTING PATTERNS, STUDY INSTRUMENT INSTRUCTIONS, DATA FILE CODE BOOKS, AND FORMULAS FOR STUDY ESTIMATES AND THEIR SAMPLING ERRORS. A GLOSSARY IS INCLUDED. (DEP)