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Evaluation of the Accomplishments and Impact of the Programs of LEAA in the Areas of Information Systems Development and Statistics Services (NCJISS), Task 5 - An Evaluation of Selected Criminal Justice Documents and Their Utilization of LEAA Statistical Documents and Data

NCJ Number
83142
Author(s)
J R Williams
Date Published
1976
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of an evaluation of selected criminal justice documents which contain statistical information to ascertain the extent to which such documents depended upon and used LEAA statistical reports.
Abstract
Document quality was also reviewed in terms of such factors as comprehensive coverage of criminal justice concerns, innovativeness, relevance to law enforcement and criminal justice needs, and sophistication of statistical data. Three judges who were knowledgeable about the criminal justice system were requested to independently rate and evaluate the sample 47 documents obtained from 18 States. The rating form consisted of a series of factual questions, an evaluation component, and a summary series of ratings. The judged document quality was not high. The quality of documents using LEAA and Uniform Crime Reports data was higher than it was for unreferenced documents. For all documents reviewed, references to LEAA documents occurred 19 percent of the time. Documents funded by LEAA were judged to be of higher quality than documents not funded by LEAA. Four appendixes listing the documents reviewed and LEAA statistical reports along with six tables are included.