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Police Records Study Methodology

NCJ Number
152210
Author(s)
A J Sedlak; L Mohadjer; J McFarland; V Hudock
Date Published
1990
Length
124 pages
Annotation
This report documents the methodology used in the Police Records Study (PRS), conducted under the auspices of the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children (NISMART).
Abstract
The Missing Children's Assistance Act of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act classified five categories of missing children cases: family abductions, nonfamily abductions, thrownaways, runaways, and children lost or missing for other reasons. The PRS involved a survey of police records to provide a national estimate of nonfamily abductions known to law enforcement agencies. The study was conducted in a nationally representative sample of 21 counties, reflecting 20 primary sampling units. Records were selected based on whether they fit into a carefully framed set of study criteria. This report describes data collection methods, countability criteria, and methods of weighting and estimating the data. During the study, special attention was paid to a subset of four counties, where an enlarged set of record types was examined. 12 tables, 1 figure, and 3 appendixes