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Local Victim Surveys: A Review of the Issues

NCJ Number
39973
Author(s)
J Garofalo
Date Published
1977
Length
104 pages
Annotation
This report was written as a response to local criminal justice planners and evaluators who saw the usefulness of victims surveys but who felt that the NCS (National Crime Survey) Program was not meeting local needs completely.
Abstract
Many of these local agency personnel have expressed an interest in conducting victim surveys in their own communities, and some have already conducted such surveys. The main purpose of this report is to familiarize local planners and evaluators who are interested in conducting their own survey with some of the issues that accompany such an endeavor. Included among the issues discussed in the report are the relative utility of various sampling frames and the vital question of sample size; the advantages and disadvantages of in-person interviews, telephone interviews, and mail questionnaires; how the choices of goals and techniques influence survey costs; attempting to optimize the cost/utility balance of local victim surveys; and anonymity, confidentiality, and misleading the respondents. Two appendixes containing data collection instruments and hints for improving mail surveys and an annotated bibliography are also included. (Author abstract modified) (SNI abstract)...EB