THE SURVEY SAMPLE OF 1,000 IS DRAWN ON A SYSTEMATIC RANDOM BASIS FROM THE STATE'S COMPUTERIZED DRIVERS' LICENSE FILE. THE RESPONSE RATE WAS 84.4 PERCENT FOR THE FIRST SURVEY, 84.7 PERCENT FOR THE SECOND. WHEN THE THIRD SURVEY PROVIDED FOR SPANISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE, THE RESPONSE RATE ROSE TO 85.6 PERCENT. SURVEY DATA ARE USED TO DEVELOP THE TEXAS CRIME VICTIM INDEX, WHICH MEASURES THE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION VICTIMIZED BY CRIME. THE OVERALL PATTERN OF CRIME UNCOVERED IN THE VICTIM SURVEY IS SIMILAR TO THAT REFLECTED IN POLICE STATISTICS. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CRIME VOLUME ESTIMATES BASED ON THE VICTIM SURVEYS AND THOSE BASED ON OFFICIAL STATISTICS, THE TEXAS DATA INDICATE THAT REPORTED CRIME IS NOT THE PROVERBIAL 'TIP OF THE ICEBERG.' PATTERNS OF UNREPORTED CRIME FOUND IN THE TEXAS SURVEY ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE FOUND IN THE NATIONAL CRIME SURVEY (NCS). THE COST OF THE TEXAS SURVEY IS ABOUT $3 PER COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE. ALTHOUGH THE ACCURACY OF THE VICTIM INDEX HAS YET TO BE CONCLUSIVELY DEMONSTRATED, THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT, ONCE THE SURVEY PROGRAM COMPLETES ITS DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE, THE INDEX WILL PROVE REASONABLY ACCURATE. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING A MEASURE OF CRIME IN THE STATE, THE SURVEY OFFERS A VARIETY OF STATISTICS (REPORTING, LOSSES DUE TO CRIME, FEAR OF CRIME, DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES) USEFUL TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY ADMINISTRATORS AND PLANNERS AND OF INTEREST TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. GRAPHS COMPARING TEXAS SURVEY FINDINGS WITH UNIFORM CRIME REPORT AND NCR STATISTICS ARE INCLUDED, TOGETHER WITH A LIST OF REFERENCES. (LKM)