Uniform Crime Reports and Sampling Hagan Ch 4 25 questions Survey Research Questionnaires Hagan Ch 5 20 Questions Questionnaires Wording Importance of wording Avoid bias or leading questions The Kinsey Technique Stare into the respondent s eyes ask clear questions Assure respondent that they won t be judged by answering question Counter bias Asking questions in a way that the answer would be socially Organization Put non threatening easy questions first arouse interest attention normal of respondents Interviews and Telephone Survey Hagan Ch 6 22 Questions Telephone Surveys Benefitted greatly as computer tech has improved been incorporated in research CATI Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews software packages o Issues o Advantages Call backs Respondent distractions interruptions Interesting questions throughout the survey No field staff needed Monitoring of interviewer bias Recording Relatively inexpensive o Disadvantages Excludes those without phones Lower response rates compared w interviewers May be hard to get in depth responses Participant Observation Case studies Hagan Ch 7 25 Questions Case Studies In depth qualitative studies of one or a few illustrative cases Life history oral history Journalistic field studies Ex 60 Minutes 20 20 The La Piere Study 4 questions Overview A study on how people act when confronted with a situation versus how they act on a questionnaire Conclusion people will say one thing on a questionnaire for example they would help someone if they tripped but when confronted with the actual occurrence of the event there is no way in telling what that person would actually do Traveled with Chinese friend to see how hotel proprietors would react to the request of letting a Chinese man stay there When called on the phone to ask many times they were told no When they actually showed up to request the hotel most of the time they were able to He concluded that when it came to the in person requests for a hotel it mattered more how the person was presented his dress and properness rather than how he looked his race color etc The Jack London Reading 4 questions Differences between the NIBRS and UCR Incident Based vs Summary Reporting The UCR reports in Part 1 index offenses and Parts 1 and 2 arrest data in summary form NIBRS requires detailed data on individual crimes incidents and arrests receives separate reports for each incident arrest These reports include 52 data elements describing the victims offenders arrestees and circumstances of the crime Expanded Offense Reporting The UCR is a summary based system and collects totals on criminal incidents in 8 offense classifications within Part 1 type NIBRS receives detailed reports on 22 categories and 46 offenses in the Group A list It adds the following list to the original UCR Part 1 type crimes bribery counterfeiting and forgery vandalism drug offenses embezzlement extortion and blackmail fraud gambling offenses kidnapping pornography prostitution non forcible sexual offenses weapons law violations and stolen property In addition many of the Part 1 offenses have been expanded For example the forcible rape category now includes all forcible sexual offenses such as forcible sodomy sexual assault with an object and forcible fondling New Offense Definitions In addition to expanding the original list of the UCR offense categories NIBRS revised the existing definitions of crime Rape is defined as carnal knowledge of a person forcibly and or against the person s will or not forcibly or against the person s will where the victims is incapable of giving the consent of his her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity Greater Specificity of Data NIBRS will lead to greater more detailed analysis of crime criminal profiling and crime reporting The NIBRS will also have the capability of providing breakdowns of the victims cost involvement of weapons injuries and the like innovations that had not been possible in the past Crimes Against Society Whereas the UCR distinguishes between crimes against person and crimes against property the addition of many new offenses This category includes crimes such as drug offenses gambling violations pornography and prostitution Attempted vs Completed Crimes The UCR system reports many attempted crimes as completed ones The NIBRS system will include a designation of each crime as either attempted or completed Designation of Computer Crimes With NIBRS data of the future it will be possible to determine whether a traditional crime for example larceny was committed by computer But this specifically will not eliminate traditional classifications that are important for historical trend analysis Better Statistical Analysis NIBRS will permit a greater opportunity for examining interrelationships between many variables such as offenses property victims offenders and arrestees Questions to Avoid on Surveys The language used in questionnaires must be geared to the target population Care must also be taken to identify clearly who should answer the questions for example head of the household or any adult member of the household Avoid leading questions or biased questions Do you still beat your spouse Avoid double barreled questions questions that are 2 in 1 Such as Do you walk to work or carry your lunch Avoid assuming prior knowledge information on the part of the Respondent One might ask Do you support the Miranda decision Only to discover too late that half of the respondents thought Miranda was a shortstop with the Pittsburgh Pirates Avoid Vague Wording use language with as much common meaning as possible Avoid asking more than you need to know Avoid Response Set Patterns by using Reversal Questions Do not word all questions so that a positive or negative answer is the most desirable otherwise respondents may answer the first few and then check off the remainder in a similar fashion without even reading them The Sealed Ballot Technique In this version you explain that the survey respects people s rights to anonymity in respect to their marital relations and that they themselves are to fill out the answer to the question seal it in an envelope and drop it in a box conspicuously labeled Sealed Ballot Box which is carried by the interviewer The Kinsey Technique Stare firmly into the respondent s eyes and ask in simple clear cut language such as that to which the respondent is accustomed and with an air of assuming everyone has done everything Did you ever kill your wife Put the