Understanding Crime Statistics: Revisiting the Divergence of the Ncvs and the Ucr

In Understanding Crime Statistics, Lynch and Addington draw on the work of leading experts on U.S. crime statistics to provide much-needed research on appropriate use of this data. Specifically, the contributors explore the issues surrounding divergence in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which have been the two major indicators of the level and of the change in level of crime in the United States for the past 30 years. This book examines recent changes in the UCR and the NCVS and assesses the effect these have had on divergence. By focusing on divergence, the authors encourage readers to think about how these data systems filter the reality of crime. Understanding Crime Statistics builds on this discussion of divergence to explain how the two data systems can be used as they were intended - in complementary rather than competitive ways.

Author: James P. Lynch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 12/01/2006
Pages: 356
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.11lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.34w x 0.86d
ISBN: 9780521680417

About the Author
Lynch, James P.: - James P. Lynch is co-author (with Albert D. Biderman) of Understanding Crime Incidence Statistics: Why the UCR Diverges from the NCS and (with Rita J. Simon) of Immigration the World Over: Statutes, Policies and Practices. He has published in many journals including Criminology, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and Justice Quarterly.Addington, Lynn A.: - "Lynn A. Addington's recent work has appeared in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology and Homicide Studies and has been supported by grants from the American Education Research Association (National Center for Education Statistics - National Science Foundation), the American Statistical Association, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the National Institute of Justice."