NCJ Number
122173
Editor(s)
D L MacKenzie,
P J Baunach,
R R Roberg
Date Published
1990
Length
278 pages
Annotation
This book discusses and critically evaluates three major Federal crime data collection efforts; examines issues of measurement and analysis in research with large criminal justice data bases; and discusses large-scale, long-range data bases in the past and in the future.
Abstract
Part I contains five chapters that discuss and critically evaluate the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the National Crime Survey of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Survey of Inmates of Adult State Correctional Facilities and the Census of State Adult Correctional Facilities. The strengths and weaknesses of these data sets are reviewed from the perspectives of both the technique in general and each specific data collection effort. Three chapters in Part II relate to issues of measurement and analysis in research with large data bases: secondary data analysis, microcomputers, and the reliability and validity of data. In Part III, two chapters discuss the use of large-scale, long-range data bases in the past and in the future. The book notes that the future challenge involves the development of complex research methodology, statistical theory, and computer technology, along with the development of cooperative interactions among policymakers, researchers, and theoreticians. Chapter references, subject index. For individual chapters, see NCJ 122174-83.