National Crime Survey Index of Crime Severity, 1977

• NCJ Number: 104623
• Author(s): M E Wolfgang; R M Figlio; P Tracy; S I Singer
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 148 pages
• Corporate Author: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This manual presents an executive summary, methodological features, and data file content and record layout for a study of the U.S. public's rating of the severity of various murder, rape, and petty theft offenses.

Abstract

The data collection was conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Survey over 6 months beginning in July 1977. The survey included 60,000 persons 18 years old or older. Each person rated 25 crimes, but not every respondent had the same 25 offenses. Overall, 204 items, each of which was illegal in at least one State, were rated. A single severity score was developed for each of the 204 items. The executive summary lists the severity score for each of the 204 offenses. In addition to interview forms, the manual contains a discussion of the item, version, and aggregation effects in the national pretest and a statement of reliability and standard errors for the estimates. The attached data file content and record layout contains columns for each item, source code, word, digit, characters, and item and codes.