This report provides an overview of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Instrument Redesign and Implementation efforts for juveniles aged 12 to 17 years; it provides an in-depth analysis of the three research tasks of the NCVS with a final section that summarizes the overall conclusions and areas of potential concern relating to youth participation as respondents in the NCVS, cognitive interviewing, and child self-reporting of victimization.
As part of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Redesign Research and Development Program, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) engaged with RTI International on a number of research tasks designed to produce knowledge and findings toward improving participation and the measurement of victimization among youth ages 12 to 17. The NCVS is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of households including persons age 12 or older. This report summarizes the following research tasks and how they can be used to inform improvements to the NCVS: (1) secondary data analysis, (2) cognitive interviewing, and (3) a proxy study.