Uniform Crime Victimization Survey

Unfortunately, all of the primary methods of collecting crime data experience inherent flaws, either in the attributes data collected, or the methodology for collecting data. Ideally, a centralized database combining quantitative, qualitative, and geographic attributes would provide the best measure of statistical analysis relating to crime. However, this is near impossible to accomplish, as crime definitions vary from state to state, and there is standardized methodology for local law enforcements with regard to reporting crime (Fagin, 2016). In the case of the Uniform Crime Report, published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the data only represents a quantitative analysis of crimes reported by law enforcement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The data collected provides virtually no information on the characteristics of the crime or its victim(s) (Chilton & Jarvis, 1999). Furthermore, the Uniform Crime Report is an inaccurate representation, as it does not account for the dark figure of crime statistics, which are crimes that go unreported to law enforcement for a variety of reasons (Fagin, 2016)
Likewise, the National Crime Victimization survey is flawed, but for different reasons.
Although the NCVS does provide a more qualitative analysis, with particular regard to victimization, the method of data collection presents problems. First, the NCVS relies on data that is self-reported by the victim, which could potentially be inaccurate (Fagin, 2016). Additionally, the survey does not provide any information regarding the geographic location of the crime itself (Fagin, 2016). Finally, the problem of unreported crime remains; if the victim did not report the crime to anyone originally, it is highly unlikely they will report the crime on the survey (Fagin,
2016). Perhaps the best currently available crime statistic method is the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The NIBRS is an attempt to remedy the traditional flaws associated with the Uniform Crime Report, by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data regarding the crime, as well as offender and victimization information (Chilton & Jarvis, 1999). Crime is classified into twenty categories, which are further sub-classified into forty-six offenses. However, even the NIBRS suffers from some of the same problems that both the UCR and NCVS suffer from, primarily, the fact that it relies on voluntary cooperation from law enforcement agencies (Chilton & Jarvis, 1999). Despite the fact that the NIBRS is still not a perfect system, it does provide the most comprehensive and qualitative analysis of crime statistics currently available.