Criminology Chapter 2

official sources of crime data

crime data collected by the government and government agencies

unofficial sources of crime data

crime data collected by private or independent agencies / researchers

positivist criminology

collection of data about people that follows the same scientific procedures as data in science

national incident-based reporting system

FBI-coordinated supplementary reporting system

self-report data: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

life-course data: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

life-course data

official crime data, self-reports, psych evals, iq tests

life-history data: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

life-history data

lived experiences of individuals

criminal biographies: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

observation research: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

participant observation research: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

comparative research: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

historical research: unofficial or official source of crime data?

unofficial

uniform crime records: unofficial or official source of crime data?

official

national incident-based reporting system: unofficial or official source of crime data?

official

Why is positivist criminology not a perfect view?

Data doesn't speak for itself

Where and how often are crime records compiled?

Every year in Washington DC by FBI staticians

Does the UCR accurately measure crime rate? Why or why not?

No because of inherent biases, unreported crimes, the exclusion of federal crimes, and voluntary police participation

What do criminologists use to understand the volume and rate of crime?

victimization surveys