418 – From Survival Analysis to Survey Research
What's Missing? Analysis of NCVS Missed Crimes Results 2012 to 2017
Alan Peterson
U.S. Census Bureau
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a household survey conducted to provide national level personal victimization and property crime rates from a general population sample. Data are gathered on the types and incidence of crime; monetary losses and physical injuries due to crime; characteristics of the victims; and characteristics of the offender. Survey results are subject to differing measurement errors, one of those indicators being missed crimes. Missed crimes are crimes that were reported during subsequent reinterview of a household that were not reported during the initial NCVS interview. Four measures of missed crime estimates created are: the number of missed crimes, the estimated proportion of missed crimes, the number of households with missed crimes, and the proportion of households with missed crimes. This paper examines the processes used to create missed crime estimates for the years 2012 through 2017, noting yearly trends as well as the household, person and interviewer characteristics found when identifying missed crimes. Analysis will provide insight into whether NCVS processes are a factor in properly screening for crime victimization reporting.