AC 1.6 Evaluate methods of collecting statistics about crime
Home Office statistics: Reliability
Police recorded crime The home offices provide official police recorded
Explanation: crimes which are generally regarded as being
The home office publishes reliable because the police officers follow the same
official figures of levels of procedures.
crime and trends across However, officers may record crimes in different ways
England and Wales. or classify crimes differently. Likewise, different forces
Every month each force may define a crime differently leading to less reliable
reports to the Home data.
Office the number of They only include the crimes that they record since
crimes they have they don’t record all that is reported to them as well
recorded in their area. as it not including the dark figure of unreported
These figures are sent to crime. This means that the results are not close to the
the Office for National true value of crime.
Statistics, who publish final
Validity
statistics for the whole
According to the CSEW , people only report about
country.
40% of the crimes they have been victims of. In
The police recorded 3.7
addition, the police don’t record all crimes, they only
million offences in 2012.
record about 60% of the crimes that people report to
them. Both under-reporting and recording of crime
make the Home Office statistics that are based on
police recorded crime less valid because not a
wholly true picture of the amount of crime actually
committed.
Ethics of research
The crimes are anonymous and the people involved
can’t be identified. There are no ethical problems
with this as the offenders and victims have their right
to privacy and aren’t identifiable via the statistics or
website.
Purpose of research
If the purpose of the home office statistics is to give us
a reliable and valid picture of the number of crimes
committed, then it fails. Likewise, the statistics only
inform us about the number of crimes, rather than
helping us understand any other issues such as fear of
crime.
The statistics inform officials about what crime is on
Home Office statistics: Reliability
Police recorded crime The home offices provide official police recorded
Explanation: crimes which are generally regarded as being
The home office publishes reliable because the police officers follow the same
official figures of levels of procedures.
crime and trends across However, officers may record crimes in different ways
England and Wales. or classify crimes differently. Likewise, different forces
Every month each force may define a crime differently leading to less reliable
reports to the Home data.
Office the number of They only include the crimes that they record since
crimes they have they don’t record all that is reported to them as well
recorded in their area. as it not including the dark figure of unreported
These figures are sent to crime. This means that the results are not close to the
the Office for National true value of crime.
Statistics, who publish final
Validity
statistics for the whole
According to the CSEW , people only report about
country.
40% of the crimes they have been victims of. In
The police recorded 3.7
addition, the police don’t record all crimes, they only
million offences in 2012.
record about 60% of the crimes that people report to
them. Both under-reporting and recording of crime
make the Home Office statistics that are based on
police recorded crime less valid because not a
wholly true picture of the amount of crime actually
committed.
Ethics of research
The crimes are anonymous and the people involved
can’t be identified. There are no ethical problems
with this as the offenders and victims have their right
to privacy and aren’t identifiable via the statistics or
website.
Purpose of research
If the purpose of the home office statistics is to give us
a reliable and valid picture of the number of crimes
committed, then it fails. Likewise, the statistics only
inform us about the number of crimes, rather than
helping us understand any other issues such as fear of
crime.
The statistics inform officials about what crime is on
