Oliwia Kozica – 1.6 writeup
Evaluate the effectiveness of two statistical sources of information on crime
AC1.6 Evaluate methods of collecting statistics about crime
Home Office Statistics:
Home office statistics covers all notifiable offences – crimes that have been a criminal offence and worthy of
investigation, these statistics are published by each of the 43 regional police forces and the British transport police.
Its purpose is to provide the public with a valid and reliable picture of the amount of crime happening, unlike CSEW,
it does not help to understand the fear of crime.
These are official statistics, meaning they are gathered by professionals and regulated, all officers are expected to
follow the same procedures in reporting and classifying the crime, this means the statistics produced are reliable.
This is a strength as the polices records are strictly audited and available for public scrutiny which ensures the results
of using the statistics are consistent. However, human error cannot be prevented so it is still possible for different
officers to classify the same incident differently, this is a weakness to the reliability of home office statistics.
Ethics is something that is considers if something is right or wrong. Home office statistics have no ethical issues, they,
do not breach a person’s privacy which is a positive for home office statistics as it shows they care for victims’ privacy
rather than sharing their details for the public.
Validity focuses on whether the statistics give a true representation of the amount of crime. It is known that home
office statistics understates the true number of crimes, this is because the victims don’t report the offence meaning
the police fail to record the crime. Under-reporting is the factor here that makes home office statistics a weakness in
itself. Only 1 in 4 rapes and attempted rapes get reported to the police, this may go under-reported to the police due
to embarrassment or feeling ashamed that this has happened to you as a victim. If the crime is reported, another
factor that is a weakness is the under-recording of crime. This consists of the crime being reported but the police
then decides whether to record it on the system. The police may dismiss the crime, not believe the story or even not
enough evidence to secure a conviction which leads to the under-recording of a crime. This can also link to the dark
figure of crime, this is all crimes that happened not recorded in official statistics, this is a paramount disadvantage to
the statistics as it’s the main reason for lack of validity.
Crime Survey for England and Wales:
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is a telephone-operated victim survey, its purpose is to focus on the
victim’s experience allowing for more insightful statistics on crime.
Reliability refers to how consistent a method is in bringing in the same result if someone else did it, referring to the
CSEW, all interviewers are trained to ask the same questions to every victim in which this is a strength as the survey
is being reliable. However, it still does not mean that the survey is reliable as there can be bias towards the
interviewer. For example, a female victim is more likely to respond differently towards a male interviewer about
sexual assault than a female interviewer, this is a limitation as it means the survey could get unreliable and different
answers that will not be truthful.
There are very minimal ethical issues with the CSEW, there is no real need for a victim to take part in the survey and
all interviews remain confidential and anonymous. This is shown to be a strength of the CSEW as even though
victims have no obligation to take part, ¾ do agree, this high response rate is positive in increasing representivity.
However, asking a victim question about something that may be traumatic to them, especially when talking to a
stranger.
It is shown that 40% of people did not report the crime to the police that they discussed in the CSEW, this shows that
CSEW statistics and more valid than ones gathered by the police as it is evident that the police have less evidence of
crime. Out of every 1000 sexual assaults, only 4 are reported to the police. This just shows how a more ethical survey
like the CSEW could in fact make victims more comfortable to share rather than going to the police, this is a strength
as its more likely to be valid. However, validity in the statistics can only rely on the victim. Factors like the victim’s
memory, honesty and willingness to provide information can affect if the victim actual reports the crime truthfully,
this is a limitation as it can affect the statistics.
Evaluate the effectiveness of two statistical sources of information on crime
AC1.6 Evaluate methods of collecting statistics about crime
Home Office Statistics:
Home office statistics covers all notifiable offences – crimes that have been a criminal offence and worthy of
investigation, these statistics are published by each of the 43 regional police forces and the British transport police.
Its purpose is to provide the public with a valid and reliable picture of the amount of crime happening, unlike CSEW,
it does not help to understand the fear of crime.
These are official statistics, meaning they are gathered by professionals and regulated, all officers are expected to
follow the same procedures in reporting and classifying the crime, this means the statistics produced are reliable.
This is a strength as the polices records are strictly audited and available for public scrutiny which ensures the results
of using the statistics are consistent. However, human error cannot be prevented so it is still possible for different
officers to classify the same incident differently, this is a weakness to the reliability of home office statistics.
Ethics is something that is considers if something is right or wrong. Home office statistics have no ethical issues, they,
do not breach a person’s privacy which is a positive for home office statistics as it shows they care for victims’ privacy
rather than sharing their details for the public.
Validity focuses on whether the statistics give a true representation of the amount of crime. It is known that home
office statistics understates the true number of crimes, this is because the victims don’t report the offence meaning
the police fail to record the crime. Under-reporting is the factor here that makes home office statistics a weakness in
itself. Only 1 in 4 rapes and attempted rapes get reported to the police, this may go under-reported to the police due
to embarrassment or feeling ashamed that this has happened to you as a victim. If the crime is reported, another
factor that is a weakness is the under-recording of crime. This consists of the crime being reported but the police
then decides whether to record it on the system. The police may dismiss the crime, not believe the story or even not
enough evidence to secure a conviction which leads to the under-recording of a crime. This can also link to the dark
figure of crime, this is all crimes that happened not recorded in official statistics, this is a paramount disadvantage to
the statistics as it’s the main reason for lack of validity.
Crime Survey for England and Wales:
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) is a telephone-operated victim survey, its purpose is to focus on the
victim’s experience allowing for more insightful statistics on crime.
Reliability refers to how consistent a method is in bringing in the same result if someone else did it, referring to the
CSEW, all interviewers are trained to ask the same questions to every victim in which this is a strength as the survey
is being reliable. However, it still does not mean that the survey is reliable as there can be bias towards the
interviewer. For example, a female victim is more likely to respond differently towards a male interviewer about
sexual assault than a female interviewer, this is a limitation as it means the survey could get unreliable and different
answers that will not be truthful.
There are very minimal ethical issues with the CSEW, there is no real need for a victim to take part in the survey and
all interviews remain confidential and anonymous. This is shown to be a strength of the CSEW as even though
victims have no obligation to take part, ¾ do agree, this high response rate is positive in increasing representivity.
However, asking a victim question about something that may be traumatic to them, especially when talking to a
stranger.
It is shown that 40% of people did not report the crime to the police that they discussed in the CSEW, this shows that
CSEW statistics and more valid than ones gathered by the police as it is evident that the police have less evidence of
crime. Out of every 1000 sexual assaults, only 4 are reported to the police. This just shows how a more ethical survey
like the CSEW could in fact make victims more comfortable to share rather than going to the police, this is a strength
as its more likely to be valid. However, validity in the statistics can only rely on the victim. Factors like the victim’s
memory, honesty and willingness to provide information can affect if the victim actual reports the crime truthfully,
this is a limitation as it can affect the statistics.
