PA 604: Domestic Violence Data Exploration Project
My research topic for this data exploration project was influenced by reading the Bureau of Justice Statistics 2014 Annual Criminal Victimization Report. From that publication, an intriguing statistic caught my attention and research interest. “The rate of domestic violence, which includes crime committed by intimate partners and family members, remained stable from 2013 to 2014 (4.2 per 1,000). No measurable change was detected from 2013 to 2014 in the rate of intimate partner violence (2.4 per 1,000), which includes victimizations committed by current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends” (BJS Criminal Victimization, August 2015). I decided to investigate how this statistic was concluded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The data cited was collected by National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). This is a tool that the federal government utilizes annually by obtaining information through methodologies similar to a census. According to the BJS website, the NCVS is conducted annually from “a nationally representative sample of about 90,000 households, comprising nearly 160,000 persons, on the frequency,
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The leading format was one similar to a tax form or a census. The questions were mostly multiple choice, mark the box, and open ended questions concerning specific instances of victimization and demographic information. For example, NCVS Question 44a inquires “During the last 6 months, (other than any incidents already mentioned,) did you call the police to report something that happened to YOU which you thought was a crime?” which then leads to a yes/no box, and Question 44b “what happened?” a blank box for victims to input their own experiences (NCVS Questions 44a-44b). The versatility of the data includes measures that are qualitative and others that are