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ReadMe

The sample data include three data sets:

1. HoustonWeaponUse.dbf – a file of 3,709 robberies that took place in Houston, TX.  The

data set is for use in modeling weapon use during the robbery using the multinomial

logit model described in Chapters 21 and 22.  The coordinate system is projected with

the distance units being feet.  The data are simulated in that random temporal and

spatial error has been added to the coordinates to protect confidentiality.  The data set

should be used only for tutorial purposes, not for research.

The variables are as follows:

ID and Coordinates

A. ID – the ID field for the robbery

B. XCoord – the X coordinate

C. YCoord – the Y coordinate

Dependent variable

D. WEAPON – type of weapon used.  This is an alphanumeric variable and

takes the values Firearm, Knife, Bodily Force, Threat, and Other Weapon.

Independent variables

E. AGE – age of offender

F. FEMALE – gender (1 – female; 0 – male)

G. BLACK – race (1 ‐ African‐American; 0 ‐ non‐African‐American)

H. HISPANIC – Hispanic ethnicity (1 – Hispanic; 0 – non‐Hispanic)

I. NUMSUSPCTS – number of suspects committing robbery

J. COMMERCIAL – type of building where robbery committed (1 –

commercial; 0 – non‐commercial)

K. NIGHT (1 – robbery committed between midnight and 6 am; 0 – robbery

committed at other time)

L. MORNING (1 – robbery committed between 6 am and noon; 0 – robbery

committed at other time)

M. AFTERNOON (1 – robbery committed between noon and 6 pm; 0 –

robbery committed at other time)
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N. CL_MEDINC – year 2000 median household income of traffic analysis

zone where robbery was committed

O. DISTANCE – distance of robbery location from downtown Houston (miles)

2. TheHagueBurglars.dbf – a file of 548 cleared burglaries that took place in The Hague,

The Netherlands in the years 1996‐2001. The data set is for use as a case file in creating

a data set for the conditional logit model, as described in Chapters 21 and 22.  The

coordinate system is projected with the distance units being meters.  The data are an

exact copy of the data analyzed by Bernasco and Nieuwbeerta (2005).   

The variables are as follows:

ID and Coordinates

A. CASE – the ID field for the burglary (offence)

B. PERSON_ID – the ID field for the burglar (person)

C. XRESID – the X coordinate of the centroid of the burglar’s neighboorhood

of residence

D. YRESID – the Y coordinate of the centroid of the burglar’s neighboorhood

of residence

Neighborhood identifiers

E. NHOODBUR – the ID field of the neighborhood where the burglary was

committed

F. NHOODRES – the ID field of the neighborhood where the burglar lived at

the time the burglary was committed

Individual characteristics

G. B_MINOR –minor burglar (0 – burglar 18+ years; 1 – burglar 12‐17 years)

H. B_ADULT – adult burglar (1 – burglar 18+ years; 0 – burglar 12‐17 years)

I. B_NATIVE – native burgar (1 – native Dutch; 0 – foreign‐born)

J. B_FOREIGN – nonnative burgar (0 – native Dutch; 1 – foreign‐born)
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3. TheHagueNeighborhoods.dbf – a file of 89 neighborhoods in The Hague for the years

1996‐2001. The data set is for use as an alternatives file in creating a data set for the

conditional logit model, as described in Chapters 21 and 22.  The coordinate system is

projected with the distance units being meters.  The data are an almost exact copy of

the data analyzed by Bernasco and Nieuwbeerta (2005), the difference being that in

TheHagueNeighborhoods.dbf the neighborhood characteristics are averages over the

period 1996‐2001, while the original research used annually measured neighborhood

characteristics.  

The variables are as follows:

ID and Coordinates

A. NHOODID – the ID field for the neighborhood (values correspond to

NHOODBUR and NHOODRES in TheHagueBurglars.dbf)

B. X – the X coordinate of the centroid of the neighboorhood

C. Y – the Y coordinate of the centroid of the neighboorhood

Neighborhood characteristics

D. RESUNITS  – number of residential units (x 1000)

E. PROPVAL –  mean property value (x 100,000 euro)

F. HOMEOWN –percentage home ownership (x 10%)

G. ETNHETERO –Herfindahl index of ethnic heterogeneity (x 100)

H. RESMOBIL –  percentage residential mobility (x 10%)

I. SINGFAM –  percentage of properties that are single family dwellings (x

10%)

J. PROXCITY – negative distance to The Hague city center (x 1 km)

K. SURFACE – neighborhood surface in square kilometers

4. TheHagueNeighborhoodsXBurglars.dbf – this file is the result of matching the file

TheHagueBurglars.dbf with TheHagueNeighborhoods.dbf using the Create dataset for

conditional discrete choice model routine under Discrete Choice I (in the Spatial

Modeling II section).  The user should match the two files using the routine.  Then, the

matched data set can be compared with this data set to validate the results.  The

matched file is used in the conditional logit discrete choice model.