DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06558.v1
title: Adjusting the National Crime Victimization Survey's Estimates of Rape and Domestic Violence for Gag Factors, 1986-1990
title: Version 1

description: The purpose of this project was to use statistical modeling
 techniques to estimate rape and domestic assault rates, adjusting for
 interviewing conditions under which the National Crime Victimization
 Survey (NCVS) was administered. Data for women 16 years of age and
 older interviewed in the NCVS (see NATIONAL CRIME SURVEYS: NATIONAL
 SAMPLE, 1986-1990 [NEAR-TERM DATA] [ICPSR 8864]) were analyzed. The
 researchers considered whether the type of interview (personal or
 telephone) and the presence of another person (particularly a spouse)
 influenced or "gagged" the reporting of rape and domestic violence
 in the NCVS. The researchers also investigated correlates, primarily
 demographic in nature, of reporting rape, domestic violence, other
 assaults, and breaking and entry. In total, the data file contains
 reports of 434 rapes, 1,973 incidents of domestic violence, 13,459
 other assaults, and 88,950 incidents of breaking and entry. The
 binary-coded variables provide information on whether the respondent
 was alone during the interview, others who were present, whether the
 interview was by telephone, whether the respondent refused a telephone
 interview, the number of persons who lived in the household, whether
 the respondent owned her home, whether the land use was urban, whether
 the household the respondent was living in was the same household from
 the last interview, whether the respondent had moved more than three
 times in the last five years, and whether an assault, domestic
 violence incident, rape, breaking and entry, or no crime was
 reported. Demographic information includes the respondent's education,
 income, employment during the last six months, marital status at the
 time of the interview, and whether the respondent was white (or
 non-white) or Hispanic (or non-Hispanic). Variables coded the same as
 the NCVS variables include age, respondent's relationship to the
 offender, type of crime, year and quarter of interview, NCVS control
number, and person weight.
description: The specific objectives of this project were to
 (1) identify factors associated with reporting rape or domestic
 violence, (2) identify factors associated with conditions of the
 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) interview (i.e., telephone
 or personal interview and who was present during the personal
 interview), and (3) to use statistical modeling techniques to estimate
 the annual incidence rates of rape and domestic violence, adjusting
for these factors.
description: Data for women 16 years of age and older
 interviewed in the NATIONAL CRIME SURVEYS: NATIONAL SAMPLE, 1986-1990
 [NEAR-TERM DATA] (ICPSR 8864) were analyzed. The researchers
 considered whether the type of interview (personal or telephone) and
 the presence of another (particularly a spouse) influenced or
 "gagged" the reporting of rape and domestic violence in the NCVS.
 Data were selected from the NCVS to examine the issues described
 above. Both the NCVS telephone and personal interviews are conducted
 such that the respondent must tell the interviewer about the nature of
 the victimization in her own words without answering yes/no
 questions. It is hypothesized that the inclusion of such yes/no
 questions would more easily allow victims to report rape or domestic
 violence incidents in telephone interviews, even with spouses present
 in the home during the interview. Therefore, data covering who was
 present during the interview were of particular interest. The
 researchers also investigated correlates, primarily demographic in
 nature, of reporting rape, domestic violence, other assaults, and
 breaking and entry. In total, the data file contains reports of 434
 rapes, 1,973 incidents of domestic violence, 13,459 other assaults,
and 88,950 incidents of breaking and entry.
description: The binary-coded variables provide information on
 whether the respondent was alone during the interview, others who were
 present (e.g., a spouse, children under 12 years of age, children over
 12 years of age, more than four household members over the age of 12,
 a nonhousehold person, someone present but relationship to the
 respondent unknown, or presence of someone else unknown), whether the
 interview was by telephone, whether the respondent refused a telephone
 interview, the number of persons who lived in the household, whether
 the respondent owned her home, whether the land use was urban, whether
 the household the respondent was living in was the same from the last
 interview, whether the respondent had moved more than three times in
 the last five years, and whether an assault, domestic violence
 incident, rape, breaking and entry, or no crime was
 reported. Demographic information included whether the respondent had
 12 years of education or more, had an income less than $15,000, had no
 job in the last six months, was married at the time of the interview,
 and whether the respondent was white (or non-white) or Hispanic (or
 non-Hispanic). Variables coded the same as the NCVS variables include
 age, respondent's relationship to the offender, type of crime, year of
 interview, year and quarter of interview, NCVS control number, and
person weight.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Data selected from the NCVS hierarchical file included 
 only women 16 years of age or older. Proxy 
interviews were excluded.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Data File
DS2: SAS Data Definition Statements
description: Women in the United States.
description: The objective of the National Crime Victimization
 Surveys (NCVS) is to provide data on the level of crime victimization
 in the United States and to collect data on the characteristics of
 crime incidents and victims. The National Crime Victimization Surveys
 data are organized by year, with six collection quarters comprising an
 annual file: the four quarters of the current year plus the first two
 quarters of the following year. Each respondent was asked a series of
 screen questions to determine if he or she was victimized during the
 six-month period preceding the first day of the month of the
 interview. Users of the data for this collection may want to refer to
the NCVS codebook for sampling and methodological information.