Deck 4: Counting Crime

Question 1

It is difficult to study different types of population groups because they cannot find all the members or because there are too many in the population to address all of them.Social scientists avoid this problem by:

A) gathering information on only reported groups.
B) dividing the number of reported crimes by the number of convictions.
C) gathering a sample from the population and then generalizing form the sample to the population.
D) gathering information on the number of crimes by the number of convictions and then dividing by the total population.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

When measuring crime it is important to know that:

A) as measures become more reliable they become less valid
B) reliability and validity have no connection
C) as measures become more reliable they become more valid
D) reliability and validity are of minor importance

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Canada's most reliable crime statistics are probably those regarding:

A) reported crime
B) sentences
C) corrections
D) victimization

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A survey that takes a random sample of Canadians and asks them through an interview or a survey if they have been at the receiving end of criminal activity,is a:

A) self-report survey
B) UCR
C) biased survey
D) victimization survey
E) none of the above

Question 5

Combining data for cities or combining data for nations are different:

A) units of count
B) levels of aggregation
C) counting procedures
D) data elements

Question 6

The "dark figure" of crime refers to:

A) unreported crime
B) crime committed after dark
C) the number of particularly horrendous crimes
D) consensual crime

Question 7

The census metropolitan area in Canada that hadd the highest crime rate and the highest Crime Severity Index in 2010 was :

A) Regina
B) Halifax
C) Toronto
D) Ottawa

Question 8

The official crime rate in Canada is expressed as the amount of crime per

A) 100 persons in the population
B) 1000 persons in the population
C) 100,000 persons in the population
D) 1 million persons in the population

Question 9

A linked set of ideas and beliefs that act to uphold and justify an existing or desired situation in society is a(n):

A) theory
B) ideology
C) methodology
D) data

Question 10

______________ are based on the idea of going directly to the people to ask them to indicate whether they haveengaged in criminal activity.

A) Police data
B) Self-report surveys
C) Victimization surveys
D) Correctional data

Question 11

The seriousness rule is the practice of:

A) counting more crimes, like drunk driving, as serious
B) counting crime as a serious undertaking
C) counting only the most serious crime in an incident involving multiple crimes
D) counting only the more serious offender if more than one person is involved in a crime

Question 12

Researchers can best learn about the characteristics of offenders through:

A) UCR statistics
B) police data
C) self-report surveys
D) victimization surveys

Question 13

In Canada between 1951 and 2010,the inmate population increased approximately 2.5 times,but the incarceration rate remained stable.These figures show us that:

A) Crime is growing at about the same rate as the population.
B) sentencing practices have become harsher.
C) there are more punitive sentencing practices.
D) our justice system is not working.

Question 14

Under the seriousness rule of the UCR,If there are several crimes committed in one incident,

A) only the most serious crime is counted .
B) every crime is counted no matter how trivial
C) only the least serious crime is counted
D) only the indictable crimesare counted.

Question 15

In the 1960s and 1970s social scientists began to suggest that offical records of crime:

A) were basically good measures
B) were systematically biased
C) were poor measures of how the criminal justice system works to create crime
D) covered only small parts of the country

Question 16

A rate of crime is calculated by dividing:

A) the number of reported crimes by the dark figure of crime
B) the total population by the number of crimes
C) the number of crimes by the total population
D) the number of convictions by the number of crimes

Question 17

One of the problems with the Canadian UCR is

A) several personal offences may be recorded as a single offence if they are part of the same incident.
B) Property offences are overemhasized .
C) crime categories allow too many different kinds of acts to be recorded the same way.
D) it only records indictable offences and does not take into account summary conviction offences.

Question 18

Counting offences,suspects,inmates,or charges is a reference to:

A) levels of aggregation
B) administrative records
C) units of count
D) counting procedures

Question 19

If a researcher divides the amount of crime by the population size and multiplies it by 100 000,they are studying the:

A) validity of crime
B) reliability of crime
C) methodology of crime
D) crime rate