Deck 2: Measuring Crime and Criminal Behavior

Question 1

Which of the following data sources allows researchers to correlate a variety of characteristics of respondents, such as the trait of impulsiveness, with their admitted offenses?

A)UCR
B)NCVS
C)NIBRS
D)self-report surveys

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following is commonly used to refer to the number of crimes that are committed, but which never come to light?

A)the dark figure of crime
B)the undiscovered crime rate
C)unknown deviance
D)the indexed crimes

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The crime ______ is the actual number of reported crimes standardized by some unit of the population.

A)rate
B)statistic
C)degree
D)ratio

Answer 3

A

Question 4

A strength of NIBRS is that it provides

A)a good source of information on rates of drug use
B)access to information on crimes that have not been reported to the police
C)data from a large number of police agencies nationwide
D)detailed information on each criminal incident

Question 5

One weakness of the NCVS is that it

A)only reflects crimes that have been reported to the police
B)only provides statistics on property crimes
C)is not based on a representative sample of the United States
D)does not provide any statistics on victimless crimes

Question 6

The official source of crime data that includes detailed information on the circumstances surrounding a criminal incident, including victim and offender characteristics is known as

A)UCR
B)NCVS
C)NIBRS
D)DSM-5

Question 7

The primary source of official crime statistics in the United States is the annual ______ published by the FBI.

A)NIBRS report
B)UCR
C)NCVS
D)self-report survey

Question 8

In an attempt to understand a recent increase in female arrests for assault, a comparison of UCR and NVCS data revealed that the apparent trend was most likely attributable to

A)dramatic increases in female violent offending
B)a falsification of data by police departments
C)a relative decrease in male criminality
D)net-widening policies that have made police more likely to arrest females

Question 9

The hierarchy rule impacts which data source?

A)UCR
B)NCVS
C)NIBRS
D)self-report surveys

Question 10

In reflecting on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the major sources of crime data, it can be concluded that the best source of information on crime

A)depends on what we want to know
B)is the NCVS
C)is self-report data
D)is the UCR

Question 11

Which of the following is true of the number of crimes reported to police?

A)It is the best source available to criminologists to assess the dark figure of crime.
B)This number is a direct reflection of the number of crimes actually committed.
C)Due to false reports, this number is larger than the number of crimes actually committed.
D)Due to unreported crimes, this number is smaller than the number of crimes actually committed.

Question 12

The hierarchy rule refers to the

A)fact that those of a higher socioeconomic status are less likely to be arrested for crimes
B)ranking system of different crime data sources by their level of accuracy
C)practice of only reporting the most serious offense committed in a given incident
D)tendency of respondents to only report serious crimes in self-report surveys

Question 13

One strength of the NCVS is that it provides

A)data that has been held to strict legal standards
B)a good source of information on rates of drug use
C)access to information on crimes that have not been reported to the police
D)detailed information on each criminal incident

Question 14

Which of the following is classified as an index crime?

A)arson
B)embezzlement
C)public drunkenness
D)traffic violations

Question 15

One weakness of NIBRS is that it

A)has not yet been widely adopted by police agencies
B)is subject to respondents' memory lapses
C)tends to overestimate crime rates
D)does not include data on violent crimes

Question 16

When attempting to understand, predict, and control any social problem, including the crime problem, the first step is to determine its ______.

A)cause
B)seriousness
C)source
D)extent

Question 17

If a person is arrested and charged for a Part I offense, the UCR records the crime as ______ by arrest.

A)cleared
B)established
C)resolved
D)solved

Question 18

Which agency collects and distributes statistics on specific fugitive individuals wanted for particularly serious crimes, including the publication of a list of the 10 most wanted?

A)Central Intelligence Agency
B)Department of Homeland Security
C)Federal Bureau of Investigation
D)United States Marshals

Question 19

The term index crime refers to

A)the nation's murder rate
B)Part I offenses on the UCR
C)Part II offenses on the UCR
D)the rate of violent victimizations reported on the NCVS

Question 20

One advantage of self-report surveys is that they provide a

A)good source of information regarding violent crimes
B)way for criminologists to collect data without relying on government sources
C)good reflection of the crimes reported to police each year
D)data that has been held to strict legal standards

Question 21

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) was first implemented in the 1930s.

Question 22

The NCVS is conducted by the Census Bureau on behalf of

A)the Bureau of Justice Statistics
B)the Federal Bureau of Investigation
C)Homeland Security
D)the American Society of Criminology

Question 23

Nearly all index crimes are mala prohibita offenses.

Question 24

The UCR divides crimes into two categories called

A)Part I and Part II offenses
B)violent crimes and property crimes
C)Group A and Group B offenses
D)mala in se and mala prohibita offenses

Question 25

A crime rate is calculated by standardizing the number of reported crimes by some unit of the population.

Question 26

NIBRS collects crime data from which of the following categories?

A)Part I and Part II offenses
B)mala in se and Mala prohibita offenses
C)violent and victimless offenses
D)Group A and Group B offenses

Question 27

Gauging the ______ of the problem means discovering how much of it there is, where and when it occurs most often, and among what social categories it occurs most frequently.

A)degree
B)extent
C)significance
D)relevancy

Question 28

The UCR and NCVS agree on the basic demographics of those most likely to commit crimes.

Question 29

A criminologist wants to learn about the rates of truancy and smoking among adolescents.To do this, he or she would be best served by referencing which of the following sources?

A)UCR
B)NCVS
C)NIBRS
D)self-report surveys

Question 30

Which of the following is not considered a major source of crime data for criminologists?

A)official statistics
B)self-reported data
C)the media
D)victimization surveys

Question 31

The UCR and NCVS agree that most offenders and victims of crime are

A)female
B)middle-aged
C)wealthy
D)young

Question 32

Police agencies are required by federal law to participate in the UCR reporting program.

Question 33

Index crimes can only be cleared by arrest.

Question 34

One of the interview improvements in the methodology of NCVS includes:

A)self-report surveys
B)evidentiary standards
C)the bounding interview
D)memorization techniques

Question 35

The UCR data tends to ______ the actual number of criminal events while NCVS data tends to ______ the actual number of criminal events.

A)overreport; underreport
B)underreport; overreport
C)falsify; verify
D)verify; falsify

Question 36

The crime rate refers to the raw number of incidents of crime that have occurred in a given area.

Question 37

Because NCVS only surveys households, crimes committed against commercial establishments are not included.

Question 38

NIBRS has almost completely replaced the UCR as the leading source of official crime statistics.

Question 39

One benefit of the NCVS is that it attempts to capture the extent of illegal drug usage among youth.

Question 40

The UCR is compiled by

A)the Bureau of Justice Statistics
B)the Federal Bureau of Investigation
C)Homeland Security
D)the American Society of Criminology

Question 41

The UCR report provides both crime trends and the reasons behind them.

Question 42

Identify two index crimes.

Question 43

NCVS stands for National Crime Victimization Survey.

Question 44

How is a crime rate calculated?

Question 45

Whether crime has "gone up" or "gone down" depends on what years we choose to look at.

Question 46

Identify one strength of the NCVS.

Question 47

What does NCVS stand for?

Question 48

The UCR is the primary source of official crime statistics in the United States.

Question 49

Identify one weakness of self-report surveys.

Question 50

Part II offenses are all universally condemned mala in se offenses.

Question 51

Because all data sources converge on some very important points about crime, they enable us to proceed with at least some confidence in our endeavors to understand the whys of crime.

Question 52

What does NIBRS stand for?

Question 53

The strength of NIBRS (its comprehensive nature) also turns out to be its weakness in terms of participation.

Question 54

What is the dark figure of crime?

Question 55

What does it mean when we say cleared by arrest?

Question 56

Identify one advantage that NIBRS has over the UCR as a source of crime data.

Question 57

The UCR and NCVS agree on the geographic areas and times of the year and month when crimes are more likely to occur.

Question 58

What are the three major categories of sources for crime data?

Question 59

Property crimes are more likely to be cleared than violent crimes.

Question 60

Females tend to be more honest than males in their responses to self-report surveys.

Question 61

Define the hierarchy rule.How does it relate to both the UCR and NIBRS?

Question 62

Define the dark figure of crime.How does the concentration of the dark figure of crime differ based on the data collection tool used?

Question 63

What are the two areas of agreement between the UCR and the NCVS?

Question 64

List and briefly describe the main ways crime and criminal behavior are measured in the United States.

Question 65

List and describe the problems associated with the National Crime Victimization Survey.What is being done to compensate for these problems?

Question 66

Explain self-report surveys, and describe their strengths and weaknesses.

Question 67

What is the difference between the NIBRS and the UCR? List and describe the problems related with each data collection tool.

Question 68

Discuss the advantages of NIBRS.Why is it not implemented and utilized in many states?

Question 69

What is the hierarchy rule?

Question 70

Discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the UCR and NCVS in assessing the number of rapes that occur in the United States in a given year.Which do you feel is a stronger tool for this purpose? Support your answer.

Question 71

What is a bounding interview?

Question 72

Discuss the strengths of the UCR.How do crimes rates relate to the UCR? How does the UCR categorize crimes?