In
this assignment, you will be asked to compare and contrast the three sources of
data regarding crime (official statistics, victimization surveys, and
self-report surveys). Answer the
following questions in complete sentence, paragraph form. (Maximum 100 points) 1. Identify
how each source of data is collected. You
answer should include who is responsible for collecting th
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In
this assignment, you will be asked to compare and contrast the three sources of
data regarding crime (official statistics, victimization surveys, and
self-report surveys). Answer the
following questions in complete sentence, paragraph form. (Maximum 100 points)
1. Identify
how each source of data is collected. You
answer should include who is responsible for collecting the data source, what
information is collected by each data source, and how often each source of data
is collected.
2. Identify
and describe at least three the strengths of each source of data.
3. Identify
and discuss at least three the weaknesses of each source of data.
4. Discuss
how human actors might impact each source of data and what impact this
potentially has for our knowledge of crime and the operation of the criminal
justice system.
5. Do
the different sources of data provide a similar picture of crime to each other
in regards to race/ethnicity, gender, and social class?
6. Obtain
official crime data for the last 3 years from UT Arlington and one other campus
in the DFW area. This information is
typically available to the public through the university police
department. Write a brief summary of the
number of index crimes that have occurred on the UT Arlington campus and on the
other campus in the DFW area in the last 3 years. Be sure to identify what other campus you
used.
7. What
factors might lead these data for the two campuses to be either similar or
different across the two campuses?
Identify and discuss at least three factors and how they might impact
the data.
8. Based
on these data, do you think that UT Arlington is more or less safe than the
other campus you examined? Justify your
answer.
9. Your
paper should be written in a numbered format with the question number and then
your answer to that question.
10. You
will be graded off on spelling and grammar errors, text format such a spacing
and margins, and overall writing structure.
I have had some of you ask
for more details on the Signature Assignment. Below you will find tips
and suggestions in researching to answer all of the questions on the assignment:
Question 1: You discuss the official
statistics that is discussed in your text: UCR, NIBRS, NCVS and
self-reports. This discussion is a general discussion: defining,
explaining etc. Nothing about UTA in this question.
Questions 2: Discuss strengths for
each source of data--strengths of UCR and NIBRS, NCVS and self reports.
Nothing about UTA in this question.
Question 3: Discuss weakness for
each source of data--weaknesses of UCR and NIBRS, NCVS and self reports.
Nothing about UTA in this question.
Question 4: Discuss human factors
that might skew the data for UCR NIBRS, NCVS, and self-reports. Things
like error in data entry, police coding information of call for service wrong,
intentional "scrubbing" of the data, etc. Nothing about UTA here.
Question 5: Do the different sources of data provide a similar picture of
crime to each other in regards to race/ethnicity, gender, and social class?
This is strictly an opinion and you might do some research on the
internet for help. Nothing about UTA here.
Question 6: This is the question
where you will obtain UTA crime data by searching on the UTA website
""Clery Act". You need to be specific as to what types of
crimes have been reported as well as numbers. You will also identify
another university (UT, TCU, SMU, etc.) and go on their website and obtain
their crime data per the Clery Act.
Question 7:
1. What factors might lead these data for
the two campuses to be either similar or different across the two
campuses? Identify and discuss at least three factors and how they might
impact the data. Discuss whether geographical
location of the two universities might affect the difference in occurrence of
crime, are the campuses located near areas where the crime rate is high?
Look at differences in student populations, whether the universities have
their police department, etc.
Question 8: This question is purely
your opinion on comparing the two universities as to safety and give reasons
why you have come to that conclusion.
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