UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE MANUAL ON VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS UNITED NATIONS Geneva, 2010 NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontier or boundaries. ECE/CES/4 PREFACE PREFACE This manual is the first attempt to develop methodological guidelines at the international level for the design of victimization surveys. The Manual provides a comprehensive source of information for devel- oping national victimization surveys and will be particularly useful for those countries who may be embarking on a survey of this type for the first time. The ultimate goal of the Manual is to improve the comparability of victimization survey results. The Manual provides a minimum dataset of suggested key topics for inclusion in national crime victimization surveys that will further facilitate international comparability of crime survey results. The Manual does not attempt to be prescriptive about which methods to use, but rather illustrates examples of the types of methodologies available, including the pros and cons of the various methods. It also illustrates the experiences encountered of countries with extensive experience in designing national crime victimization surveys. These examples will assist people to make informed choices to suit their particular circumstances. This is the first step toward the broader long-term objectives of improving the international compara- bility of crime statistics in general and developing an integrated system of victim data collections alongside police, prosecution, court and corrective services statistics.* The Manual has been endorsed by the Conference of European Statisticians. The Manual on crime victimization surveys has been developed through a joint effort of the UNODC- UNECE Task Force on crime victim surveys which consisted of the following members: Soula MacFarlane (Australian Bureau of Statistics, Chair of the Task Force) Jodi-Anne Brzozowski (Statistics Canada) Karen Mihorean (Statistics Canada) Maria Giuseppina Muratore (Istat, Italy) Frits Huls (Statistics Netherlands) Beata Gruszczynska (Institute of Justice of Poland) Alison Walker (Home Office, United Kingdom) Jon Simmons (Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom) Michael Rand (US Bureau of Justice Statistics) Kauko Aromaa (European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI)) Joanna Goodey (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights – FRA) Sami Nevala (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights – FRA) Geoffrey Thomas (Eurostat) The UNODC and UNECE express their gratitude to the experts listed above and their respective institutions as well as to Angela Me, Anna Alvazzi Del Frate, Steven Malby and Philip Davis (UNODC) and Paolo Valente (UNECE) for their cooperation in the development of this manual. The UNODC and UNECE also appreciate the support of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) which facilitated the editing of the present Manual. * See the report of the Joint UNECE-UNODC Meeting on Crime Statistics, held on 3-5 November 2004 in Geneva (http://www.unece. org/stats/documents/ces/2004/48.e.pdf) and also the report of the Joint UNODC-UNECE Meeting on Crime Statistics held on 21-23 October 2008 in Vienna (http://unece.org/stats/documents/ece/ces/ge.14/2008/10.e.pdf). iii CONTENTS CONTENTS SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS ix I. INTRODUCTION TO VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS A. Purpose of the Manual 1 B. History of victim surveys: evolution and where we are today 1 C. A message for policy makers 4 D. Limitations of crime victimization surveys 5 E. References 6 II. PLANNING A CRIME VICTIMIZATION SURVEY A. Victimization surveys and other types of official crime statistics 7 B. Differences between victim surveys and police-reported data 9 C. Elements for international comparability: draft list of key topics 11 D. References 12 III. METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES A. Introduction – the crime victimization survey process 13 B. Goals/objectives/purposes of survey/collection history 15 C. Quality assurance 19 D. Budget, time frame and other constraints 20 E. Target populations 25 F. Survey sample frames 26 G. Sample design 30 H. Frequency of enumeration 45 I. References 47 IV. COUNTING OFFENCES AND VICTIMS A. How to count offences and victims 49 B. Structure of the survey 54 C. Survey components 56 D. Household crimes 61 E. Personal victimization experience 63 F. Follow-up for victims 74 G. General attitudinal questions 76 H. Determining whether information can be obtained from 79 other sources and linked to survey data I. Comparability of victimization surveys 80 J. Data collection and capture operations 90 K. Reference period 100 L. References 103 V. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN A. The design 106 B. Specific issues of victimization surveys 112 C. Language and cultural considerations 130 D. Pre-testing and the pilot survey 132 E. Summary 136 F. References 136 v MANUAL ON VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS VI. INTERVIEWING A. Non-response and survey error associated with respondents 138 B. Selection and training of interviewers 148 C. Interview quality 154 D. References 159 VII. DATA PROCESSING, ESTIMATION AND ANALYSIS A. Data processing and estimation 161 B. Analysis and presentation 166 C. References 169 VIII. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS A. Protecting respondents 171 B. Other ethical considerations 174 C. References 176 IX. DATA DISSEMINATION AND DOCUMENTATION A. Scope and purpose 177 B. References 188 X. CLOSING THE CIRCLE – EVALUATING COMPLETED SURVEYS A. The importance of the evaluation process 189 B. Data quality 190 C. Survey goals 190 D. Utility of the survey 191 E. Review of survey protocols 191 F. Methodological research 192 G. References 192 APPENDIX A Glossary of survey-related terms 193 APPENDIX B Other surveys on crime and victimization (business surveys, surveys on corruption) 198 APPENDIX C Lessons from the pilot study of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS) 209 APPENDIX D Main results of the 2005 UNODC-UNECE inventory of victim surveys 214 vi CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Key topics for international comparability 12 Table 2. Factors commonly used in screening for minority respondents, and their scope 44 Table 3. Content of the survey according to survey purpose 54 Table 4. Types of crime included in victim surveys 59 Table 5. Types of crime that may be included in general household surveys, 60 by category of victim Table 6. Examples of contact and non-contact types of crime that may be included 60 in general household surveys Table 7. Non-crime issues included in victim surveys 77 Table 8. Household surveys that included victimization modules in the 79 UNODC-UNECE inventory Table 9. Comparability challenges of administrative police statistics and crime victim surveys 82 Table 10. Memory effects in victimization surveys 85 Table 11. Sample design and comparability challenges 86 Table 12. Survey mode for victimization surveys in the UNODC-UNECE inventory, 2005 91 Table 13. Challenges and possible approaches 132 Table 14. The proportion of the population experiencing one or more criminal 168 victimizations in the past 12 months Table 15. Proportion of the population that experienced a criminal victimization 168 in the past 12 months by Aboriginal status Table 16. Victims of robbery: type of weapon used in most recent incident 188 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Process used to translate user requirements into survey methodology 13 Figure 2. Crime victimization surveys end-to-end process 14 Figure 3. Illustrative proportion of budget for each survey stage 23 Figure 4. The relationship between target population, sampled population and sample frame 27 Figure 5. Sample components 31 Figure 6. Distribution of reference periods in one financial year of British Crime Survey 103 interviews (April-March) Figure 7. Flowchart on questionnaire design 105 Figure 8. Target Population – Frame – Sample – Estimates 164 vii SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS Chapter I. Introduction to victimization surveys Chapter I of this Manual provides an introduction to the manual and its purpose, a brief history of crime victimization surveys, key messages for policy makers and some discussion on the limitations of crime victim surveys. Chapter II. Planning a crime victimization survey Chapter II of this Manual describes the relationship between information obtained from conducting crime victimization surveys and that obtained from police-recorded crime statistics. It discusses the differences between victim surveys and police-reported data and suggests good practices in attempting to compare data from the two sources. Finally, it proposes a draft list of key topics which could be considered as elements for international comparability of victim surveys. Chapter III. Methodological issues Chapter III of this Manual provides an overview of the survey process, the main differences in the type of victimization survey that are available to the survey manager, the key goals and objectives which could be identified for any victimization survey along with some of the methodological issues in rela- tion to achieving such objectives using a social survey. It describes the process of organizing a survey and discusses target populations, sampling options and frequency of enumeration. Chapter IV. Counting offences and victims Chapter