the british crime survey update from the home office bcs user group - 11 december 2007...
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THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEYUpdate from the Home Office
BCS User Group - 11 December 2007
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Overview (1): news since last meeting
– Home Office published its response to the crime statistics
review in July 2007
– Commissioned methodological advice on feasibility of
extending the under 16s and communal establishments
– Re-tendered the BCS for fieldwork starting April 2008
– Made progress with data archiving initiatives
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Overview (2): future plans
– Planning the 2008/09 survey
– Changes to the sample design
– Content of the core survey
– Extending survey to under 16s
– Time for a change of name?
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
HO response to crime stats reviews
– Published same day as annual crime stats bulletin
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/rcsactionplan.pdf
– Key points as they relate to HO surveys were:
– To commission methodological advice on feasibility of extending BCS:
to under 16s
to those living in “group residences”
– To undertake a regular survey of commercial victims
– Establish a “standing panel of independent experts” to review and
comment on methodological and analytic issues
– Ensure Ministerial comments on crime statistics are released separately
from any press release on the statistics themselves.
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Advice on extending the BCS
– Commissioned NCSR & IPSOS-MORI (Pickering, Smith et al)
– Plan to publish their report in the New Year
– Concluded it was feasible to extend the BCS to under 16s and
made a number of recommendations about how to do it
– But extending the survey to those in communal establishments
would be highly problematic and further work was needed
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Extending survey to under 16s
– A number of alternative sampling strategies considered
– Concluded that optimal design was to sample within
households interviewed for main BCS
– Recommended to restrict survey to those aged 10-15
– Discussed pros and cons of different interview modes
– Highlighted issues to consider when interviewing children
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Extending BCS to communal establishments
– Drew on work done by ONS
– Considered alternative sampling frames and concluded no good
sampling frame exists
– Proposed ways in which a frame covering most groups could be
assembled but noted it would be costly and labour intensive to
maintain
– Further work including piloting and field trials needed
– Given uneven distribution and size of establishments a bespoke study
probably more cost effective
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Re-tendering the BCS
– Findings from methodological work fed into our specification for
the next 3 year BCS (2008/09 to 2010/11)
– Asked bidders to provide cost options for extending survey to
under 16s
– A competitive tendering exercise ran over the summer and
BMRB successful in retaining contract
– Some changes proposed to sample design (outlined by BMRB)
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY: PRESENTATION TO THE BCS USER GROUP 11 December 2007
Time for a change of name?
– The British Crime Survey no longer covers Britain
– Sensible to reflect that in the name of the survey
– Options for names:
– The Home Office Crime Survey (HOCS)
– The English and Welsh Crime Survey (EWCS)
– The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW)
– The National Crime Survey for England and Wales (NCS)
– Any strong views?
Questions ?
Comments?