Unit 3AC 1.6: Evaluate Methods of Collecting Statistics About Crime

This section discusses the two main sources of crime statistics in the UK and evaluates their effectiveness.

Home Office Statistics: These statistics are based on crimes recorded by the 43 police forces in the UK. Each month, police forces report crimes to the Home Office, which are then recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and made available to the public.

Definition: Police recorded crime statistics are quantitative data collected by law enforcement agencies on reported criminal incidents.

Reliability of Police Recorded Crimes: Police recorded crimes are generally considered reliable due to consistent definitions used across different police forces. However, there can be discrepancies in how different forces classify similar incidents.

Example: An assault resulting in minor scratches might be classified differently by different police forces, either as "assault with injury" or "assault without injury."

Validity of Police Recorded Crimes: The validity of these statistics is questionable because not all crimes are reported to the police. The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) has shown that approximately 40% of crimes go unreported.

Highlight: In 2016-2017, police recorded 45,000 rapes, but this figure likely underestimates the true number of incidents due to underreporting.

Ethics of Research: Police recorded crime statistics are considered ethical as they protect the identities of both offenders and victims. The quantitative nature of the data helps prevent stereotyping based on personal characteristics.

Vocabulary: Quantitative research in criminal justice refers to the collection and analysis of numerical data to study crime patterns and trends.

The purpose of collecting and publishing these statistics is to inform the public about crime rates and trends, contributing to awareness and policy-making in the criminal justice system.