ABSTRACT
Statisticians employ standard principles and procedures to collect data and to calculate and interpret statistics. A crime rate statistic has a numerator and a denominator—for example, a violent crime rate might be reported as 382 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants of the area. The definition used for crime determines the numerator of a crime rate statistic. Crime rates also depend on who is included in the denominator. Even if the same crime definitions and populations are used, crime statistics from different sources or samples are expected to vary. Some surveys ask people about criminal victimizations they have experienced. If persons who are willing to answer the survey questions are more likely to be crime victims than those who decline to participate, the victimization rate estimated from the survey data may be too high. Some crime statistics come from randomly selected samples of households, businesses, or records. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
