SN 3813 -Scottish Crime Survey, 1993 and 1996

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Title:
Scottish Crime Survey, 1993 and 1996

Subject Categories:
Scottish Crime Survey - Major studies
Crime and law enforcement - Law, crime and legal systems

Depositor(s):
MVA Limited

Principal Investigator(s):
MVA Limited

Sponsor(s):
Scottish Office

Abstract:
The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey (SCJS) is a social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. The survey is an important resource for both the government and public of Scotland. Respondents are selected at random from the Postal Address File and participation in the survey is entirely voluntary. The main aims of the SCJS are to:

provide reliable statistics on people's experience of crime in Scotland, including services provided to victims of crime
assess the varying risk of crime for different groups of people in the population
examine trends in the level and nature of crime in Scotland over time
collect information about people's experiences of, and attitudes on a range of crime and justice related issues

An important role of the SCJS is to provide an alternative and complementary measure of crime to police recorded crime statistics. For further details of the scope and methodology of the SCJS, please see documentation. Information about the survey and links to publications may be found on the Scottish Government's Scottish Crime and Justice Survey web pages.

Background and history of the SCJS
Previous surveys of victimisation in Scotland began with the Scottish components of the 1982 and 1988 sweeps of the British Crime Survey (BCS) co-ordinated by the Home Office (the main BCS is held at the UKDA under GN 33174). Coverage in Scotland within the BCS was limited to the areas south of the Caledonian Canal. (The Scottish data from the 1982 and 1988 BCS are held separately from the main BCS surveys at the UKDA, under SNs 4368 and 4599. The Scottish part of the 1988 BCS was also known as the Scottish Areas Crime Survey.)

The first independent Scotland-only survey was commissioned by the Scottish Office in 1993 under the title of the Scottish Crime Survey (SCS) and was followed by repeated sweeps in 1996 (both years are held as one dataset under SN 3813), and again in 2000 (SN 4542) and 2003 (SN 5756). In 2004 the survey underwent both a name change, to the Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey (SCVS) (SN 5757), and a major methodological change, with a move away from in-home face-to-face interviewing to telephone interviewing. However, the 2006 SCVS (SN 5784) returned to face-to-face interviewing after it was shown that the robustness of the data produced by the 2004 telephone survey could not be substantiated.

Main Topics:
This dataset contains the following files :
'Coreinfo.por' contains data from the main questionnaire, asked of every respondent. This includes perceptions of crime as a problem and fear of crime, all 'screening questions' gauging experience of crime, all socio-demographic information.
'Maina.por' contains data from the follow-up section 'version a' (asked of half the sample) on policing and the criminal justice system. This covers issues such as experience of police contact, satisfaction with this contact, general attitudes towards the police, experience of jury service, attitudes towards sentencing and scottish prisons.
'Mainb.por' contains data from the follow-up section 'version b' (asked of half the sample) on perceptions of crime. This covers issues such as the perceived level of crime in the local area, worry about crime, crime prevention measures taken, experience of threats or harassment and nuisance telephone calls.
'Victim.por' contains 'victim form' data. A maximum of five were completed for each respondent for each crime experienced. Data include details of the incident such as location, items stolen or damaged, cost to the victim, insurance cover, injuries incurred, and details of the offenders. Other data include the emotional response of the victim, whether the incident was reported to the police and the level of satisfaction with the police response, information provided to the victim, and the perceived seriousness of the incident.
'Self.por' contains data gathered from the self-completion questionnaire for 16-59 year olds. The data include admissions to a list of criminal or anti-social behaviours, knowledge and use of a list of controlled drugs, and (for the 1996 SCS only) experience of domestic violence.
'Young.por' contains data gathered from the young persons' self-completion questionnaire for 12-15 year olds. This covers a range of issues including worrying about crime and other matters, habitual behaviour such as 'hanging around', offending behaviour, contact with and attitudes towards the police, truancy, experience of crime as a victim, drug taking, and attitudes towards drugs.

Coverage:
Time Period Covered: 1993 survey : January - December 1992.
1996 survey : January - December 1995.
Dates of Fieldwork: 1993 survey : March - May 1993.
1996 survey : February - April 1996.
Country: Scotland
Spatial Units: Region; Lowland/Highland
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Alpha/numeric data; Individual (micro) level

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:All respondents were resident in households in mainland Scotland and the main islands during 1993 and 1996.
Main questionnaire : respondents aged 16 years and over resident in households sampled.
Self-completion questionnaire : respondents aged 16-59 years resident in households sampled.
Young respondents questionnaire : respondents aged 12-15 years resident in households participating in the main interview.

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
The survey was conducted approximately once every three years until 2003.
Sampling Procedures: Multi-stage stratified random sample
See documentation for further details.
Number of Units: (A) 5000 (target) 5030 (obtained) (1993 survey);(B) 5000 (target) 5045 (obtained) (1996 survey)
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Self-completion
Weighting: See documentation for details

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Government, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: govsurveys@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 19 January 1999

Copyright:
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland

Documentation: