Getting started with the Crime Survey for England and Wales (formerly the British Crime Survey)
1. Which dataset do I want?
There are a number of Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) datasets available, each of which represents annual data. Datasets
are available every two years from 1982 onwards and annually from 2000 onwards.
The data and documentation can be accessed from the following web page: Crime Survey for England and Wales.
A BCS 2000 teaching dataset is also
available (SN: 4740).
The teaching dataset has been prepared solely for the purpose of teaching and
student use. Most of the names of the variables and value labels are those used
in the original BCS files. However, some variables have been recoded for ease
of use and may vary from the original BCS data. A separate smaller teaching
dataset for the BCS 2000 is also available (SN:
4463).
2. Consulting the documentation
It will not be possible to analyse
the CSEW without reference to the documentation. Documentation is available for
viewing before downloading/ordering the data, however you will also obtain the
documentation if you download the data as a zipped file. The documentation contains:
o information about how the survey
is conducted
o information about which variables are available
o information about how the data is coded
o the survey questionnaires
The survey questionnaires can also
be obtained on the Survey Question
Bank web site which provides readily searchable versions of questionnaires
for all major surveys used by secondary analysts.
3. Registering for the data
Once you have decided which data to
use for your project you will need to register
with ESDS to obtain the data. Information about obtaining data can be found
on the ESDS web site.
Registered users can download/order
a large and increasing number of datasets direct from (usually in SPSS, STATA
or tab-delimited formats) via its online catalogue record and via the download/order
section of the Major Studies web
pages.
4. Ordering the data
CSEW data can be downloaded directly (or requested for download if not yet available
in this way) or requested via other media (e.g. CD). During the ordering process,
users will be required to agree onscreen to a Special Condition outlining additional
terms and conditions of use before access to the data is allowed. When you request
a CSEW dataset you will be asked to choose from a registered usage or to register
a new usage. Users who wish to order CSEW self-completion modules should contact
help@esds.ac.uk, and should be advised that express permission needs to be sought
from the Home Office before the files may be released to them. See the Dataset
Titles for further information.
The BCS 2000 teaching dataset can be downloaded directly or explored in Nesstar.
The smaller BCS 2000 dataset is also available via Nesstar.
5. Analysing the data using an appropriate
analysis package
Because the CSEW datasets are microdata you will need to analyse them using an
appropriate package, to do this you will need to use a package like SPSS, STATA
or SAS.
If you are unfamiliar with these packages
you can find a STATA
guide on the ESDS Government pages, which uses examples from the Labour
Force Survey. A guide to SPSS is also available, based on the HSE 2002 teaching
dataset. Several organisations offer introductory SPSS and STATA courses. CCSR
at the University of Manchester offers one-day courses although there is a charge.
Details of these courses can be obtained through the CCSR
Short Course Pages.
6. Communicating with other users
and obtaining support
A BCS
JISCmail list is an email list which allows users to discuss the CSEW with
each other and post queries they may have. It is a good way to find out what
other people are doing with the data and to hear about future developments.
To join the list click on the above link to the BCS list web page or email listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk
with the following message:
subscribe crim-bcs-users firstname
secondname
The ESDS-govsurveys
JISCmail list is an email list you can join to hear about events and other
news relating to the large-scale government list, including the BCS. To join
the list click on the above link to the ESDS-govsurveys list web page or email
listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk with the following message:
subscribe esds-govsurveys firstname
secondname
If you hit a problem with the data
while doing your work feel free to contact us. Queries relating to the large-scale
government datasets should be sent to:
govsurveys@esds.ac.uk
Alternatively you can telephone +44
(0)161 275 1980.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions for the British Crime Survey is also available.
7. Publishing
We need to let other researchers and
data depositors know what publications are available using the CSEW. If you publish
using the data, please contact us at govsurveys@esds.ac.uk and give us details
of your publication. If you would be happy for us to publish something on our
web site, for example the research
story on smoking, please let us know.
Data collectors and distributors should
be acknowledged in publications.
