OCR A-Level Sociology H580
Introducing Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Families and RelationshipsComponent 01
Youth SubculturesComponent 01
MediaComponent 01
Research Methods and Researching Social Inequalities
Understanding Social Inequalities
Globalisation and the Digital Social World
Crime and DevianceComponent 03
EducationComponent 03
Religion, Belief and FaithComponent 03
Crime and Deviance
The Crime Survey, victim surveys and self-report studies
- 1 thing to know
- Component 03
Overview
Recall questions on the Crime Survey for England and Wales, its advantages and limitations and why it differs from police recorded crime, local victim surveys, and self-report studies with their uses and weaknesses.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the Crime Survey for England and Wales, and whom does it ask?
Model answer
It is a large annual victim survey in which a nationally representative sample of adults in private households is interviewed about their experience of crime in the previous twelve months, supported by a confidential self-completion module for sensitive offences; children are surveyed separately.
- 2
State three advantages of the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
Model answer
It captures offences the victim never reported to the police and so reaches part of the dark figure, it has used a consistent method for decades and so gives a trustworthy picture of long-term trends, and it records victims' perceptions and fear of crime as well as incidents.
- 3
What are the main limitations of the Crime Survey for England and Wales?
Model answer
It relies on respondents' memory and honesty, it cannot record homicide or victimless offences, and it has historically excluded crimes against businesses and people living outside private households.
- 4
Why do police recorded crime and the Crime Survey for England and Wales often tell different stories about crime?
Model answer
They measure different things: the survey counts incidents the public say they experienced whether or not anyone told the police, while police figures depend on victims reporting and officers recording, so the survey normally shows more of the comparable household and personal offences and is less disturbed by changes in recording practice or policing priorities.
- 5
Apart from the national survey, what use do sociologists make of victim surveys?
Model answer
Local victim surveys are used to expose the concentration of crime in particular neighbourhoods and among particular groups, an approach associated with left realist research into inner-city victimisation.
- 6
What is a self-report study?
Model answer
A self-report study is an anonymous or confidential questionnaire or interview in which respondents are asked to admit to offences they have committed, whether or not they were caught.
Other ways to work this
The same content, four other ways.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Every question in Crime and Deviance, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.