BJS FY 15 Methodological Research to Support the National Crime Victimization Survey: Self-Report Data on Rape and Sexual Assault - Pilot Test

The NCVS collects data from more than 94,800 persons in 62,200 households every 6 months and provides the nation’s only measures of the incidence of criminal victimization not reported to authorities. Since 2008, BJS has initiated a number of projects to assess and improve upon NCVS program methodology, including redesigning the sample plan, comparing alternative modes of interviewing, reducing non-response bias, examining various reference period lengths, testing the effectiveness of victimization screening questions, and exploring the feasibility of producing sub-national estimates of victimization. As a part of the continuing effort to improve the survey, the focus of this solicitation is to develop and evaluate improved procedures for collecting self-report data on the sensitive and difficult to measure crimes of rape and sexual assault. The NCVS is an omnibus crime survey conducted by the Census Bureau under the sponsorship of BJS. The NCVS program produces estimates of many common law crimes including rape and sexual assault through self-report interviews of persons selected in a national stratified sample of addresses drawn from each decennial census. All residents age 12 or older at each address are interviewed at 6-month intervals. The interview has two components: a screening questionnaire and an incident report form. For every incident uncovered in the screening questionnaire, an incident report form is filled out, obtaining a range of information about the circumstances, offender, and consequences to the victim. The primary measures produced by the NCVS are annual incidence, year-to-year change, and trend estimates.