Abstract
My chapter is slightly different than the others in this volume. Rather than focusing on a particular topic to frame my discussion of developing research questions and addressing methodological challenges, I use a dataset as the basis for exploring these issues. Specifically, my focus is on the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Mike and Steve asked the contributors to be informal and conversational in our entries, which proved to be much more challenging than it sounded. My conversations about NIBRS tend to be highly animated ones that quickly get into the weeds. One reason is that I am thrilled to meet anyone expressing even a passing interest in NIBRS as the NIBRS crowd tends to be rather limited (although our numbers are growing). Another is that I truly love my research (overall and with NIBRS in particular). It continues to amaze me that I am paid essentially to play with data, explore topics of my choosing, and derive the excitement of discovering something new and interesting. In an effort to bring some organization to the present conversation, I start with a brief description of NIBRS for the uninitiated before discussing my experiences using these data in my research.
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Notes
- 1.
Much of this section borrows from a previous discussion (Addington, 2010). Readers interested in more details about NIBRS and the UCR are directed to sources such as Addington (2009, 2014) and Barnett-Ryan (2007). Those interested in working with NIBRS data are strongly encouraged to refer to the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data’s online NIBRS Data Resource Guide, the related NACJD-produced NIBRS codebooks, and the FBI’s NIBRS website and online annual reports.
- 2.
In December 2011, the FBI announced changes in its definition of rape to remove the “force” requirement and to include victims of both genders and not just female victims. This new definition took effect in 2013.
- 3.
The summary reporting system does allow for incident-level details as part of its Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR), but the SHR is much more limited than NIBRS. The SHR only collects incident details for homicides. The SHR also collects fewer incident details than NIBRS. Finally the SHR, like the rest of the summary reporting system, does not provide any unique incident identifiers. This omission restricts the SHR’s ability to update data to include, for example, subsequent clearance information.
- 4.
As a disgruntled attorney, I applied to graduate school with the goal of running from the law.
- 5.
Early on as I started to get interested in working with NIBRS, a few mentors and more established researchers cautioned me about the opportunity cost of working with these data given what they perceived as its limited utility and publication opportunities.
- 6.
Despite Mike and Steve allowing the contributors an option to include video files with this book, I feel as though I have compromised my professional veneer enough by telling this story, let alone by showing my dance!
- 7.
The NACJD archives and disseminates NIBRS as well as other crime and criminal justice data.
- 8.
A lesson I continue to fail to learn is that something that sounds like it will be easy to do is a huge red flag that it will be anything but.
References
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Addington, L.A. (2015). Research Adventures with “Kinda Big” Data: Using NIBRS to Study Crime. In: Maltz, M., Rice, S. (eds) Envisioning Criminology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15868-6_16
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