ESDS
Crime data resources:
quantitative and qualitative
Dr. Sharon Bolton, UK Data Archive
National Centre for Research Methods Festival,
6 July 2010
ESDS overview
• National data archiving, dissemination and support
service, established 2003
• Jointly supported by:
– Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
– Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)
• Brought together existing organisations as partners:
– UK Data Archive (UKDA)
– Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research
(CCSR)
– Manchester Information and Associated
– Services (MIMAS)
– Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER)
What does ESDS do?
• access and support for key economic and social
data
• distributed service, bringing together centres of
expertise in data creation, dissemination,
preservation and use
• provides seamless, easy access to a range of
disparate resources for UK HE and FE sectors
• core archiving services plus four specialist data
services
ESDS services
• ESDS Government
– Large-scale government surveys
• ESDS International
– Multi-nation aggregate databanks and survey data
• ESDS Longitudinal
– Major UK surveys following individuals over time
• ESDS Qualidata
– Range of multimedia qualitative data sources (in-depth
and semi-structured interviews, focus groups, oral
histories, diaries, mixed methods data, audio and video)
• find out more at www.esds.ac.uk
What kinds of data support
criminological research?
• not just crime counts or direct experience of
crime, though this is important
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community and citizenship
lifestyles; youth and school surveys
social policy
emerging problems: human trafficking, terrorism
quantitative, qualitative, microdata, macrodata
any more?
• ESDS resources wide-ranging
How do I find crime data at ESDS?
• Search the ESDS catalogue: www.esds.ac.uk
• Browse by subject ‘crime and law enforcement’
• Keyword search on crime-related terms will
find individual questions within a larger survey
• Documentation online – read reports and
questionnaires
• Crime theme resource - searching guide
Browsing by subject
Keyword search
Quantitative resources
• British Crime Survey (supported by ESDS
Government service)
• Other quantitative surveys:
– SN 5807: Arrestee Survey, 2003-2006
– SN 4665: Measuring the Fear of Crime
with Greater Accuracy, 2002
– SN 5300: Crowd Dynamics, Policing and
Hooliganism at Euro 2004
Quantitative resources - longitudinal
• GN 33360: Offending, Crime and
Justice Survey (OCJS)
• SN 4800: Edinburgh Study of Youth
Transitions and Crime: Waves One to
Four, 1997-2001 (ESYTC)
Quantitative resources – cross-national
• Eurostat New Cronos database: homicide, violent
crime, robbery, burglary, motor vehicle theft, drug
trafficking, police, prisons
• World Bank World/Africa Development Indicators:
crime and corruption, various categories
• survey microdata: Eurobarometer series
• supported by ESDS International:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/international/
Qualitative resources
• SN 4581: Gender Difference, Anxiety and the Fear of
Crime, 1995
• SN 5314: Multilateral Policing in Africa: its Nature and
Socio-Political Impact in Uganda and Sierra Leone, 20032005
• SN 5274: Context and Motive in the Perpetuation of
Racial Harassment and Violence in North Staffordshire,
2004
• SN 6356: Attitudes in Russia to Social and Political
Aspects of Human Trafficking, 2007
• SN 6283: Co-operation or Contest? Inter-Agency
Relationships in Police Custody Areas, 2007
Learning and teaching resources I
• British Crime Survey teaching datasets (BCS
covered by ESDS Government)
• X4L SDiT: freely downloadable classroom
resource to demonstrate how survey data can
be used in teaching, also used subset of BCS:
– http://x4l.data-archive.ac.uk/
• Resources by theme: crime and social control,
health, research methods, qualitative methods
X4L SDiT resource
Learning and teaching resources II
• thematic guide to crime and social control
data:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/themes/crime/introduction.asp
• video guides: searching, downloading data
• case studies (fear of crime, weapon carrying,
attitudes to government crime control)
• comprehensive links to resources held at
ESDS and elsewhere
ESDS crime and social control theme
Learning and teaching resources III
• qualitative methodologies:
http://www.esds.ac.uk/qualidata/support/teaching.asp
• teaching packs:
– diverse interview types (semi-structured, life
stories, oral histories)
– non-interview methods (diaries, focus groups,
visual methods)
– re-using qualitative data
– case studies on how data have been re-used
Qualitative teaching packs
Enabling secondary use of
crime-related data
• how can ‘sensitive’ data be archived for secondary
use?
• guidance on data management and ethics
http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/sharing/confidential.asp
• careful use of anonymisation techniques
• restricting access for whole or part of study
• contact us when you start your project:
help@esds.ac.uk
Data management
www.data-archive.ac.uk