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

What kinds of data support criminological research? not just crime counts or direct experience of crime, though this is important –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: 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, –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, (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:

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, 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: – 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: 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: 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 careful use of anonymisation techniques restricting access for whole or part of study contact us when you start your project:

Data management