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11 Just. Q. 499 (1994)
The Measurement of Family Violence and Rape by the Redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey

handle is hein.journals/jquart11 and id is 509 raw text is: THE MEASUREMENT OF FAMILY VIOLENCE AND RAPE BY THE REDESIGNED NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMIZATION SURVEY* RONET BACHMAN BRUCE M. TAYLOR Bureau of Justice Statistics Washington, DC Because of the historical stigma attached to rape and family violence, estimating incidence rates of these victimizations is a difficult task. Re- search employing diverse methodologies and operational definitions, not surprisingly, has yielded different estimates. After a 10-year redesign pro- ject, the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) has drastically changed the way it estimates the incidence of rape and family violence. This new survey methodology was implemented in 100 percent of the NCVS sample in July 1993; estimates based on the new survey will become avail- able in fall 1994. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the evolution of this redesign project and to explicate how rape and domestic violence now are operationalized by the NCVS. As the result of diligent work by various women's and victims' rights groups over the past two decades, the once hidden and taboo subject of violence against women has fiially achieved prominence as a major social problem. As a result, the issue has undergone most of the experiences that accompany a recognized social prob- lem, including changes in antiquated legislative and judicial stat- utes as well as government involvement in programmatic strategies developed for assessing, preventing, and treating this violence. One result of this enlightened awareness has been an increase in efforts by both academic and government researchers to quantify more accurately the incidence and prevalence of violence against * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1992 annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology, held in New Orleans. Views and opinions expressed herein are the authors' and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions of the Department of Justice or of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and sug- gestions. All inquiries should be sent to Ronet Bachman, Bureau of Justice Statis- tics, U.S. Department of Justice, 633 Indiana Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20531. JUSTICE QUARTERLY, Vol. 11 No. 3, September 1994 © 1994 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

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