Victim Surveys

• Accuracy?

  • insight into 'Dark figure of crime'
  • generalisable data
  • qualitative
• Representative?

  • CSEW: representative of adults & children
  • face-to-face structured interviews
• Practicality?

  • Expensive -> cost to train interviewers
  • time-consuming -> interviews
• Ethical issues?

  • confidentiality promise -> people can talk with no consequences
• Interpretivists or Positivist?

  Interpretivists -> qualitative data
• Theories in FAVOUR?

  • left realists & Feminists ->
  • data used to raise awareness of impact of fear of crime on peoples lifes
• Theories AGAINST

  1. Positivists -> oversimplify complex social issues