Crime rate calculation method due for overhaul, researchers say
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 14:01
in Psychology & Sociology
In a study published recently in the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, WSU Ph.D. student Zavin Nazaretian and David M. Merolla, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, found that a method called "capping"—which only allows survey respondents to represent a maximum of three incidents per crime type regardless of how many incidents they report—undercounted violent crime by 87 percent and household crime by 36 percent.