Ensuring the Quality, Credibility, and Relevance of U.S. Justice Statistics

378 Pages·2009·4.71 MB·English

by  National Research Council, Panel to Review the Programs of the Bureau of Justice Statistics

Ensuring the Quality, Credibility,
and Relevance of
U.S. Justice Statistics
Panel to Review the Programs of the Bureau of Justice Statistics
Robert M. Groves and Daniel L. Cork, Editors
Committee on National Statistics
Committee on Law and Justice
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2009). Ensuring the Quality, Cred-
ibility, and Relevance of U.S. Justice Statistics. Panel to Review the Programs of the
Bureau of Justice Statistics. Robert M. Groves and Daniel L. Cork, eds. Committee
on National Statistics and Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and
Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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PANEL TO REVIEW THE PROGRAMS
OF THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS
ROBERT M. GROVES (Chair), Survey Research Center, University of
Michigan, and Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of
Maryland
WILLIAM G. BARRON, JR., Consultant, Princeton University and U.S.
Department of Commerce
WILLIAM CLEMENTS, School of Graduate Studies and Department of
Criminal Justice, Norwich University, and Vermont Center for Justice
Research
∗
PAMELA K. LATTIMORE, RTI International, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina
JANET L. LAURITSEN, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
University of Missouri–St. Louis
COLIN LOFTIN, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, State
University of New York
JAMES P. LYNCH, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
RUTH D. PETERSON, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University
TRIVELLORE E. RAGHUNATHAN, Department of Biostatistics, School of
Public Health, and Survey Research Center, University of Michigan,
and Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland
STEVEN R. SCHLESINGER, Statistics Division, Administrative Office of the
U.S. Courts
WESLEY G. SKOGAN, Department of Political Science and Institute for
Policy Research, Northwestern University
BRUCE D. SPENCER, Department of Statistics and Institute for Policy
Research, Northwestern University
BRUCE WESTERN, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
DANIEL L. CORK, Study Director
CAROL V. PETRIE, Senior Program Officer
AGNES E. GASKIN, Administrative Assistant
∗
Resigned from the panel April 2, 2007.
v
COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS
2008–2009
WILLIAM F. EDDY (Chair), Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon
University
KATHARINE G. ABRAHAM, Department of Economics and Joint Program
in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland
ALICIA CARRIQUIRY, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University
WILLIAM DUMOUCHEL, Phase Forward, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts
JOHN C. HALTIWANGER, Department of Economics, University of
Maryland
V. JOSEPH HOTZ, Department of Economics, Duke University
KAREN KAFADAR, Department of Statistics, Indiana University,
Bloomington
DOUGLAS S. MASSEY, Department of Sociology, Princeton University
SALLY MORTON, Statistics and Epidemiology, RTI International, Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina
JOSEPH NEWHOUSE, Division of Health Policy Research and Education,
Harvard University
SAMUEL H. PRESTON, Population Studies Center, University of
Pennsylvania
HAL STERN, Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine
ROGER TOURANGEAU, Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University
of Maryland, and Survey Research Center, University of Michigan
ALAN ZASLAVSKY, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical
School
CONSTANCE F. CITRO, Director
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COMMITTEE ON LAW AND JUSTICE
2008–2009
JAMES Q. WILSON (Chair), University of California, Los Angeles (emeritus)
PHILIP J. COOK (Vice Chair), Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke
University
DAVID H. BAYLEY, School of Criminal Justice, University of Albany, State
University of New York
RICHARD J. BONNIE, Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy,
University of Virginia Law School
ROBERT D. CRUTCHFIELD, Department of Sociology, University of
Washington
STEVEN N. DURLAUF, Department of Economics, University of
Wisconsin–Madison
ARTHUR S. GOLDBERGER, Department of Economics, University of
Wisconsin–Madison
ROBERT L. JOHNSON, Pediatric and Clinical Psychiatry and Director of
Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, New Jersey Medical School
GARY LAFREE, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
University of Maryland
JOHN H. LAUB, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
University of Maryland
GLENN LOURY, Department of Economics, Brown University
TRACEY L. MEARES, School of Law, University of Chicago
TERRIE E. MOFFITT, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London
RUTH PETERSON, Department of Sociology, Ohio State University
RICHARD ROSENFELD, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice,
University of Missouri–St. Louis
ROBERT J. SAMPSON, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
JEREMY TRAVIS, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
CHRISTY VISHER, Justice Policy Center, Urban Institute
DAVID WEISBURD, Hebrew University Law School, Jerusalem, Israel
CAROL PETRIE, Director
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Acknowledgments
HE PANEL to Review the Programs of the Bureau of Justice Statistics
of the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) is pleased to sub-
T mit this final report on the programs and priorities of the Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS). The work that leads to such a report always repre-
sents a collectivity—a devoted and talented staff of the National Research
Council (NRC) and a set of volunteers, both panel members and those who
met with the panel. Finally, the agency seeking advice from CNSTAT is key
to the success of the endeavor.
The staff of BJS has been exceptionally receptive to our external review
of the agency’s programs. We benefited greatly from the energy and enthusi-
asm of BJS Director Jeffrey Sedgwick during the course of our study, partic-
ularly given his added responsibilities during the latter half of our work. In
January 2008 he took on the duties of acting assistant attorney general for
the Office of Justice Programs, the parent division of BJS, while retaining the
BJS directorship. He was subsequently nominated as assistant attorney gen-
eral in April 2008 and confirmed in October 2008, serving in that capacity
until the end of the Bush administration. The other members of BJS’s senior
leadership were also unstinting in their support. Deputy Director Maureen
Henneberg provided considerable assistance as the lead liaison between BJS
and the panel, and BJS Senior Statistical Advisor Allen Beck gave greatly of
his time and expertise in interacting with the panel and led a wide-ranging
discussion of BJS data collections required by the Prison Rape Elimination
Act. Patrick Campbell, special assistant to Director Sedgwick, also partici-
pated in the public sessions of the panel’s meetings. Michael Rand, chief of
victimization statistics, deserves particular credit for leading a thorough and
extremely useful review of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
at the panel’s first meeting. Program managers and BJS staff briefed the panel
on their work and fielded numerous questions about their designated subject
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