A COMPARISON OF WEIGHTED AND UNWEIGHTED ANALYSES IN THE NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMIZATION SURVEY

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) data tapes include seve ral variables of weights that reflect how many households or persons a re represented by a given data record. While these sampling weights ar e crucial for estimating overall victimization rates, they do not have as much of an effect on methodological models, because weights in the NCVS are used primarily in ratio estimation adjustments and to compen sate for a relatively low nonresponse rate. The general use of weights is discussed, and several examples are given that indicate that altho ugh there may be some differences in the coefficients, the basic concl usions drawn from the models are the same with or without weights. It is recommended that weighted analyses in the NCVS be used primarily as a tool in model development.