DATA SET COMPARABILITY AND SHORT-TERM TRENDS IN CRIME AND DELINQUENCY

Two self-report surveys of delinquent behavior, the National Youth Sur vey and the Monitoring the Future study, indicate different rates of p revalence for illegal behavior. Trends in the two series differ also, and this has been taken as evidence for differential validity between the two studies. Comparison of the two data sets indicates that differ ences between them could be attributable primarily to differences in s ampling design, the administration of the surveys, and the wording of specific questions. There appears to be little support for the asserti on that one data set is more or less valid than the other for measurin g rates or trends in crime and delinquency.