SAMPLING FRAME EFFECTS ON THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY

In 1992, the British Crime Survey used the postcode address file as th e sampling frame for the first time, having previously used the electo ral registers (ERs). This paper addresses concerns that the change in frame may have affected the survey data, particularly measures of chan ge over time in victimization rates. The general conclusion is that th e change may have caused increases in crime rates between 1988 and 199 2 to be slightly overestimated, but only by an amount which is very sm all compared with other sources of survey error. Information is also p rovided on the nature of the biased coverage of the ERs, and the popul ation subgroups that would be under-represented by surveys involving E R samples.