Deck 2: Defining Crimes and Measuring Criminal Behavior

Question 1

_______________ allows scientists to test hypotheses about how two or more variables are related.

A) Experimentation
B) Case study
C) Survey
D) Nonparticipant observation

Answer 1

Experimentation

Question 2

A(n) ______________ is an analysis of all pertinent aspects of one unit of study, such as an individual, an institution, a group, or a community.

A) experiment
B) case study
C) survey
D) participant observation

Answer 2

case study

Question 3

For the purposes of research, which group is not considered a vulnerable population?

A) the mentally ill
B) children
C) adult females
D) those with low social status

Answer 3

adult females

Question 4

_____ are severe crimes, subject to punishments of a year or more in prison or to capital punishment.

A) Felonies
B) Misdemeanors
C) Violations
D) Torts

Question 5

According to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which of the following crimes is considered to be a crime against property?

A) motor vehicle theft
B) robbery
C) aggravated assault
D) traffic violations

Question 6

Which of the following statements is not True about the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)?

A) They include data on reported crimes.
B) They provide crime rates.
C) They include the number of offenses cleared by arrest.
D) They differentiate between completed acts and attempted acts.

Question 7

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) measures the extent of victimization by

A) rape and robbery.
B) homicide.
C) arson and traffic violations.
D) suicide.

Question 8

Part II offenses of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) are excluded from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) for all of the following reasons except

A) Many of them are considered victimless.
B) They are not that serious.
C) Often the victims are willing participants.
D) The victims do not know that they have been victimized.

Question 9

What are some of the limitations of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?

A) The NCVS includes only seven offenses.
B) The data reported suffers from the fact that memories may fade over time.
C) Some individual variations in interviewing and recording style occur, resulting in variation in the information recorded.
D) all of these

Question 10

Self-report surveys reveal which of the following?

A) Only a small percentage of the general population commits crime.
B) Boys and girls commit the same amount of offenses.
C) Unrecorded offenders commit a wide variety of offenses, rather than specializing in one type of offense.
D) There is no relationship between violence and educational attainment.

Question 11

Which of the following is a limitation of self-report surveys?

A) They represent a wide range of criminal acts.
B) Respondents may not tell the truth.
C) The samples are never biased.
D) The information they yield applies to individuals of many age ranges.

Question 12

Which of the following is True of criminal acts?

A) Nationwide crime rates vary by season.
B) Most crimes are committed in small cities and suburbs.
C) Most personal thefts are committed at night.
D) On school days, juvenile violent crimes rate peak in the morning.

Question 13

Which of the following statements is True of the relationship between age and crime?

A) In any given year, approximately half of all arrests are of individuals above age 30.
B) Gang membership is ordinarily confined to individuals under age 14.
C) People age 65 and over account for less than one percent of all arrests.
D) Juveniles account for over 40 percent of arrests for Index crimes.

Question 14

The decline in criminal activities with age is known as _____.

A) midlife crisis
B) the aging-out phenomenon
C) life-course persistent offending
D) the age effect

Question 15

The life-course perspective argues that

A) the factors that influence people's entrance into criminal activity and the factors that induce them to give up criminal activity are the same.
B) all offenders commit fewer crimes as they grow older because they have less strength, less mobility, and so on.
C) the frequency of criminal involvement depends on such social factors as economic situation, peer pressure, and lifestyle.
D) the decrease in crime rates after adolescence implies that the number of crimes committed by all individual offenders declines.

Question 16

To learn how the causes of crime vary at different ages, Alfred Blumstein and his colleagues suggest that criminologists study

A) age.
B) gender.
C) socioeconomic status.
D) criminal careers.

Question 17

Males traditionally commit more of which of the following crimes than females?

A) prostitution
B) shoplifting
C) welfare fraud
D) aggravated assault

Question 18

What type of data source suggests that the gender differences in crime may be narrowing?

A) self-report surveys
B) police statistics
C) victimization surveys
D) Uniform Crime Reports

Question 19

Which one of the seven ingredients of crime requires that the actor achieve the result through his or her own effort?

A) the act requirement
B) the legality requirement
C) the harm requirement
D) the causation requirement

Question 20

Which one of the seven ingredients of crime requires that the criminal act must be accompanied by an equally criminal mind?

A) the punishment requirement
B) the concurrence requirement
C) the guilty mind requirement
D) the causation requirement

Question 21

The facts and observations that researchers gather for the purpose of a particular study are called secondary data.

Question 22

Investigators who engage in participant observation take part in many of the activities of the groups in order to gain acceptance, but they generally make clear the purpose of their participation.

Question 23

For the purposes of research, individuals that are under penal supervision are considered to be members of a "vulnerable population,"and special provisions regarding informed consent and the protection of privacy must be taken when involving them in research.

Question 24

All law enforcement agencies in the United States are required to contribute information on crime in their jurisdictions to the FBI for the Uniform Crime Reports.

Question 25

According to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), traffic violations are Part II crimes.

Question 26

Describe the seven basic requirements for a human event to qualify as a crime according to Jerome Hall.

Question 27

Explain what "typologies of crime"are, why typologies of crime are important, and provide examples that are discussed in the text.

Question 28

Discuss the three major reasons for measuring characteristics of crime and criminals. Then discuss three of the five methods of collecting data noted in the text, mentioning each method's strengths and weaknesses.

Question 29

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Uniform Crime Reports, the National Crime Victimization Survey, and various self-report surveys in estimating the nature and extent of crime in the United States.

Question 30

Explain how age, gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level are related to offending and their representation in the criminal justice system.