Question 1

Compared to police counts of crime,which of the following can be said of correctional counts?

Accepted Answer

B

Question 2

Which of the following pairs of terms best describes the nature of crime rate statistics across the criminal justice system from crime detection to incarceration?

Accepted Answer

Crime rate statistics across the criminal justice system are reliable because they are collected consistently, but they may not be valid because they are subject to human error and biases in reporting and enforcement. For example, some crimes may not be reported, and some individuals who are suspected to have committed crimes may not be apprehended or prosecuted. Therefore, while the statistics provide a consistent measure of crime rates, they may not accurately reflect the true extent of criminal activity.

Question 3

According to the textbook,statistical facts without theory are best classified as which of the following?

Accepted Answer

Statistical facts without theory are best classified as numerology, which is the belief in the mystical relationship between numbers and events without any scientific basis.

Question 4

Which of the following is the result of taking police-reported crimes,dividing this figure by the size of the national population,and then multiplying it by 100,000?

Accepted Answer

This calculation is used to determine the crime rate, which represents the number of crimes per 100,000 people in the population.

Question 5

Which of the following scenarios best reflects Kaplan's "law of the hammer"?

Accepted Answer

Kaplan's "law of the hammer" states that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. In this case, social scientists have become so used to using police-reported crime data that they continue to use it despite knowing its weaknesses. They are relying solely on the hammer of police data without considering other sources or methods of measuring crime.

Question 6

An offender goes on a break-and-enter spree and hits six houses in one evening.Which of the following refers to the question of whether one or six offences should be included in the official crime rate?

Accepted Answer

The answer of An offender goes on a break-and-enter spree...

Question 7

Which of the following terms best describe when governments introduce tough-on-crime legislation despite the fact that statistics show the crime rate is falling?

Accepted Answer

Tough-on-crime legislation is often driven by ideological beliefs and a desire to appear tough on crime, even if the statistics show that crime rates are decreasing. Theory, numerology, and scatology are not relevant terms in this context.

Question 8

Which of the following criminal justice agencies completes a report that then becomes part of the Uniform Crime Reporting system?

Accepted Answer

The police complete reports on crimes and submit them to the Uniform Crime Reporting system, which is managed by the FBI in the United States. The courts and corrections systems may have information related to individual cases, but they do not contribute data to the Uniform Crime Reporting system. The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics is a separate agency in a different country, and does not manage the Uniform Crime Reporting system in the US.

Question 9

According to the textbook which of the following most accurately accounts for the statistics indicating an overall increase in the average daily count of adults in custody in Canada between 1978 and 2013?

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the textbook which of the...

Question 10

Which of the following statements best describes the so-called "crime funnel"?

Accepted Answer

The crime funnel refers to the decreasing number of crimes that make their way through the criminal justice system, with only a portion of the crimes detected by police leading to incarceration. This means that many crimes go unpunished, and only a small percentage of offenders are actually caught and punished for their crimes.

Question 11

Polsky (1967)argued that our understanding of crime would never be significantly advanced if we relied solely on statistical data.To further our understanding of crime,which of the following would fit with the methods Polsky advocated we use?

Accepted Answer

Polsky advocated for a more qualitative approach, which involves direct interaction with offenders and gaining an understanding of their experiences and motivations. This method is better achieved through spending time in the community interacting with offenders on parole rather than relying on statistical data.

Question 12

Which of the following refers to how criminal justice data are to be combined?

Accepted Answer

Levels of aggregation refer to how criminal justice data are to be combined. It involves grouping data according to specific criteria, such as by location, type of crime, or demographic characteristics of offenders, in order to provide a meaningful and useful analysis of criminal justice trends and patterns. Data elements refer to the individual pieces of information that make up a dataset, units of count refer to how criminal justice activity is measured, and counting procedure refers to the specific method used for counting criminal justice activity.

Question 13

Which of the following refers to what,specifically,is to be collected to compile criminal justice statistics?

Accepted Answer

Data elements refer to the specific pieces of information that are collected in order to compile criminal justice statistics. Counting procedures (A) refer to the methods used to count or measure these pieces of information, units of count (C) refer to the categories or groups that the data is collected from (such as individuals, incidents, or arrests), and levels of aggregation (D) refer to how the data is categorized or grouped together (such as by location or time period).

Question 14

Which of the following best describes the differences between a criminal justice administrative record and statistical data?

Accepted Answer

Administrative records are focused on individual cases, providing detailed information on each case. This information is used for case management, policy development, and planning. On the other hand, statistical data is aggregated data obtained by compiling and analyzing administrative records, surveys, and other sources. Statistical data is used to identify trends, patterns, and rates of criminal activities, and make broader predictions and inferences about crime. Therefore, the main difference between administrative records and statistical data is that administrative records are concerned with individual cases while statistics are aggregated data.

Question 15

Which of the following terms refers to the consistency of research results over time?

Accepted Answer

Reliability refers to the consistency of research results over time. Validity refers to the accuracy of research results and whether they measure what they claim to measure. Stability is a term used in personality psychology to refer to the degree of consistency of traits over time. Methodology refers to the overall approach or framework used in conducting research.

Question 16

Which of the following is the most commonly used source of data for measuring crime in Canada?

Accepted Answer

Police-reported data is the most commonly used source of data for measuring crime in Canada as it provides information on the incidents that have been reported to and recorded by police. Other sources of data, such as correctional and court data, only provide information on the cases that have passed through the criminal justice system and may not capture all incidents of crime. Census data, on the other hand, provides demographic information but does not directly measure crime.

Question 17

What is the name of the agency within Statistics Canada that produces much of the criminal justice statistical information in Canada?

Accepted Answer

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) is the agency within Statistics Canada responsible for producing much of the criminal justice statistical information in Canada.

Question 18

In the 1960s and 1970s,what did social scientists begin to suggest regarding official records of crime?

Accepted Answer

Social scientists began to suggest in the 1960s and 1970s that official records of crime were systematically biased. This was due to factors such as underreporting of certain types of crime, over-policing of certain areas and demographics, and inconsistencies in how different agencies recorded and reported crime data. These biases made it difficult to use official records as accurate measures of crime rates and patterns.

Question 19

According to Figure 4.2 in your textbook,which of the following best represents the trend in the average daily count of adults in custody in Canada between 1978 and 2013?

Accepted Answer

According to Figure 4.2 in the textbook, the trend in the average daily count of adults in custody in Canada between 1978 and 2013 shows an overall increase. There are some fluctuations in the data, but the overall trend is upward. Therefore, option B best represents the trend shown in Figure 4.2.

Question 20

What information does a statistical count of prison populations provide?

Accepted Answer

A statistical count of prison populations provides information on how a society responds to crime, such as how many people are incarcerated and for what types of crimes. It does not necessarily provide information on the overall amount of crime in a society, murder rates at a given time, or the nature of judicial discretion in a society.

Quiz 4: Counting Crime