National Crime Victimization Survey

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics for the purposes of building a crime index. The survey consists of questions regarding the user's experiences with criminal activity. The NCVS began in 1972 and was developed from work done by the National Opinion Research Center and the President's COmmission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. One notable result of the survey was that it became apparent that many crimes were not reported. Currently, ~50,000+ households are surveyed twice each year. The survey focuses on gathering information on the following crimes: assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft, rape, and robbery. Critics argue that the NCVS is unreliable, as there is no way to verify much of the information gathered.