Outline two problems with Official Statistics as a way of measuring crime (4 marks)
Outline two problems with Official Statistics as a way of measuring crime (4 marks)
One problem of using the Official Statistics (OS) to measure crime is that police recording procedures can heavily distort the figured produced in the OS - this was demonstrated in a study by Farrington and Dowds (1985) who found that Nottinghamshire Police were much more likely to record thefts of under £10 value, compared to the police of Staffordshire and Leicestershire - which is why the official crime rate is reportedly much higher in Nottinghamshire.
Additionally, the OS provides a very limited view of the true extent of crime: Hollin (1992) claims that it only accounts for approximately 25% of crimes - this means that 75% is unaccounted for and therefore suggests that it's not a very reliable measure of the true crime rate.
One problem of using the Official Statistics (OS) to measure crime is that police recording procedures can heavily distort the figured produced in the OS - this was demonstrated in a study by Farrington and Dowds (1985) who found that Nottinghamshire Police were much more likely to record thefts of under £10 value, compared to the police of Staffordshire and Leicestershire - which is why the official crime rate is reportedly much higher in Nottinghamshire.
Additionally, the OS provides a very limited view of the true extent of crime: Hollin (1992) claims that it only accounts for approximately 25% of crimes - this means that 75% is unaccounted for and therefore suggests that it's not a very reliable measure of the true crime rate.
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