Which Source Possesses the Best Data on the Empirical Aspects of Criminal Events? A Theory of Opportunity and Necessary Conditions

Bibliographic Data

ID2153239
AuthorsScott Jacques (0000-0002-2089-4078, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume40
Issue12
Pages1543-1552
Publication date2019-12-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDeviant Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-9625 • E-ISSN: 1521-0456
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01639625.2018.1559635
OpenAlexW2906049261
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited46

Offenders and nonoffenders possess valuable information about crime. But which possesses the best data? This is a complex issue, so I narrow my focus to data on empirical aspects of criminal events. Drawing on the necessary conditions perspective, I theorize that a source's possession 1) of data varies directly with its involvement in cases; 2) of representative data varies inversely with nonrandom involvement in cases and nonrandom siphoning off from the larger group to which it belongs; and, 3) of accurate data varies inversely with time since involvement in cases. Those general principles suggest that offenders, especially active ones, possess the most data, representative data, and accurate data on empirical aspects of criminal events. I conclude by discussing the implications of those general principles for observation research, sources' possession of subjective data, and their possession of empirical data on other criminological events, specifically victimization and policing

Criminology · Data mining · Data science · Data source · Empirical research · Perspective (graphical · Possession (linguistics · Statistics · Computer Science · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Mathematics · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence