MyData:What Is MyData? | Login/Account Info | Download Saved Files | Logout
Description & Citation--Study No. 3399 | |
Bibliographic Description | |
| ICPSR Study No.: | 3399 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Examination of Homicides in Houston, Texas, 1985-1994 |
| Principal Investigator(s): | Victoria Titterington, Sam Houston State University |
| Kelly R. Damphousse, University of Oklahoma | |
| Funding Agency: | United States Department of Justice. National Institute of Justice. |
| Grant Number: | 97-IJ-CX-0014 |
| Bibliographic Citation: | Titterington, Victoria, and Kelly R. Damphousse. EXAMINATION OF HOMICIDES IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, 1985-1994 [Computer file]. ICPSR version. Huntsville, TX: Sam Houston State University [producer], 2002. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002. |
Scope of Study | |
| Summary: | As a contribution to nationwide efforts to more thoroughly understand urban violence, this study was conducted to assess the impact of cultural dynamics on homicide rates in Houston, Texas, and to profile homicides in the city from 1985 to 1994. This data collection provides the results of quantitative analysis of data collected from all Houston homicide cases recorded in the police murder logs for 1985-1994. Variables describe the homicide circumstances, the victim-offender relationship, the type of weapon used, and any drug- or gang-related activity involved. Other variables include the year and month in which the homicide occurred, whether the homicide occurred on a weekday or over the weekend, the motive of the homicide, whether the homicide was drug-related, whether the case was cleared by police at time of data entry, weapon type and means of killing, the relationship between the victim and the offender, whether a firearm was the homicide method, whether it was a multiple victim incident or multiple offender incident, whether the victim or the offender was younger than age 15, and the inter-racial relationship between the victim and the offender. Demographic variables include age, sex, and race of the victim as well as the offender. |
| Subject Term(s): | arrest records, crime rates, homicide, murder, offenders, police records, urban crime, victims |
| Geographic Coverage: | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Time Period: | 1985 - 1994 |
| Date(s) of Collection: | 1997 |
| Unit of Observation: | Homicide cases. |
| Universe: | Homicide incidents from 1985 to 1994 in Houston, Texas |
| Data Type: | administrative records data |
| Data Collection Notes: | The user guide and codebook are provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site. |
Methodology | |
| Purpose of the Study: | As a contribution to nationwide efforts to more thoroughly understand urban violence, this study was conducted to assess the impact of cultural dynamics on homicide rates in Houston, Texas, and to profile homicides in the city from 1985 to 1994. The objectives of this research were to: (1) determine changes in the volume and characteristics of homicide in Houston, Texas, (2) compare neighborhood level factors influencing homicide victimization and offending, and (3) document and compare clearance (by arrest) rates as well as final legal disposition of homicide cases over time. The factors considered in conducting the study were Houston's economic downturn in the late 1970s and much of the 1980s, the ethnic mix of the city's population, the diverse demographic makeup of the city's police force, and the use of illegal drugs. |
| Study Design: | Data were collected from all Houston homicide cases recorded in the police murder logs for 1985-1994. A total of 4,944 homicides were on record for this time period. The project included a quantitative analysis of the age, sex, and race of victims and offenders, as well as a description of the homicide circumstances, the victim-offender relationship, the type of weapon used, and any drug- or gang-related activity involved. |
| Sample: | Not applicable. |
| Data Source: | the Houston Police Department and the Houston Chronicle |
| Mode of Data Collection: | Two sources of data were used for this project: (1) Houston Police Department computerized homicide data for 1985-1994, and (2) Houston Chronicle computerized news files for all homicide incidents occurring between 1985-1994. |
| Description of Variables: | Variables describe the homicide circumstances, the victim-offender relationship, the type of weapon used, and any drug- or gang-related activity involved. Other variables include the year and month in which the homicide occurred, whether the homicide occurred on a weekday or over the weekend, the motive of the homicide, whether the homicide was drug-related, whether the case was cleared by police at time of data entry, weapon type and means of killing, the relationship between the victim and the offender, whether a firearm was the homicide method, whether it was a multiple victim incident or multiple offender incident, whether the victim or the offender was younger than age 15, and the inter-racial relationship between the victim and the offender. Demographic variables include age, sex, and race of the victim as well as the offender. |
| Response Rates: | Not applicable. |
| Presence of Common Scales: | None. |
| Extent of Processing: | Missing data codes were standardized by the principal investigator and ICPSR. ICPSR checked for undocumented codes, produced a codebook, generated SAS and SPSS data definition statements, and reformatted the data and documentation. |
Access and Availability | |
| Note: | A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as LRECL, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest. |
| Original ICPSR Release: | 2002-07-11 |
| Version History: | The last update of this study occurred on 2005-11-04. |
| 2005-11-04 - On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions. | |
