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study: Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY File >

Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY File (ICPSR 8451)

Principal Investigator(s): Espy, M. Watt, Headland, Alabama; Smykla, John Ortiz, University of South Alabama. Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice

Summary:

This collection furnishes data on executions performed under civil authority in the United States between 1608 and 2002. The dataset describes each individual executed and the circumstances surrounding the crime for which the person was convicted. Variables include age, race, name, sex, and occupation of the offender, place, jurisdiction, date, and method of execution, and the crime for which the offender was executed. Also recorded are data on whether the only evidence for the execution was official records indicating that an individual (executioner or slave owner) was compensated for an execution.

Access Notes

  • These data are freely available.

Dataset(s)

Dataset
Documentation:
Codebook.pdf
Download:
SAS SPSS Stata ASCII All Dataset Files (6,582 KB)
ASCII + SAS Setup SPSS Setup Stata Setup

Study Description

Citation

Espy, M. Watt, and John Ortiz Smykla. EXECUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1608-2002: THE ESPY FILE. 4th ICPSR ed. Compiled by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla, University of Alabama. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [producer and distributor], 2004. doi:10.3886/ICPSR08451.v4

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08451.v4

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote XML (EndNote X4.0.1 or higher)

Funding

This survey was funded by:

  • National Science Foundation (SES 84-09725)

Scope of Study

Subject Terms:   capital punishment, crime, executions, historical data, criminal justice system, offenders, offenses

Geographic Coverage:   United States

Time Period:  

  • 1608--2002

Date of Collection:  

  • 1970--2002

Universe:   Executions that occurred under civil authority in the United States or within territory that later became the United States.

Data Types:   aggregate data

Data Collection Notes:

The codebook is 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

Data Source:

state Department of Corrections records, newspapers, county histories, proceedings of state and local courts, holdings of historical societies, and other listings of executions

Extent of Processing:  ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Performed consistency checks.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:  1988-01-06

Version History:

  • 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.
  • 2004-02-27 Data from the years 1992 through 2002 have been added to the data file. The SPSS and SAS data definition statements have been updated accordingly and Part 2 of this study, old SAS data definition statements will be removed, leaving all files in only one part. The ASCII codebook has also been updated and converted to a PDF file.

Related Publications

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