Questioning Bias: Validating a Bias Crime Assessment Tool in California and New Jersey, 2016-2017 (ICPSR 37039)

Version Date: Aug 2, 2018

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Principal Investigator(s):
Laura Simich, Vera Institute of Justice

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37039.v1

Version V1

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Summary

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This study investigates experiences surrounding hate and bias crimes and incidents and reasons and factors affecting reporting and under-reporting among youth and adults in LGBT, immigrant, Hispanic, Black, and Muslim communities in New Jersey and Los Angeles County, California.

The collection includes 1 SPSS data file (QB_FinalDataset-Revised.sav (n=1,326; 513 variables)). The collection also contains 24 qualitative data files of transcripts from focus groups and interviews with key informants, which are not included in this release.

Citation

Simich, Laura. Questioning Bias: Validating a Bias Crime Assessment Tool in California and New Jersey, 2016-2017. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2018-08-02. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37039.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2015-R2-CX-0037)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

state

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2016-01 -- 2017-12

Date of Collection

2016-07-01 -- 2017-10-31

Data Collection Notes

  1. These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

  2. Please note that the qualitative data, transcripts of focus groups and interviews with key informants, are not available under NACJD's Fast Track Release.

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Study Purpose

Study objectives are to develop a comprehensive bias crime assessment tool for use by community organizations and law enforcement to identify and reach victims of bias crime.

Study Design

Data collection for the study was conducted in two states: California (Los Angeles County) and New Jersey. The selection of these two locations as project sites was motivated by methodological and practical considerations. These sites have large, diverse, representative populations that meet our study criteria and significant numbers of police-reported hate crimes. Moreover, L.A. County and New Jersey have the same set of protected classes under bias crime law: race/ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. Both have interpreted bias law in courts to allow bias crimes with mixed motives and crimes based on biased target selection in addition to those based on expressed hostility.

Sample

The data collection is a convenience sampling of community members and university students in New Jersey and California. The majority (75%) of the quantitative data sample consisted of participants from California, which was the stronger of the two sites in terms of organizational partnerships. Two-thirds of the sample were university students, as past research has shown that youth frequently experiences bias incidents including hate crimes. Further, many of the students who participated were enrolled in criminal justice classes, which implies that they have some awareness of crimes in general and hate crimes in particular, and were thus able to answer survey questions knowledgably.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

Adults living in California and New Jersey

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

The data file (n=1,326; 513 variables) contains variables on respondents' personal experiences with crime and discrimination, details surrounding the most recent personal experience with hate or bias, details surrounding the most upsetting personal experience with hate or bias, perception of the offender(s), reaction to incident, whether or not incident was reported to police, police response, level of satisfaction with police response, bothersome feelings experienced in past month, feelings about potential future hate crime victimization, actions taken to feel safer, and views on police, laws, and rules. Demographic variables include age, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, living situation, whether respondent has children, marital status, whether born in the U.S. and whether parents born in the U.S., immigration status, level of education, and employment status.

Response Rates

Not available

Presence of Common Scales

Several Likert-type scales were used.

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Original Release Date

2018-08-02

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Weight

Not applicable

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Notes

  • These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.