National Crime Victimization Survey Instrument Redesign Field Test - Condition 1, [United States], 2019-2020 (ICPSR 39164)

Version Date: Jul 30, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics; Westat

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39164.v1

Version V1

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Summary

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) initiated a multiyear effort to improve the efficiency, reliability, and utility of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The effort had three main goals: modernize the organization and content of the NCVS instrument, increase the quality of information collected and efficiency of the instrument flow, and improve the measurement and classification of crime. To that end, BJS is redesigning the entire survey instrument, which includes a household roster, a victimization screener, and a detailed crime incident report (CIR). Each of these instrument components were examined in the NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test. This large-scale national field test was conducted from October 2019 to March 2020 to compare the performance of the current NCVS instrument and procedures (Condition 1) against the redesigned instrument (Condition 2). For more details on this effort, see the NCVS Instrument Redesign webpage.

Citation

United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Westat. National Crime Victimization Survey Instrument Redesign Field Test - Condition 1, [United States], 2019-2020. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-07-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39164.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited.

Distributor(s)

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

2019-10 -- 2020-03

Date of Collection

2019-10 -- 2020-03

Data Collection Notes

  1. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) completed a multiyear effort to improve the efficiency, reliability, and utility of the NCVS. This effort included redesigning the entire survey instrument. The new instrument was examined and tested in the NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test. The four studies included in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Instrument Redesign Series are from this large-scale national field test and are designed to support research and development efforts. These data will not be used to produce official BJS statistics. For additional information on the NCVS Instrument Redesign and BJS-funded reports analyzing these data, please visit the NCVS Instrument Redesign website.
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Sample

The potential universe for the NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test was all persons age 12 or older living in households in the 48 contiguous States and the District of Columbia. Persons living in Alaska and Hawaii and those living in group quarters were excluded from the universe for operational efficiency and cost. The Field Test employed a stratified three-stage sample design: (1) selection of primary sampling units (PSUs), individual counties or groups of counties; (2) selection of secondary sampling units (SSUs), census tracts or groups of census tracts within sampled PSUs; and (3) selection of households within sampled SSUs.

The probabilities of selection at each stage were designed to yield an approximately equal probability sample of households, while attaining the target sample sizes for the experimental treatments and yielding approximately uniform sample sizes across PSUs (with the exception of PSUs selected with certainty). These objectives were achieved by sampling with probabilities proportionate to size (PPS) at the first (PSU) and second (SSU) stages, and then sampling with equal probabilities (within SSUs) at the final (household) stage. As with the NCVS, there was no sampling within households; all household members age 12 or older were selected with certainty. This approach resulted in all sampled individuals having approximately the same probability of selection. For additional details, see NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test Methodology (NCJ 306155, BJS, June 2023, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/306155.pdf).

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

The target population is individuals age 12 years of age or older living in households within the contiguous United States.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual, Household, Crime incident

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Response Rates

The final weighted response rate for the NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test - Condition 1 was 27%. The final response rate has several components, including completion of the roster, a household respondent interview, interviews with other adult household members, parental permission to interview youth ages 12-17, and interviews with those youth. The data include 1,911 household interviews. Overall, 39.4% of eligible households completed an interview. Within participating households, 2,770 eligible persons completed an interview, representing a 72.7% response rate among eligible persons. For additional details on response rates and how they were calculated, see National Crime Victimization Survey Redesign Field Test Topline Report: Comparing Condition 1 and Condition 2 by Interleaving Treatment (NCJ 303980, BJS, March 2022, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/303980.pdf).

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Original Release Date

2026-07-30

Version History

2026-07-30 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:

  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

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Weight

Household, person, and victimization data from the Instrument Redesign Field Test sample were adjusted to provide annual estimates of crime experienced by the U.S. population age 12 or older. For additional details, see NCVS Instrument Redesign Field Test Methodology (NCJ 306155, BJS, June 2023, https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/bjs/grants/306155.pdf).

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Notes

  • 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.

  • ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.