Enhancing the Measurement of Hate Crime in the NCVS: Developing and Testing Improvements to the Survey Questions

• NCJ Number: 301033
• Author(s): Lynn Langton, Ph.D., Bureau of Justice Statistics; Sarah Cook; Christopher Krebs, Ph.D., RTI International; Yuli Patrick Hsieh; Jerry Timbrook, RTI International
• Date Published: September 2021
• Grant Number(s): 2020-85-CX-K017
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Third-Party Report; Report (Grant-Sponsored)

Abstract

This report was produced by RTI International for BJS under award number 2020-85-CX-K017. It describes testing efforts designed to improve the measurement of hate crime in the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) as part of the NCVS Instrument Redesign Research and Development Program. It also describes the methodology and findings from a small-scale quantitative and qualitative online test of new and revised NCVS hate crime questions. The testing was informed by a review and assessment of state and federal hate crime laws compared to the BJS definition, and by analyses of hate crime data and interview narratives derived from the current NCVS hate crime questions.