This report describes comprehensive efforts to review and assess the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) and recommends alternate approaches. The NatSCEV study design and methodology warranted reassessment. One reason for this reassessment is because response rates have seriously declined over NatSCEV cycles, decreasing from 79% of eligible respondents in 2003 to rates as low as 10% for some components of the sample in 2014. To improve future NatSCEV response rates, Westat and the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire collaborated with BJS and OJJDP to consider a range of design options, such as using an online questionnaire and internet panels.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funded a project in 2016 to assess the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV). The goals of the project included recommending improvements to the instruments and alternative approaches to administering this survey. To address issues identified through this assessment, the team explored the following three design options:
- one that turns the NatSCEV into a supplementary collection of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
- one that uses a mixed online and face-to-face administration
- one that uses a representative online panel.
The project team’s recommendations are summarized in the following report titled, Methodological Research to Support the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence. Chapter 8 offers a comprehensive description of each option, along with benefits and drawbacks of each. Since the project concluded, BJS has conducted other research to further understand youth survey participants and suitable modes of survey administration.