QNHS Crime and Victimisation

Background Notes

Reference Period

The Crime and Victimisation module was included in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) in the three months interviewing period from October to December 2015.  The module was previously carried out in the periods January to March 2010, and September to November in 2003 and 2006. Respondents were asked about experiences in the previous 12 months.

Questionnaire:

The module contained 77 questions on crime-related topics, divided into two main sections - household and individual questions:

The module also included questions on the seriousness of crimes, on whether crimes were reported to the Gardaí and reasons why they weren’t reported.  In cases where the household or person had been a victim of a particular kind of crime more than once in the past year these questions related to the last incident. The survey did not ask about sexual assaults or domestic violence, as these questions were considered too sensitive and personal for inclusion in a general household survey such as the QNHS. 

Where an individual was not available for interview, in most circumstances information was provided by another member of the household via a proxy interview. A proxy interview refers to data which is collected from another member of the household due to the unavailability of the specific respondent at the time of the interview. Responses by proxy were not included in the compilation of results of opinion questions (Tables 3.1 -3.6).

A copy of the questionnaire used in this module is available here: Crime and Victimisation Module questionnaire (PDF 330KB)

Definitions of crimes

Burglary: Breaking and entering by a person into a premises (either a house/apartment or an outbuilding).  Thefts from gardens are not included nor thefts by a person who has the permission/right to be in the premises. 

Vandalism: Damage done to any type of property or vehicle belonging to any member of the household, for example graffiti on house, shed or garden walls, damage to vehicles. 

Theft with violence: Stealing or attempting to steal something from a person by using force or threatening to use violence.  This includes incidents such as mugging or attempted mugging and is sometimes referred to as robbery.

Theft without violence: Stealing or attempting to steal something from a person without involving force.  Examples of this type of incident are pick-pocketing or a jacket being stolen. 

Physical assault: Physical assault of a person, excluding attacks of a sexual nature and domestic violence. 

Theft of a mobile: This included bank card fraud, internet fraud, embezzlement, credit card fraud or goods purchased and not delivered.

Double-counting of incidents was avoided as much as possible.  For example, if a person was attacked during a burglary then this incident would have been only recorded as burglary and not also as an assault. 

Survey weighting  

The QNHS grossing procedure aligns the distribution of persons covered in the sample with independently determined population estimates at the level of sex, five-year age group and region.  The grossing factors applied in the processing of the Crime and Victimisation module were calculated in the same manner but differ from those that were used in the preparation of the main QNHS estimates as the Crime and Victimisation questions were asked to a sub-sample of the overall QNHS sample. Grossing factors used in the compilation of results of opinion questions (Tables 3.1 – 3.6) were calculated excluding proxy respondents.

Urban/rural location

From 2014 onwards due to the new sampling methodology in the QNHS, areas are now classified as Urban or Rural based on the following populaton densities derived from Census of Population 2011:

Urban            

Population density > 100,000

Population density 50,000 - 99,999

Population density 20,000 - 49,999

Population density 10,000 - 19,999

Population density 5,000 - 9,999

Population density 1,000 - 4,999

Rural

Population density < 199 - 999

Rural areas in countries

Analysis by deprivation

The Pobal Haase-Pratschke Deprivation Index is used to analyse levels of crime and victimisation experienced by households. The Index uses Census data to measure levels of disadvantage or affluence in a particular geographical area. More detailed information on the index can be found here: https://www.pobal.ie/Pages/New-Measures.aspx .

The results are presented by quintiles, five equal-sized groups of households, with the first quintile representing the least deprived/most affluent area and the fifth quintile representing the most disadvantaged areas.  

Regions 

The regional classifications in this release are based on the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units) classification used by Eurostat.  The NUTS3 regions correspond to the eight Regional Authorities established under the Local Government Act, 1991 (Regional Authorities) (Establishment) Order, 1993, which came into operation on 1 January 1994.  The NUTS2 regions, which were proposed by Government and agreed by Eurostat in 1999, are groupings of the NUTS3 regions.  The composition of the regions is set out below. 

Presentation of results

The results of this module are being presented, in general, in the form of percentages.  While the reference period of the survey does not correspond to an exact calendar year, the results are presented as referring to the year in which most of the reference period belongs. Therefore, the results are given as referring to 1998, 2003, 2006, 2010 and 2015. The unweighted sample totals are provided as well as percentages in some tables. 

Comparison with other crime statistics 

The survey results are not directly comparable with administrative crime statistics such as the “Recorded Crime” release which is based on Garda administrative sources. There are fundamental differences in sources, definitions and classification methodology. The administrative sources provide a much more detailed breakdown of offences reported or known to the Gardaí, offences prosecuted and offences committed by juvenile offenders.  The CSO survey results provide a more aggregated view of the level of crime, including unreported incidents, together with details of the demographic characteristics of victims. 

Acknowledgements

The questions asked in the 2015 module on crime and victimisation were designed with the assistance of an advisory committee comprising representatives of the following organisations: An Garda Síochána, Department of Justice and Equality, Economic and Social Research Institute, COSC and other researchers.