Revisiting Respondent “Fatigue Bias” in the National Crime Victimization Survey

For more than three decades the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)—and its predecessor the National Crime Survey (NCS)—have been used to calculate estimates of nonfatal crime in the United States. Though the survey has contributed much to our understanding of criminal victimization, some aspects of the survey’s methodology continue to be analyzed (e.g., repeat victimizations, proxy interviews, and bounding). Surprisingly, one important aspect of NCVS methodology has escaped this scrutiny: respondent fatigue. A potential source of nonsampling error, fatigue bias is thought to manifest as respondents become “test wise” after repeated exposure to NCVS survey instruments. Using a special longitudinal NCVS data file, we revisit the presence and influence of respondent fatigue in the NCVS. Specifically, we test the theory that respondents exposed to longer interviews during their first interview are more likely to refuse to participate in the survey 6 months later. Contrary to expectations based on the literature, results show that prior reporting of victimization and exposure to a longer interview is not a significant predictor of a noninterview during the following time-in-sample once relevant individual characteristics are accounted for. Findings do demonstrate significant effects of survey mode and several respondent characteristics on subsequent survey non-participation.     

A further study to investigate the detection and enhancement of latent fingerprints using visible absorption and luminescence chemical imaging

This study investigated the application of chemical imaging to the detection of latent fingerprints using the Condor macroscopic chemical imaging system (ChemImage Corp., Pittsburgh, USA). Methods were developed and optimised for the visualisation of untreated latent fingerprints and fingerprints processed with DFO, ninhydrin, cyanoacrylate, and cyanoacrylate plus rhodamine 6G stain. The results obtained with chemical imaging were compared to the detection achieved using conventional imaging techniques. The Condor significantly improved the detection of many prints, especially those that might be considered poor quality or borderline prints. Prints on newspaper treated with ninhydrin and DFO, and prints on white and yellow paper treated with ninhydrin, benefited the most from chemical imaging detection. In many cases, fingerprints undetectable using conventional imaging techniques could be visualised with chemical imaging. Ridge detail from untreated prints on yellow paper was also detected using the Condor. When prints of high quality were examined, both detection techniques produced quality results. The results of this project demonstrate that chemical imaging offers advantages over conventional visualisation techniques when examining latent fingerprints, especially those that would be considered difficult, such as weak prints or prints on surfaces that produce highly luminescent backgrounds. Standard testing procedures for the detection and enhancement of fingerprints by chemical imaging are presented and discussed.     

Information Disclosure and the Regulation of Traded Product Risks

Various forms of information disclosure such as labelling requirements,hazard warning and prior informed consent are increasingly beingused in the regulation of products that are traded across boundaries.In the context of GATT/WTO jurisprudence, in particular, informationalmechanisms are seen as more likely to survive challenge thanmore traditional regulatory methods such as export and importbans. Even then, there may be legal problems, especially whereinformation requirements relate to production methods as wellas to the products themselves. There are a number of distinctnormative justifications for information disclosure includingthe right to make an informed choice, the need to secure consumertrust, the avoidance of market failure and the right to know.But these are difficult and contested concepts. The currentdebate concerning EU requirements for the labelling of GeneticallyModified products provides a compelling example of differentmodels at play, which can as a result cause confusion and dissatisfactionamongst different interest groups. Much greater clarificationof the justifications for information disclosure is requiredif their effectiveness as a technique for controlling tradeproduct risks is to be properly assessed.     

Relying on the Information of Interested--and Potentially Dishonest--Parties

This article investigates the role of evidence production inthe regulation of private behavior via judicial and administrativeprocess. It proposes a model in which the law makes the agent's"fine" depend on the presentation of evidence whose productioncost, in turn, depends on how the agent has behaved in the regulatedactivity. This view of evidence production has several notableimplications, including that truth finding has no direct rolein deterrence, that nonfalsifiable evidence, even when available,is unlikely to be the best choice for the system, and that "overdeterrence"may well be cost-effective.