Data and Statistics

October 2008Susan Mowers

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Outline

• Introduction– Who’s Got the Numbers?– Geography in Canada

• Digging up Numbers– Before You Dig– Where to Dig for Justice statistics– Census 2006 statistics

• Data versus Statistics,– What’s the Difference?

• Going further– Government policy critiques– Help– Tutorial : Tabulate data in SPSS

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Why Numbers on Crime and Justice?

“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts -- for support rather than illumination.”

• Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) , The Columbia World of Quotations

Statistics can provide excellent context, authority (…and illumination) to research

Many sources of statistics on crime and justice (which is good news and bad news)

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We have Criteria for evaluating Statistical Sources

• Who is collecting the data?

– What is their reputation for accuracy and objectivity ?

• Can you review their data and methodology? Does the provider make this information available?

• Who is the sponsor of the data collection?

– What is their agenda? • E.g., a political party or toothpaste manufacturer have defined agendas

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Where to Dig for Data?

CHECK OUT THESE TWO PUBLIC SOURCES FOR HOMICIDE STATISTICS…1) http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=72

2) http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/081023/d081023a.htm

ROW 1 - Who collected the data?

ROW 2 – How was the data collected (methodology…)?

ROW 3 - Who sponsored the collection &/or publication?

ROW 4 – What was the sponsor’s mandate?

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*All information in this table dated before 1993 comes from the U.N. Demographic Yearbooks for 1993 and 1992. All information dated 1993 and thereafter comes from a draft study prepared for the U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice`s Vienna Session 28 April-9 May, 1997, except: a) the U.S. homicide figure comes from FBI preliminary data for 1996, and b) the Swiss homicide and suicide rates come from the Swiss national police.

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Copy and Paste Stats from Web tables …1

1) Open Excel on your computer

2) Go to a table on a Web page:

- Open the Daily Web page http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/081023/d081023a.htm

- Scroll down to this “Homicides by Province / Territory” table:

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Copy and Paste Stats from Web tables …cont’d

3) Select the table as follows

4) Copy (Cntl + C)5) Go to your Excel worksheet and Paste (Cntl + P) – in first cell6) Your table appears in Excel, don’t forget to cite your source, e.g.,

Statistics Canada. 2008. “Homicides.” The Daily. October 23. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-001-XIE. http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/081023/d081023a.htm (accessed October 25, 2008).

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What not to do with Numbers

• Ignore them – never use them or– never look further for a more authoritative source (including

going to the Library)

• Never check the organization(s) behind the numbers

• Never question the methodology and motivation behind the data collection

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New to writing with statistics?

1) Writing with Statistics by Reuben Ternes.http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/672/01/

Summary: This handout explains how to write with statistics including quick tips, writing descriptive statistics, writing inferential statistics, and using visuals with statistics.

“In the casual sense, a statistic is any number that describes a group of objects.”

2) Introduction to the practice of statistics / David S. Moore, George P. McCabe and Bruce Craig.

MRT Reserve - MRT circulation desk QA 276.12 .M65 2009

3) http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/toc/contents.htm

Assistance for getting the most from statistics.

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Statistics can be presented in many ways, as…

- a table of numbers, - a few numbers in an article or Web site, ,- a graph, *

*see Graph types and …

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… AS A MAP

Beware of ecological fallacies

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Statistics

WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE or INCIDENTS…?• In Canada, Statistics Canada has Standard Geography

• CRIMES:– Municipal police: Census Metropolitan Areas generally (Ottawa

without Gatineau is an exception) – North / rural RCMP: Census Division or counties

• Injuries, cause of death, diseases and conditions (e.g., depression)– Health regions: regions for provincial health services, e.g., injuries

• Everything else:– Province/country – and the Census (socio-demographic) in

particular has very detailed geography

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Hierarchy of standard geographic units for dissemination, 2006 Census - Figure 20, Census.Dictionary

Urban core over 100,000

Urban police services

Municipalities

StatisticalAdministrative

Counties Northern and rural police services

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… Who’s Got Numbers?

A Whole Lot of places you can find numbers,

Of varying degrees of reliability!

…so Where to Start to Dig?

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Before You Dig

• How much do you need – A few numbers, lots of numbers to compare (e.g., crime over time, factors relating to crime), or extensive detailled numbers (e.g., crime by city and gender of offender…)?

• Will you know how to use it? If you think there may be a good in-depth source for numbers, ask for help.

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Are there any statistics on your Topic?

• Check official sources – these are often primary sources (excellent!)

• note, the United Nations is not an official source for crime statistics (go to the country’s national statistical agency)

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Official Statistical Agencies

Governments and international agencies produce a lot of statistics

Most governments have an official agency to carry surveys, gather data (e.g., from the provinces, analyse data, develop statistical products and publish their results

E.g.: – Statistics Canada –--- Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics– U.S. Census Bureau– Office for National Statistics (UK)

• The University of Ottawa is a member of the Data Liberation Initiative – DLI between the Library and Statistics Canada

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Before you dig

• Where will you dig?

– Start by circling the

official agency site to know if

you should dig!! (Are you likely

to find anything??)

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ARE THERE STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC? (A) impact of violent crime,

(B) child abuse and its impact… via two basic sources from Statistics Canada…

Juristat Annual statistical reports on crime, homicide,

impaired driving, justice system AND

additional special topics of interest.

The DailyNews stories on Canada's latest socioeconomic

and health trends, including backfiles to 1995

Pre-digging

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Survey for numbers on…TOPIC A : Impact of violent crime on victims ?

SOURCE: Juristat: Browse publications on

Crime and justice

and from list of “pubns”,

select …

• Juristat FOR

TOPIC ABOVE* (hint,

“2007”)

Pre-digging – Survey the ground

ROW 1 -- What is the source? What is the youngest age covered?

ROW 2 -- How current is this information? How long did it take from year of data collection to

Publication of this article?

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Survey for numbers on…TOPIC B : Child abuse and neglect and its impact

SOURCE: The Daily: 1) Go to The Daily,

2) Type child abuse then click

the Search The Daily button,

3) Select “The Daily, Thursday, June

28, 2001. Family violence: focus on

child abuse and children at risk”

Pre-digging – Survey the ground

ROW 3 -- Would you say there are statisticson the impact of child abuse based on this

article in The Daily?

ROW 4 – At bottom of article, Click on the cited “Family violence in Canada: A statistical

profile 2001 (85-224-XIE”. Would you say there are statistics on the impact of child abuse based on this

Statistical profile?

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TOPIC A) What is the source for these statistical findings? (or what is the “GSS”?)

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TOPIC B) Sight and zero in takes a couple of steps…

And click on… at end of article

This 2001 profile has extensive statistics on child abuse and neglect

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Crime and Justice sources

From Surveys (“samples” of population)General Social Survey, VictimizationNational Longitudinal Survey of Children and YouthEthnic Diversity SurveyAboriginal Peoples SurveyInternational Youth Survey (in Canada, Toronto)http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/spider/dli.cgi

DLI Contact: Smowers@uottawa.ca

From Administrative data (“all” population)(Uniform Crime Report, Homicide Survey, Vital statistics…)

Background socio-economic informationCensus of Population (“all” population)

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WHERE TO DIG

(we have used …)

• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS)

• The Daily (popular media audience)• Regular publications e.g., Juristat• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and

(2) Justice tables (more advanced)• Analytical studies, including

Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic

• Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)

• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

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What kind of digging will you do?

A few statistics – you will need a big digger

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WHERE TO DIG

(next we will use …)

• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS)

• The Daily (popular media audience)• Regular publications e.g., Juristat• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and

(2) Justice tables (more advanced)• Analytical studies, including

Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic

• Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)

• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

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1) YOU NEED A FEW STATISTICS ON YOUR TOPIC

http://cansim2.statcan.ca/cgi-win/cnsmcgi.pgm?Lang=E&CORCmd=GetTList&ResultTemplate=Srch1

Or from http://www.statcan.ca

Big Digger

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Here are a several subjects covered by Statistics Canada directly related to crime and justice …

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Digging for data – TOPIC A

SENIORS as VICTIMS of CRIME

Steps: Click on Seniors Elder abuse and victimization Analytical Studies Seniors As Victims of Crime,  March 6, 2007 (html)

ROW 1 – Is income level a factor for seniors as victims of crime and if so, what is the

relationship? Go to: Tables and figures Table 5

ROW 2 –How much more likely are seniors to be the victim of a crime than non-seniors? Go

to: Highlights

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Digging for data – TOPIC B

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT and ITS IMPACT

Step 1: Click on Children and youth

ROW 3 – Find Table C, what Family characteristics (e.g., specific types of child abuse or neglect, are related to aggressive behaviour at age 12-13? Go to: Crime and justice (youth) Analytical studies Problem behaviour and delinquency in children and youth  (2001)

ROW 4 –Which has greater impact on children’s social behaviour, family characteristics including high levels of dysfunction/punitive parenting, or learning disabilities? Go to:

Health and well-being (youth) Analytical Studies Learning Disabilities and Child

Altruism, Anxiety, and Aggression, June 28, 2006, html

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What kind of digging will you do?

2) You need complex statistics and some detail – you need a search engine or you may need software

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WHERE TO DIG

(next we will use …)

• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS)

• The Daily (popular media audience)• Regular publications e.g., Juristat• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and

(2) Justice tables (more advanced)• Analytical studies, including

Crime and Justice Research Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic

• Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)

• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

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Justice tables – Hands on … EXERCISE 1

1) Click on: http://nesstar.tdr.uoguelph.ca/JUSTICE/CJ/2008/DOCS/cj08-tables.html

2) Browse listing – what do you recognize?2) Go to:

3) Select Census Metropolitan Areas, 1991 to 2006 4) Let’s browse through the detailled offenses, then build a

statistical table showing offender characteristics and related statistics for homicides by city and gender

Crime StatisticsCanada, the Provinces and Territories, 1977 to 2006 Census Metropolitan Areas, 1991 to 2006 All Police Services, 1977 to 2006 Major Crimes Categories, Municipal Police Services, 1977 to 2006 Ontario Provincial Police, 1977 to 2006 Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1977 to 2006 Sûreté du Québec, 1977 to 2006

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Beyond 20/20 CCJS Justice table

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Download from Beyond 20/20

1) Click on File Save as

2) Select your directory to save to

3) Type a file name

4) Select .xls as “Save as type”

5) Click on “Save”

6) Open your file in Excel

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The Census of Population

by Cities, Towns, Provinces, the Nation

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Use Census socio-demographic statistics

Compare territorial and provincial total crime rates per 100,000 people for 2006

… by Census 2006 housing adequacy/crowding statistics (a measure of poverty):

A 'room' is an enclosed area within a dwelling which is finished and suitable for year-round living (e.g., kitchen, dining-room, or bedroom). Not counted as rooms are bathrooms, halls, vestibules and rooms used solely for business purposes.

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Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison Community Profiles…

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Community profiles at …

Statistics Canada’s public Web site:

http://www.statcan.ca

(start here)

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Step 1: Select Community Profiles from left sidebar

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Step 2: Select a province or territorynote, you can also find cities (place name, e.g., Dawson)

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Step 3, e.g., click on “Yukon Territory”

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Step 4, Select Families and households

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Note, you have columns for province-territory/country (always) and can change regions from here…

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Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison

STEP 1) Community Profiles …

• Find the % …

• …for Row 1 Canada

Row 2 Northwest Territories

Yukon

Row 3 Alberta Saskatchewan

Row 4 British Columbia

Manitoba

1) Click on: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Index.cfm?Lang=E to start

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Crowding highs and lows

Crowding - Dwellings with more than one person per room - as a % of total occupied private dwellings (note defn of rooms)

Row 1 Canada 1.5%

Row 2 Northwest Territories 4.6%

Row 2 Yukon 1.5%

Row 3 Saskatchewan 1.4%

Row 4 British Columbia 1.9%

Row 3 Alberta 1.3%

Row 4 Manitoba 1.8%

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Use Census socio-demographic statistics for comparison

STEP 2) Criminal Justice Tables …

• Find the total crime rate per 100,000 population in 2006 for :

Row 1 Canada

Row 2 Northwest Territories

Yukon

Row 3 Alberta Saskatchewan

Row 4 British Columbia

Manitoba

1) Click on: http://nesstar.tdr.uoguelph.ca/JUSTICE/CJ/2008/DOCS/cj08-tables.html to start

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Time permitting, practise downloading from Beyond 20/20

1) Prepare your Beyond 20/20 table as you wish it to appear in Excel

2) Click on File Save as

3) Select your directory to save to

4) Type a file name

5) Select .xls as “Save as type”

6) Click on “Save”

7) Open your file in Excel

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Source

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Crime rates (all crimes) per 100,000 in 2006

Row 1Canada

< 10,000

Row 2Northwest Territories

> 40,000

Yukon

Approximately half of NWT’s

Row 3Alberta

Lower than Saskatchewan’s

Saskatchewan

> 12,000

Row 4British Columbia

Similar

Manitoba

Similar

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Crime rates (all crimes) per 100,000 - Specifics

Row 1Canada

8269 : LOW

Row 2Northwest Territories

44074 : HIGH

Yukon

22197 : MID-HIGH

Row 3Alberta

10336 : LOW

Saskatchewan

15276 : MID

Row 4British Columbia

12564: MID LOW

Manitoba

12,325 : MID LOW

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2006 crime rates compared to housing adequacy

Total crimes per 100,000 population

Crowding - Dwellings with more than one person per room - as a % of total occupied private dwellings (note defn of rooms)

Canada 8269 1.5%

Northwest Territories 44074 4.6%

Yukon 22197 1.5%

Saskatchewan 15276 1.4%

British Columbia 12564 1.9%

Alberta 10336 1.3%

Manitoba 12,325 1.8%

Ontario 6251 1.9%

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Data source – e.g., surveys or the Census

From your mailbox:

May 16, 2006

… to coffee break talk

September 13, 2007

Married people now in the minority; For the first time in Canada, most adults are not legally wed, census shows. …more people are choosing common law over marriage."

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Where do we get statistics from?

From DATA

They are processed to become…

…Statistics

Person 1…2

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From Data to Statistics

000031214110011982001212222221002098200121222222401121111241112121112205020197111971021212222225211026121204300140955720411313022111999901978787879702221411271412400315000616611232222222221111172626162212222666666636212000

000041100110011101102122222221002009200212222222021111111231212111211208120193811938044122222221111052201203901007504721031191012233520406058787870304221303420708300400001420007111222122211721575656565555555666666656565000

Person / Incident 1

Person / Incident 2

Raw coded data (confidential) Anonymized data (PUMF)

Statistics Summarized/aggregate data (Statistics)

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From Data to Statistics

000031214110011982001212222221002098200121222222401121111241112121112205020197111971021212222225211026121204300140955720411313022111999901978787879702221411271412400315000616611232222222221111172626162212222666666636212000

000041100110011101102122222221002009200212222222021111111231212111211208120193811938044122222221111052201203901007504721031191012233520406058787870304221303420708300400001420007111222122211721575656565555555666666656565000

Person 1

Person 2

Raw coded data (confidential) Anonymized data (PUMF)

Statistics Summarized/aggregate data (Statistics)

Data Liberation Initiatve

COOL RDC

Public

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SPSS hands-on data exercise – On your own time

GOAL: Make a table from GSS Victimisation data

• Open our data file:– Click on:https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=http://gsg.uottawa.ca/data-license/

gss_general_social_survey/c18-victimisation-2004/eng/data/gss18pumfm-3142-class-only.sav

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How to Cite Statistics Canada products

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How to Cite Statistics Canada Products

• http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/12-591-XIE/12-591-XIE2006001.htm

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Other official agencies which could have statistics or background information on crime

source for table…”Keep the source agency for your information in mind” http://library.queensu.ca/webdoc/gov/JusticeStatistics.pdf

1. Lawmaking • Parliament

2. Policy • Department of Justice • Solicitor General Canada • RCMP • Correctional Service Canada

• National Parole Board 3. Crime prevention

• Department of Justice • Solicitor General Canada • RCMP • Correctional Service Canada

4. Investigation • RCMP as federal, provincial, and municipal police forces

5. Prosecution • Department of Justice

6. Courts • Supreme Court of Canada and other courts

7. Legal aid • Department of Justice

8. Managing sentences • Correctional Service Canada

9. Conditional release & pardons • National Parole Board

10. Rehabilitation and reintegration • Correctional Service Canada and National Parole Board

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OFFICIAL SOURCES OF CRIME STATISTICS

(for comparative or international data…)

• Statistics Canada and the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS)

• The Daily (popular media audience)• Regular publications e.g., Juristat• Statistical tables – (1) Profile series (index page) and

(2) Justice tables (more advanced)• Analytical studies, including Crime and Justice Research

Series (index). Search Analytical studies by topic

• Justice Canada (A-Z subject list: see Research and Statistics Reports)

• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) – U.S., also international

• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

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… and moving into more critical resources (on why etc.)

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Find journal articles on government policy http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/content-page.php?

g=en&s=biblio&c=src-bas

… and choose Canadian Public Policy Collection et World Wide Political

Science Abstracts

Or from…

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Data and related assistance!

Susan Mowers

Morisset Library

3rd Floor

smowers@uottawa.ca

613-562-5800 Extension 3634

AND THANK YOU!

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Tabulate

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Cross tabulating in SPSS

1. Click on Analyse and Descriptive Statistics:

2. Then click on Cross-tabs …

OPEN DATA FILE:https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=http://gsg.uottawa.ca/data-license/gss_general_social_survey/c18-victimisation-2004/

eng/data/gss18main.sav

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Cross-tabulating cont’d

3. Scroll down until you arrive here (you will start by selecting these three variables)

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Cross-tabulating cont’d

4. Click on the variable below and click on arrow for Row(s), we will continue on for the next two variables below..

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Cross-tabulating cont’d

5. Select the next variable below as shown, click on the same arrow (Row(s)) and do the same for the next variable below.

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Cross-tabulating cont’d

6.Three variables will appear in the Rows box.

7. Click on Visible minority status (just above), then click on the arrow for Column(s)

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You are ready to cross-tabulate!

8. Click on “OK”

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OUR CROSS-TABULATION!!