Reliability and validity of cross-national homicide data: a comparison of UN and WHO data.

Data reliability and validity are methodological concerns in cross-national analyses of crime, but there is little agreement on which source of data provides the most reliable estimates. Moreover, few studies have examined the potential threat to validity posed by unclassified deaths. The current st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Comparative & Applied Criminal Justice Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 287 - 303
Main Authors: Andersson, Catrin, Kazemian, Lila
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Nov2018
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2018
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        131906616
        10.1080/01924036.2017.1370676
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      tig:
        atl: Reliability and validity of cross-national homicide data: a comparison of UN and WHO data.
      aug:
        au:
          Andersson, Catrin
          Kazemian, Lila
        affil:
          Department of Law and Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
          Department of Sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NY, USA
      su:
        World Health Organization
        United Nations
        Homicide
      sug:
        subj:
          Homicide
          World Health Organization
          United Nations
          International Affairs
          International and other extra-territorial public administration
      keyword:
        Cross-national
        homicide
        reliability
        unclassified deaths
        validity
        Cross-national
        homicide
        reliability
        unclassified deaths
        validity
      ab: Data reliability and validity are methodological concerns in cross-national analyses of crime, but there is little agreement on which source of data provides the most reliable estimates. Moreover, few studies have examined the potential threat to validity posed by unclassified deaths. The current study aims to (1) assess the reliability of cross-national homicide data from the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO); and (2) investigate the impact of unclassified deaths on the validity of WHO data. Findings indicate that UN and WHO homicide rates (n=56) differ in magnitude, but produce similar outcomes. The UN data produce more robust results and statistical models with less error. The WHO data are more stable and reliable over time, and better suited for longitudinal analyses. Analyses drawing on WHO data should not disregard unclassified deaths because their inclusion provides a more accurate estimate of the true number of homicides.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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