Final CAPI Self-Study NCVS-521

Attachment 3. NCVS-521 (CAPI Self-Study)_revised.pdf

National Crime Victimization Survey

Final CAPI Self-Study NCVS-521

OMB: 1121-0111

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NCVS-521
(9/2017)

National Crime
Victimization
Survey

CAPI Self-Study
For NCVS Field Representatives

This document does not contain any Title 13 data or other Personally Identifiable
Information. All data are fictitious and any resemblance to actual data is coincidental.
Consistent with Field Division policy, any names referenced in practice interviews or
other exercises are not meant to refer to any actual person, especially any current or
past Census Bureau employees.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Lesson

Title

Page

Self-Study Instructions ............................................................

i

1

Introduction to the National Crime Victimization Survey............

1-1

2

Basic Interviewing Techniques ................................................

2-1

3

NCVS Sample Design and Control Number .............................

3-1

4

The NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives

4-1

5

Blaise and the NCVS .............................................................

5-1

6

Case Management .................................................................

6-1

7

The Person Level Contact History Instrument (pCHI) ...............

7-1

8

More Details About Your Job ...................................................

8-1

9

The Blaise Basics: The Survey Instrument...............................

9-1

10

The NCVS CAPI Instrument ....................................................

10-1

11

The NCVS Front Section.........................................................

11-1

12

The NCVS Middle Section - Basic Household Questions ........

12-1

13

The NCVS Middle Section - NCVS Screen Questions..............

13-1

14

The NCVS Middle Section - Crime Incident Report ..................

14-1

15

The NCVS Middle Section - Other Survey Questions...............

15-1

16

The NCVS Back Section ........................................................

16-1

17

Practice Interview....................................................................

17-1

18

Final Review Exercise .............................................................

18-1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NOTES

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Instructions

Self-Study Instructions
Welcome!

Welcome to the U.S. Census Bureau and to the National Crime
Victimization Survey, also called the NCVS. This self-study
prepares you for the initial NCVS classroom training and for your
job as an NCVS field representative or FR. As an NCVS FR, you
will be conducting interviews via computer-assisted personal
interviewing (CAPI). Computer-assisted interviewing allows you to
key responses from respondents directly into a computer program
on a laptop. We call the computer program that runs the NCVS
interview the “instrument.” The instrument on your laptop consists
of all the questions you could possibly ask a respondent. For the
NCVS, CAPI interviews are conducted by personal visit or by
telephone interview.

Generic
Training

Complete the generic interviewer pre-classroom training before
you start this NCVS self-study. Refer to your Welcome Letter for a
concise list of instructional products for your generic
pre-classroom training, as well as your password, and the 11-900
Curriculum Plan. The Curriculum Plan gives the sequence of
instructions for the generic pre-classroom training.
If you have not completed the generic pre-classroom training,
please notify your supervisor immediately and
DO NOT begin this self-study. Only proceed with this self-study if
you have completed the pre-classroom training.

Time Allowed

Charge only the actual time it takes you to complete this self-study.
You may charge up to 10 hours to complete the self-study, so
keep a record of the time you spend working on it using the
“NOTES” page. Also use the “NOTES” page to enter any
questions you may have as you complete each lesson, so you can
discuss them with your instructor during classroom training.

Charge Time to
Appropriate Project
Number

Charge the time that you spend completing this self-study (not to
exceed 10 hours) to the project number 0976000 and task code
520.

Review of the Generic
Pre-classroom Training

A summary of the generic pre-classroom training:

Laptop Computer
Video

The “Getting to Know Your Laptop Computer” video instructed you
on the use of your laptop computer. The video included details on
the hardware components of the laptop, startup, log on, shut down

i

Instructions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

procedures, steps to change the laptop battery, and your legal
responsibility regarding the use and care of the laptop.
InterAct Pre-classroom
Learning Magazine

From the 11-901, InterAct Preclassroom Learning Magazine, you
learned the role and responsibilities of an FR and tools and
techniques for succeeding in the field.

WebFRED

The 11-12 (WIN), Windows Field Representative Earnings Data
(WINFRED) Self-Study, provided you with the basic knowledge of
the time and attendance software. The WINFRED CBT provided
you with hands-on practice entering your payroll information.

Other Topics

In the generic pre-classroom training you also learned:

Materials Needed for this
Self-Study

●

Safety on the job includes wearing the proper clothing, packing
emergency items in your vehicle, and locking all valuables in
the trunk while interviewing.

●

The Census Bureau conducts a decennial census every ten
years and conducts many surveys that complement the
decennial census.

●

Confidentiality is an important part of conducting surveys for
the Census Bureau.

●

Primary sampling units (PSUs) are sample counties
selected scientifically to represent the entire United
States for conducting surveys.

●

Practicing good interviewing techniques is necessary
for all field representatives.

●

The computer has distinct parts, such as a hard drive, a
monitor, a keyboard, and a battery.

You need the following materials to complete this self-study. Call
your supervisor if you are missing any of:
1)

Your laptop and all related accessories

2)

NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives
(electronic document on laptop – refer to Lesson 2, page 6
of this self-study for direction to access this manual)

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

About this Self-Study

Instructions

3)

NCVS-554, Field Representative’s CAPI Information Card
Booklet

4)

NCVS-572(L), Introductory Letter (incoming)

5)

NCVS-573(L), Introductory Letter (continuing)

6)

Pen or Pencil

This self-study contains 18 lessons. Most lessons end with a
review exercise followed by an answer key. After you complete
each exercise, check your answers to see how well you have
learned the major points of the lesson.
Lessons 1 through 3 introduce you to the NCVS, basic
interviewing techniques, and the design of the NCVS sample.
Lesson 4 illustrates using your interviewing and listing manuals.
Lesson 5 introduces you to some of the laptop keys you will use to
navigate through the survey instrument. Lessons 6 through 16
explain the different components of the instruments used in
managing your sample cases and in conducting the NCVS
interviews. Lesson 17 consists of a practice interview and Lesson
18 is a final review exercise which reviews key points presented
throughout the self-study.
Since we will discuss Lesson 18 during the classroom training,
make sure to bring your completed self-study with you to the
classroom training.
Throughout this self-study, you will see instructions to stop and
read other materials. Place a checkmark in the brackets [ ]
that follow these instructions so you can find your place
more easily when you return to the self-study.
At the end of this self-study, you will:
See the differences in screen layouts in both case management
and the survey instrument;


Practice some basic navigation in the instrument;



Become familiar with the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and looking up answers to questions
in the manual;

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Instructions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)



State the basic rules of interviewing;



Explain specific NCVS definitions and concepts;



Use the instrument by entering demographic data; and

Complete an interview by following a script.

Begin

Starting with Lesson 1, complete each lesson in the sequence it is
presented. If possible, complete each lesson without interruption.
Schedule any breaks between lessons.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Introduction to the NCVS

Lesson 1. Introduction to the
National Crime Victimization Survey
Objectives

Purpose of the NCVS

The objectives of this lesson are to:
●

Give you a brief overview of the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS).

●

Explain how the data collected for this survey are used.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), of the U.S. Department of
Justice, sponsors the NCVS, which is the Nation's primary source
of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are
obtained from a nationally representative sample of households
on the frequency, characteristics and consequences of criminal
victimization in the United States. For 2017, the sample size is
over 200,000 households. The survey enables the BJS to
estimate the likelihood of victimization by rape, sexual assault,
robbery, assault, theft, household burglary, and motor vehicle theft
for the population as a whole, as well as for segments of the
population such as women, the elderly, members of various racial
groups, city dwellers, or other groups. The NCVS provides the
largest national forum for victims to describe the impact of crime
and characteristics of violent offenders.
The BJS needs the NCVS data primarily to obtain an accurate,
up-to-date measure of the kinds of crimes, as well as the number
of crimes committed against persons 12 years of age and older.
This survey is widely used by policy makers at all levels of
government -- including crime prevention groups, people who help
crime victims, researchers, the media, as well as others. It has
also been used by the Supreme Court in making decisions. The
survey informs data users in a neutral, unbiased way to help them
make public policy, plan new ways to attack crime, and evaluate
the effectiveness of existing crime prevention programs.
Since not all crimes are reported to the police, the NCVS provides
a more complete picture of crime in the United States, because it
not only collects data about crimes reported to the police, but also
about crimes that are not reported to the police. The NCVS
provides statistics about crimes which supplement those
maintained by police records.

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Introduction to the NCVS

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Statistics from the NCVS are published in reports that deal with
types of crime, characteristics of victims, locations of crime, and
other detailed information. The cover page from one such
publication issued by the BJS is shown on page 1-7.
Take a minute now and look at page 1-7.

[ ]

NCVS History

The NCVS has been conducted since 1972. Field Representatives
(FRs) contact a specific number of households every month and
ask the survey questions of each household member who is 12
years of age and older. The addresses for these households are
selected randomly and scientifically from addresses throughout
the country.

"Selling" the Survey

If you can explain convincingly why the NCVS is being conducted,
your respondents will be more willing to participate. In other
words, you must be able to "sell" the survey. If you give solid,
logical answers to their questions, you can usually persuade
reluctant respondents to allow you to conduct the NCVS interview.

Frequently Asked
Questions

Listed below are some frequently asked questions and suggested
answers. By the end of the training, you should be able to answer
these questions without hesitation.
1.

What is this survey all about?
The NCVS is conducted monthly to collect information on
the kinds and amount of crime in the United States. From
a sample of households throughout the United States, we
interview all household members age 12 or older.

2.

Why can't you get this information from police
records?
Based on information received in previous survey years,
we have found that over half of all crimes go unreported to
the police. Since this survey includes crimes that are both
reported and unreported, data users can get a more
complete picture of crime in the United States from this
survey.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Introduction to the NCVS

3.

How can this survey help to fight crime?
The results of this survey show a variety of information
about crime victims, offenders, types of crimes being
committed, and types of places where these crimes occur.
All of this information is put to good use by law
enforcement agencies, community groups, and
government agencies throughout the country to lower the
incidence of crime.

4.

Why was I selected for this survey?
Actually, we selected your address, not you personally.
We scientifically selected a sample of addresses across
the country to represent the entire population. If your
household should move away while your address is still in
the survey, we interview the new family that moves in.

5.

Why do you need to interview me when I don't have
any crimes to report?
Your participation is important whether or not you report a
crime. We cannot accurately find out the percentage of
people who experience crime unless we get information
from both victims and non-victims. By examining the
differences between victims and non-victims, we can try to
determine why certain individuals become victims, while
others do not.

6.

Why waste my tax dollars on a silly survey?
The survey tells us about the amount and nature of crime,
as well as crime trends and crimes not reported to the
police. It can help save taxpayer money when new
programs are developed focusing on the people who are
most likely to be victims of crime by making crime
prevention and control programs more effective.

7.

How can I know for sure that you are who you say you
are?
Besides my identification badge, I can give you a
telephone number to call so you can verify with my
supervisor that I work for the U.S. Census Bureau. You
can also click, “Are You in a Survey?” at Census.gov.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

8.

Is this survey authorized by law?
Yes. We are conducting this survey for the Bureau of
Justice Statistics of the United States Department of
Justice under the authority of law (Title 13, United States
Code, Section 8). The Bureau of Justice Statistics is
authorized to collect this survey information by law (Title
42, United States Code, Section 3732).
Federal law protects your privacy and keeps your answers
confidential (Title 13, United States Code, Section 9 and
Title 42, United States Code, Sections 3789g and 3735).

Becoming familiar with these questions and answers will add to
your confidence in gaining a successful interview. A more
complete list of general survey questions and answers is on
pages A2-23 through A2-29 of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual
for Field Representatives.
Take a moment now to look over the complete list of questions
and answers in the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives.
[ ]
Explain the Sampling

Sometimes respondents may want to know how they were chosen
to be interviewed. You can say:
We selected your address, not you personally. We scientifically
selected a sample of addresses across the country to represent
the entire population. At each selected address, we interview
household members who are 12 years of age and older. If your
household moves away while your address is still in the survey,
we interview the new family that moves in.

Confidentiality

It is important that you understand and maintain strict
confidentiality of information. By law, the Census Bureau can only
use survey information for statistical research. The Census
Bureau is not permitted to publicly release survey responses in a
way that could identify the respondent or their household.
As an FR, you should NEVER make survey information available
to anyone except sworn Census Bureau employees who have a
work related need to know the information. Do not permit any

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Introduction to the NCVS

unauthorized persons, even members of your own family, to
see the information that you collect.
The assurance of confidentiality is one of the reasons people are
usually willing to participate. All Census Bureau employees must
take an oath to uphold this confidentiality. The Census Bureau
takes its confidentiality promise to respondents very seriously.
The NCVS is protected by two confidentiality statutes. Title 13
United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 9 and Title 42, U.S.C.,
Sections 3789g and 3735, both require us to keep all information
about NCVS respondents and their households confidential. As a
result, the penalty provisions in both statutes apply if you are
found guilty of an unauthorized disclosure of individual information
provided to the Census Bureau. The penalty for unauthorized
disclosure under Title 13 is a fine of up to $250,000 or a jail term
of up to 5 years or both. The penalty for unauthorized disclosure
under Title 42 includes a fine of up to $11,000.
Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015, survey
data are protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of
the systems that transmit the data. The Cybersecurity Act
specifies that if any information that is scanned by the
cybersecurity software programs is found to be suspicious, it may
be reviewed for specific threats by computer network experts
working for the government (or contractors or agents who have
governmental authority to do so). The Act does specify that only
information directly related to government network security is
monitored, and requires that any personal information that
identifies respondents be removed from suspicious files before
they are shared.
Confidentiality Rules

Rules to help you maintain confidentiality during everyday
activities:
1.

Lock your car when it contains NCVS materials and store
these materials out of view.

2.

Do not leave phone numbers (other than your own) on
notes left at a respondent's door. For example, don't leave
the phone numbers of friends, other employees, or
relatives.

3.

Do not leave completed NCVS materials at home where
others might see them or leave your NCVS cases opened
on your laptop so others can see the case.

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Introduction to the NCVS

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

4.

If you leave NCVS materials or your laptop in a hotel or
motel room, make sure that they are kept in a locked
briefcase.

5.

Do not leave NCVS materials (such as survey brochures),
with nonhousehold members or apartment managers,
unless left in sealed envelopes.

6.

Review Exercise

Use discretion when forced to interview a respondent on a
front porch, in a yard, or in a place where the interview
can be overheard. Also, use discretion when forced to
conduct an interview in the presence of a nonhousehold
member.

Complete the review exercise that starts on page 1-8. Compare
your answers to the answer key which follows the review exercise,
then continue with Lesson 2.

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Introduction to the NCVS

Illustration of a Crime Victimization Report

1-7

Introduction to the NCVS

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 1 - Review Exercise
1.

Who sponsors the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?

2.

The purpose of the NCVS is to: (Mark all answers that apply.)

3.

___

Obtain an accurate, up-to-date measure of the kinds and amount of crimes
committed against persons who are 12 years of age and older.

___

Provide statistical information on crime and its impact on society.

___

Plan new ways to attack crime.

___

Evaluate the effectiveness of existing crime prevention programs.

Field Representatives (FRs) contact a specific number of households every month and
ask the survey questions of each household member who is 12 years of age and older.
TRUE

4.

FALSE

If a reluctant respondent suggests that you get this crime information from the police, tell
the respondent that: (Mark the correct answer.)
___

Over half of all crimes go unreported to the police.

___

The police are not allowed to provide our agency with crime information.

___

It is easier to collect crime information directly from crime victims.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

5.

6.

Introduction to the NCVS

If a reluctant respondent says that she doesn’t have any crimes to report and there is no
need to complete the NCVS interview, you can explain that: (Mark the correct answer.)
___

You will ask the short version for respondents with no crimes to report.

___

After asking a few NCVS questions, the respondent may remember a crime.

___

By examining the differences between victims and non-victims, we can try to
determine why certain individuals become victims, while others do not.

All Census Bureau employees take an oath to uphold the confidentiality of information
collected for an individual or household participating in our surveys.
TRUE

FALSE

Now compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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Introduction to the NCVS

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 1 - Answer Key
1.

Who sponsors the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)?
Bureau of Justice Statistics, U. S. Department of Justice.
(Page 1-1)

2.

The purpose of the NCVS is to: (Mark all answers that apply.)
X

obtain an accurate, up-to-date measure of the kinds and amount of crimes
committed against persons who are 12 years of age and older.

X

provide statistical information on crime and its impact on society.

X

plan new ways to attack crime.

X
evaluate the effectiveness of existing crime prevention programs.
(Page 1-1 and 1-2)
3.

Field Representatives (FRs) contact a specific number of households every month and
ask the survey questions of each household member who is 12 years of age and older.
TRUE
(Page 1-2)

4.

If a reluctant respondent suggests that you get this crime information from the police, tell
the respondent that: (Mark the correct answer.)
X
___

Over half of all crimes go unreported to the police.
The police are not allowed to provide our agency with crime information.

___
It is easier to collect crime information directly from crime victims.
(Page 1-2)

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

5.

Introduction to the NCVS

If a reluctant respondent says that she doesn’t have any crimes to report and there is no
need to complete the NCVS interview, you can explain that: (Mark the correct answer.)
___

You will ask the short version for respondents with no crimes to report.

___

After asking a few NCVS questions, the respondent may remember a crime.

X

By examining the differences between victims and non-victims, we can try to
determine why certain individuals become victims, while others do not.
(Page 1-3)
6.

All Census Bureau employees take an oath to uphold the confidentiality of information
collected for an individual or household participating in our surveys.
TRUE
(Page 1-4)

Continue with Lesson 2.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NOTES

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Interviewing Techniques

Lesson 2. Basic Interviewing Techniques
Objective

Three Basic Elements

The objectives of this lesson are to:
●

Introduce you to your job as an NCVS CAPI Field
Representative (FR).

●

Introduce you to interviewing techniques to help you do your
job.

There are three basic elements in any interview situation:
●

The interviewer (an FR like you)

●

The respondent (the person answering your questions)

●

The survey questions (the NCVS interview)

Let's look at each element separately.
Your Job: Personal Visit As an FR working on the NCVS, you play an important role in this
and Telephone Interviews vital program. Your primary goal is to obtain complete interviews
with each person who is 12 years age and older at each sample
address assigned to you. You will conduct both personal visit and
telephone interviews to complete your monthly assignments for
the NCVS.
You also must be able to reassure household members that, by
law, the Census Bureau can only use respondent’s responses for
statistical research. The Census Bureau is not permitted to
publicly release responses in a way that could identify the
respondent or their household.

Sell the Survey and Know The first step in gaining cooperation from all respondents is to
Its Data Uses
know how to sell the survey and how the NCVS data is used. You
should be able to explain the importance of the survey and be
able to answer any questions that a respondent may have.
In Lesson 1, you read about the most frequently asked questions
and how you should respond, along with the importance of
learning background information about the NCVS. Use this

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

information to convince respondents of the importance of the
NCVS and show the benefits of the survey results. Give brief,
appropriate, and accurate information when talking to a
respondent about the NCVS.
Example

Let's look at an example. You visit Megan Moe and she tells you
that her house was broken into twice in the last 3 months. Since
she reported these crimes to her local police department, she
wants you to go to them for a report.
You could tell Megan Moe that the NCVS obtains a more complete
picture of a crime than the police records can provide, because we
ask about the offender’s characteristics and the consequences a
victim suffers as a result of a crime.

Explain the Sampling

Sometimes respondents may want to know how they were chosen
to be interviewed. You can say:
We selected your address, not you personally. We scientifically
selected a sample of addresses across the country to represent
the entire population. At each selected address, we interview
household members who are 12 years of age and older. If your
household moves away while your address is still in the survey,
we interview the new family that moves in.

Create an Objective
Atmosphere

Remain Neutral

During an interview, it is important to develop an objective,
non-threatening, non-judgmental atmosphere. While interviewing
a respondent, do not show signs of approval or disapproval of any
information that you receive. Your words and actions can help or
hinder the interview.
●

Shaking your head or frowning indicates disapproval just as
clearly as if you had spoken.

●

If the respondent thinks you favor one answer more than the
other, he/she may give that answer. As a result, you will
influence the interview and possibly the survey.

The skill of remaining neutral and creating an objective
atmosphere is a difficult one. It comes with experience. Practice
using neutral expressions and gestures during an interview such

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Interviewing Techniques

as "uh-huh," "I've got that," a simple nod, or "Yes, I see." These
signs tell a respondent that you are listening, without leading,
influencing, or biasing the information that you receive.

Be Sincere

A sincere interest in people will make your interviewing task easier
and more enjoyable. No instructions or training can provide a
substitute for the combination of intuition and poise, which an FR
must use, when someone in the household opens the door or
when a respondent answers the telephone. Your voice, tone, and
words must convey your credibility and that of the survey. If your
approach is uncertain, the respondent will know it.

Be Professional

In your capacity as an FR, you represent the United States
Government. This is an important role, which requires you to take
a professional approach towards your work.

FR's ID Badge

When you come to class, you will be given an Identification
Badge. It will prove that you are an employee of the United States
Census Bureau. Always carry it with you when you are conducting
personal visit interviews, and show it to the respondent when you
introduce yourself.

Introductory Letter

In many cases, the household members will be expecting you.
The National Processing Center (NPC) sends a letter to each
sample address before a sample household’s first personal visit
interview for the NCVS. This letter introduces the survey and
explains the voluntary nature of the study, while stressing the
importance of participation. It also tells respondents that any
information given to a Census Bureau representative is
confidential.
The letter indicates that an FR will be visiting the household soon.
If you learn during your introduction that the household did not
receive a copy of this letter, you must provide them with one
and allow them time to read it.
Look among your materials for the NCVS-572(L), Introductory
Letter and read it now.
[ ]

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

Introduce Yourself

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

When you access the NCVS interviewing instrument, it gives you
an introduction to read to the respondent. You will be prompted to
insert your name as part of the introduction, which also contains:

•

The fact that you represent the United States Census
Bureau.

•

Your reason for contacting the household, whether in person
or by telephone.

•

An inquiry about whether or not the household received a
letter from the Census Bureau about the NCVS and your
visit.

An example of the introduction for the first visit to an assigned
household:
"Hello. I'm (your name) from the U.S. Census Bureau. Here is
my identification. (Show ID badge) I’m here concerning the
National Crime Victimization Survey. The Census Bureau is
conducting this survey here and throughout the nation to
determine how often people are victims of crimes. Did you
receive our introductory letter in the mail?"
Feel Comfortable With Your You must feel comfortable with your introduction so it sounds
Introduction
natural. Adapt your approach to the situation. Different
respondents have various kinds of concerns and questions; be
prepared to give correct and courteous answers.
Two Types of Information

Types of NCVS
Respondents

There will be two types of information that you will collect in the
NCVS interview:

•

Information about the entire household, and

•

Information about each household member who is 12 years
of age or older.

The NCVS respondents are classified as two types:
1) individual respondent and
2) household respondent

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

Individual Respondents Individual respondents are household members who are 12 years
of age or older. Obtain information about each of these
household members by self-response; interview each of these
persons directly and separately.

Household Respondent Although most adult household members are technically eligible
to be the household respondent, try to interview the most
knowledgeable household member. This is because in addition
to the individual respondent questions, the household respondent
is asked questions about the entire household. Therefore, the
household respondent should be the person who appears to
know -- or might reasonably be expected to know -- the answers
to the household questions.
The household respondent must be a current household member
who is at least 18 years of age, except for a few unusual
situations, which we will discuss in class. The household
questions are asked only once in a sample household during
each interview period, which is once every 6 months for 7
interview periods. You must complete the household
respondent’s interview before you can interview any other
eligible household members.
Proxy Interviews

You may encounter situations in which one household member
needs to provide the answers for another household member.
This is known as a "proxy" interview. We will discuss these
situations and who is eligible to be a proxy respondent in detail
during classroom training.

Become Familiar With the
Survey Questions

To be efficient in conducting interviews, become thoroughly
familiar with how to complete each NCVS question. We will cover
the specific items in detail in class.

Proper Interviewing
Procedures

For the NCVS, interview household members in private, out of
the hearing of others whenever possible. The NCVS covers some
very sensitive topics. If a respondent completes the interview in
front of other people, they may not be fully truthful about their
victimization experiences. This can happen when others are
present during the interview, whether they are household
members, family, or friends. In general, you get more accurate,
complete information when you interview in private.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

You may say something to the respondent like, “Research has
shown that we get better data when we interview in private. We
would also like to ensure confidentiality for each household
member. Is there some place we can talk away from others?”
Try to arrange private interviews, out of hearing distance of any
other person for the NCVS. If household members sit down
together for the interview, tell them that you wish to interview
separately to ensure the confidentiality of each household
member’s answers, and to ensure that we get the most complete
and quality data. Use your discretion if a respondent seems
hesitant about providing information when others are present.
Ask the household member whether another time or room in the
residence might be more convenient to complete the interview.
Continue to interview with others present ONLY if the household
member refuses to be interviewed privately or a private interview
is not possible (for example, in a small space such as a studio
apartment). Even in front of others, you must still conduct each
interview at a conversational pace, and ask each household
member all questions in their entirety. Certain NCVS questions
require use of a flashcard when conducting in person interviews,
which also provides more privacy.
It is important to develop a neutral, non-threatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere when asking the new questions, as with
all NCVS questions. Do not let the respondent see any signs of
approval or disapproval after he/she gives you information.
Be careful not to give your personal opinion by your words, facial
expressions, or the tone of your voice. Since some household
members might be reluctant or uncomfortable to answer
questions, you must be careful not to show any surprise or
disapproval. Any of these expressions could cause the
respondent to give untrue answers or withhold information.
Here are some reasons for not showing your reactions to what a
household member says:
Your actions, as well as your words, can influence an interview.
If you frown or shake your head, the respondent will sense your
disapproval just as clearly as if you put it into words.

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

If a respondent thinks that you favor one answer more than
another, this could influence his or her responses.
For more detailed information about probing techniques refer to
pages A2-37 through A2-43 in the electronic copy of the NCVS
Field Representative Manual (NCVS-550, Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives, 8/2017).
Accessing the NCVS-550
Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives

To access the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives open Mobile Case Management and click the
purple Training/Manuals tab. Click the manuals folder under
“Resources” and then click the NCS subfolder. Finally, click the
file, “NCVS-550 FR Manual.”

Ask Questions as Worded For now, the most basic rule to remember is to:
● Ask the NCVS questions EXACTLY AS WORDED on the
screen, and
● Follow all instructions carefully.
The information you collect for the NCVS, or any other survey, is
not valid unless all FRs ask all questions in the same way.
If a question seems awkward, or if you feel you are talking down
to a respondent, resist the temptation to apologize or change the
question. Simply ask it as worded.
Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise that starts on page 2-7. Compare
your answers to the answer key which follows the review exercise,
then continue with Lesson 3.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 2 - Review Exercise
1. Your primary goal is to obtain complete

with each sample

assigned to you.

2. As an NCVS FR, you should be able to: (Mark all answers that apply.)
____ (a) Explain the importance of the survey.
____ (b) Answer any questions that a respondent may have.
____ (c) Determine if a sample household keeps a home safe for valuables.
3.

As you complete your NCVS assignments, you will be conducting both
___________________ and _________________ interviews.

4.

Your _____________________ __________________ proves that you are an employee
of
the United States Census Bureau.

5.

A proper introduction to the NCVS for a personal visit interview should contain the
following information: (Mark all answers that apply.)
____ (a) Your home address and telephone number.
____ (b) Your name.
____ (c) The fact that you represent the United States Census Bureau.
____ (d) Your reason for contacting the household whether in person or by telephone.
____ (e) An inquiry whether or not the household received a letter from the Census Bureau
about the NCVS and your visit.

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

6.

The household respondent must be a current household member who is at least
_______ years of age, except in a few unusual situations.

7.

In most cases, self-response is not necessary and it is acceptable for one household
member to answer all of the survey questions for all other household members.
TRUE

8.

FALSE

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about your reaction to a respondent’s
answer:
_________
1. It’s important to develop a neutral non-threatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere since it
is difficult not to show personal opinion.
2. It is ok when you agree with the respondent’s opinion.
3. Do not show any surprise or disapproval expressions.
4. Do not show favoritism to one answer more than another answer.

9.

It is important to ask the NCVS questions as worded so that all respondents hear the
same questions in the same order, ensuring the validity of the survey data.
TRUE

FALSE
Compare your answers against
the answer key on the next page(s).

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 2 - Answer Key
1.

Your primary goal is to obtain complete interviews with each sample address assigned to
you.
(Page 2-1)

2.

As an NCVS FR, you should be able to: (Mark all answers that apply.)
X

(a) Explain the importance of the survey.

X

(b) Answer any questions that a respondent may have.

____ (c) Determine if a sample household keeps a home safe for valuables.
(Page 2-1)

3.

As you complete your NCVS assignments, you will be conducting both personal visit and
telephone interviews.
(Page 2-1)

4.

Your Identification Badge proves that you are an employee of the United States Census
Bureau.
(Page 2-3)

5.

A proper introduction to the NCVS for a personal visit interview should contain the
following information: (Mark all answers that apply.)
____ (a) Your home address and telephone number.
X

(b) Your name.

X

(c) The fact that you represent the United States Census Bureau.

X

(d) Your reason for contacting the household, whether in person or by telephone.

(e) An inquiry whether or not the household received a letter from the Census
Bureau about the NCVS and your visit.
(Page 2-4)
X

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

6.

The household respondent must be a current household member who is at least
18 years of age, except in a few unusual situations.
(Page 2-5)

7.

In most cases, self-response is not necessary and it is acceptable for one household
member to answer all of the survey questions for all other household members.
FALSE
(Page 2-4)

8.

Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about your reaction to a respondent’s
answer:
1. It’s important to develop a neutral non-threatening, nonjudgmental atmosphere since it
is difficult not to show personal opinion.
2. It is ok when you agree with the respondent’s opinion.
3. Do not show any surprise or disapproval expressions.
4. Do not show favoritism to one answer more than another answer.
1, 3, 4
(Page 2-6)

9.

It is important to ask the NCVS questions as worded so that all respondents hear the
same questions in the same order, ensuring the validity of the survey data.
TRUE
(Page 2-6 to 2-7)

Continue with Lesson 3.

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Basic Interviewing Techniques

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NOTES

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

Lesson 3. NCVS Sample Design
and Control Number
Objectives

The objectives of this lesson are to:
● Provide a brief overview of what is referred to as a "sample";
● Explain how the NCVS sample is selected; and
● Explain where to locate information about the NCVS.

Definition of "Sample"

A "sample" is a portion or specimen of a whole object, group,
population, etc., from which we learn something about the whole
object, group, population, etc.
For example: Television ratings for the entire United States are
based on a sample of about 1,500 households.

Sample Survey

The NCVS is a sample survey. The NCVS sample for 2017
consists of over 200,000 household cases throughout the United
States. These addresses are scientifically selected so that
characteristics of the people who reside at these addresses are
representative of the entire population.

Sample Units

Addresses selected for the NCVS sample are called "sample"
units or "sample" addresses. A sample unit is occupied usually by
one household (a family, a group of unrelated persons living
together, or a person living alone).
Each sample unit represents hundreds of other similar units.
Therefore, when an FR omits or obtains incorrect information
about one sample unit, the error is multiplied hundreds of times.

Control number

Until January 2018, there are types of sample cases: 2000 design
sample cases (sample based on the 2000 Decennial Census) and
2010 design sample cases (sample based on the 2010 Decennial
Census). Starting in January 2018, the 2000 design sample cases
will be phased out and the sample will consist entirely of 2010
design sample cases. Each type of sample case has a different
style of control number:

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NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

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2000 DESIGN SAMPLE: For 2000 design sample cases, each
sample unit is identified uniquely by a control number, which
consists of the following:

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

PSU number (5 digits)
Segment number (2 digits)
Segment number suffix (2 characters)
Sample designation (3 characters)
Sample designation suffix (1 digit)
Serial number (2 digits)
Serial number suffix (1 character)
Household number (1 digit)
Spinoff indicator (2 digits)

When you receive your assignment, the segment number suffix,
the sample designation suffix, and the serial number suffix MAY
often be blank.
2010 DESIGN SAMPLE: For 2010 design sample cases, each
sample unit is identified uniquely by a control number, which
consists of the following:
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
How Often Is a Sample
Address Interviewed?

Survey code (2 digits)
For NCVS the code is 02.
State code (2 digits)
FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards)
state code
County code (3 digits)
FIPS county code
Frame code (1 digit)
Shows what frame the sample unit is in:
G = group quarters frame,
U = unit frame, and
C = coverage improvement frame.
Sample designation code (3 digits)
Sequence number #1 (4 digits)
Sequence number #2 (2 digits)

Generally, a sample address that is selected for the NCVS is
contacted every 6 months for 3 years, until the household has

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NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

been interviewed a total of 7 times. For example, if a household is
interviewed in January 2018 for the first time, that household is
interviewed again in July 2018, January 2019, July 2019, January
2020, July 2020 and January 2021.
Only the first interview with a sample household must be
conducted in person. The remaining interviews (2nd through 7th)
are conducted by telephone by a field representative (FR).

When Household MembersThe NCVS is a sample of addresses. If the occupants of a sample
Change
address change, you interview the people who currently live at the
address and consider the address to be their usual place of
residence. Always interview the current household members at an
assigned sample address.
Unique ID

No two sample addresses should ever have the same control
number. Control number uniquely identifies sample addresses.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise starting on page 3-4 on the next
page. Make sure to compare your answers to the answer key that
follows the review exercise, then continue with Lesson 4.

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NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 3 - Review Exercise
1.

2.

Which households are interviewed in the NCVS each month? (Mark the correct answer.)
_____

All the households in the United States.

_____

All the households in selected counties.

_____

A sample of households which represents all households in the United States.

The NCVS sample is selected by a scientific process.
TRUE

3.

FALSE

The NCVS sample is selected from names, not addresses.
TRUE

4.

5.

FALSE

What do we call addresses selected for the NCVS sample? (Mark the correct answer.)
_____

Sample places

_____

Sample areas

_____

Sample units

_____

Segments

The information that you collect from a sample unit represents information for:
(Mark the correct answer.)
_____

The sample unit only

_____

Hundreds of other similar units

_____

All 200,000 units in the survey

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

6.

7.

8.

NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

What happens when an FR omits or obtains incorrect information at a sample unit? (Mark
the correct answer.)
_____

The error affects only the sample unit.

_____

The error is multiplied hundreds of times.

How often is a sample unit normally interviewed in the NCVS? (Mark the correct
answer.)
_____

Every 6 months for 3 years for a total of seven interviews

_____

Every month for 3 years

_____

Every month for 6 months

No two sample addresses should ever have the same control number.
TRUE

FALSE

Compare your answers
to the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 3 - Answer Key
1.

Which households are interviewed in the NCVS each month? (Mark the correct answer.)
_____

All the households in the United States.

_____

All the households in selected counties.

X
A sample of households which represents all households in the United States.
(Page 3-1)

2.

The NCVS sample is selected by a scientific process.
TRUE
(Page 3-1)

3.

The NCVS sample is selected from names, not addresses.
FALSE
(Page 3-1)

4.

What do we call addresses selected for the NCVS sample? (Mark the correct answer.)
_____

Sample places

_____

Sample areas

X

Sample units

_____ Segments
(Page 3-1)

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

5.

NCVS Sample Design and Control Number

The information that you collect from a sample unit represents information for: (Mark the
correct answer.)
_____
X

The sample unit only
Hundreds of other similar units

_____ All 200,000 units in the survey
(Pages 3-1)

6.

What happens when an FR omits or obtains incorrect information at a sample unit? (Mark
the correct answer.)
_____

The error affects only the sample unit.

The error is multiplied hundreds of times.
X
(Page 3-1)
7.

How often is a sample unit normally interviewed in the NCVS? (Mark the correct
answer.)
X
_____

Every 6 months for 3 years for a total of seven interviews
Every month for 3 years

_____ Every month for 6 months
(Page 3-2)
8.

No two sample addresses should ever have the same control number.
TRUE
(Page 3-3)

Continue with Lesson 4.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NOTES

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR CAPI Manual

Lesson 4. The NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual
for Field Representatives
Objective

In this lesson, we will discuss the primary source of information
that you will have. This electronic reference document is located
on your laptop:
● The NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives

Introduction to the
NCVS-550

How the Manual is
Organized

Please get your laptop out and find it now. Refer to chapter 2, page
6 of this Self-Study for directions on accessing this document.
[ ]
The NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives is a
reference document containing all the information you need to
successfully complete your NCVS assignment. It is installed on
your laptop as an indexed, searchable file. As you gain
experience, you will become a proficient FR, but the manual is
designed to answer specific questions about your assignment and
the NCVS.
Refer to your NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives as you read the following paragraphs.
Your interviewing manual is divided into four main parts:
Part A: The National Crime Victimization Survey and You,
Part B: National Crime Victimization Survey CAPI Instrument,
Part C: Survey Concepts,
Part D: NCVS Case Management and Contact History Instrument.
At the front of the manual is a Table of Contents. The sections and
chapters are numbered using the following method, for example:
“Page A2-4” refers to Part A, Chapter 2, page 4.
“Page B3-5” refers to Part B, Chapter 3, page 5.
“Page C1-10” refers to Part C, Chapter 1, page 10.

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FR CAPI Manual

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Part A: The National Crime Part A contains information on the history of the NCVS and talks
Victimization Survey and about your job duties and materials. This section of the manual
You
discusses ● the purpose and sponsor of the survey,
● sample design,
● use of the data,
● eligible respondents,
● general interviewing techniques,
● proper interviewing procedures,
● basic survey procedures,
● your job duties, and so on.
Take a few minutes now to look through Part A.
Part A, Chapter 6
“Noninterviews”

[ ]

Now look at Part A, Chapter 6.
Chapter 6 includes information on NCVS noninterviews. When you
are assigned an NCVS case and cannot get a completed interview
either for the entire household or for an eligible household
member, that case is considered either a household noninterview
or person noninterview. The chapter begins with a general
discussion of the household noninterviews, and then a topic for
each type of noninterview (A, B, C, and Z), and the procedures for
classifying a case as a noninterview.
Read about the four types of NCVS interviews beginning on page
A6-2. Your reading ends on page A6-4 with the discussion of Type
Z noninterviews.
[ ]

Part B: The National Crime Part B contains information on the NCVS interview, an explanation
Victimization CAPI
of the three parts of the NCVS instrument (front, middle, and
Instrument
back), and the items contained within each part.
Go to the Table of Contents in the front of your manual to Part B.

[ ]
Notice that Part B is further broken down into six chapters.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Part B, Chapter 1,
“Overview of the NCVS
Instrument”

FR CAPI Manual

Chapter 1 contains information about the NCVS Blaise CAPI
instrument, so before classroom training, review it carefully. This
chapter contains detailed information regarding the layout of the
question screens, navigating within the instrument, and using
function keys. Function keys are any of a set of keys on a
computer keyboard that when pressed activates a special function
or operation.
Go to Topics 1 and 2 of this chapter. These topics introduce you to
the design of the survey instrument and the layout of the question
screens. Read these two topics now.
[ ]
Next, locate Topic 5, “Navigation and Using Function Keys” and
read this topic now.
[ ]
You have the flexibility to navigate through the instrument as
dictated by your interview. You can navigate by using the mouse
or the keyboard (or a combination of both). However, this
self-study focuses on keyboard-based navigation only.
Take a few minutes to read through this topic now. You will learn
about this information in detail during classroom training.
[ ]

Part B, Chapter 2,
“Front Section of the
NCVS Instrument”

Part B, Chapter 3,
”Middle Section of the
NCVS Instrument –
Introduction
& Screening Items”

This chapter gives you a basic overview of some of the front
screens of the instrument. The Front section of the instrument,
which also will be discussed in a later lesson, is designed to:
●

Provide the telephone number to dial and the introduction to
read to the person who answers your telephone call.

●

Identify possible interviewing problems.

●

Verify that you reached the correct address and household.

●

Verify that you are speaking to an eligible household
respondent and, if necessary, select another eligible
household respondent.

Chapter 3 covers the screen layout and instructions for specific
items within the screening component of the instrument. The
various names pertaining to a concept or other kind of information
are included in the manual.

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FR CAPI Manual

Part B, Chapter 4,
“Middle Section of the
NCVS Instrument Incident Report Items”

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Chapter 4 covers the screen layout and instructions for specific
items within the incident component of the instrument. Each item
has a unique variable name. The variable name pertaining to a
concept or other kind of information is included in the manual.
Therefore, if you are having trouble with a particular item within the
instrument, identify its variable name and look up that variable in
your manual.
Chapter 4 also contains important information about how to write a
summary report when you have completed collecting details about
a crime incident. Each summary report should be written so that
anyone reading it can get a clear, well-defined picture of how the
respondent was victimized.
Detailed discussions of the Middle section of the instrument, which
contains the screening questions and the incident questions are
covered in Part C of the manual and also discussed later in this
self-study.

Part B, Chapter 5,
“Middle Section of the
NCVS InstrumentAdditional Incidents,
Unduplication, and Help
Screens”

This chapter gives you an overview of how to handle adding
incidents and reviewing incidents for duplication in the middle
section of the NCVS CAPI instrument. This chapter also provides
a list of “Help” screens available to you for specific NCVS items
within the instrument. Turn to Topic 3 of Chapter 5 in your
NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives and look
over the different help screens that are available to you as you
conduct NCVS interviews.
[ ]

Part B, Chapter 6,
“Back Section of the
NCVS Instrument”

This chapter discusses the Back section of the instrument which is
made up of screens that you use to:
● Make appointments to recontact a sample household to
complete an interview.
● Thank respondents for their participation in the NCVS.
● Enter any final notes about the case.
Further discussion of the Back section of the instrument is
provided later in this self-study.

Part C: “Survey Concepts” This part of the manual contains information related to survey
concepts, and not so much to the instrument. Part C covers all the
concepts used in the NCVS interview. Chapter 1 provides concept
definitions and examples for the basic NCVS concepts. Chapter 2

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR CAPI Manual

covers the concepts that you will encounter as you are screening
for crimes, and Chapter 3 explains the concepts pertaining to the
reporting of crime incidents. It is extremely important that you
develop a good understanding of these concepts.
Take a few minutes now to look through Part C.
Part D: NCVS Case
Management and Contact
History Instrument

[ ]

Part D discusses Case Management and the Contact History
Instrument CHI), which are the two systems you use to track your
cases and contacts with households and respondents. Case
Management helps you organize and manage your assignments
while the survey instrument contains the survey questions you will
ask respondents. These two systems are integrated so that they
“talk” to each other. That is, you must “tell” case management
what case you want to interview in order to pull that case up.
Likewise, any changes you make to the address, contact
information, or notes feed back and forth between the instrument
and case management.
Go to the Table of Contents for Chapter 1 now.

[ ]

This chapter explains:

Part D, Chapter 1,
Getting into Case
Management

•

getting into case management,

•

function keys, and

•

transmissions.

Now go to Chapter 1, in Part D of your manual.

[ ]

This section of your manual includes information on logging into
your laptop, as well as how the screens are set up and how the
function keys work in Case Management. You will practice using
some of the function keys and learning about your screen setup
later in the self-study. Also, during classroom training, you will
practice using these function keys and learn about your screen
setup in more detail.

Part D, Chapter 1, Topic 2, Topic 2 covers important information on transmitting your
Transmissions
completed work.

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FR CAPI Manual

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Part D, Chapter 2,
Chapter 2 covers all the details for using the Personal Contact
Personal Contact History History Instrument or pCHI. The pCHI allows you to keep track of
household contacts and contacts with individual respondents.
Instrument
[ ]
Go to the Table of Contents for Chapter 2 now. You can see that
the chapter gives an overview of the pCHI, information on how it
works along with Case Management, how to handle contact
information for both households with rosters and households
without rosters. The final topic describes how to use pCHI in
specific situations.
Table of Contents

The NCVS- 550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives
contains a Table of Contents that helps you locate information in
the manual for specific NCVS subjects or items in the NCVS
instrument. (You may also use the search function in Adobe
Acrobat to locate specific terms or phrases.)

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise on starting on page 4-7. Check your
answers against the answer key that follows the review exercise,
then continue with Lesson 5.

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FR CAPI Manual

Lesson 4 - Review Exercise
1.

Which of the following two manuals contains a section covering basic NCVS survey
concepts?
______ Listing and Coverage: A Survival Guide for Field
Representatives (Volume II)
______ NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives

2.

3.

Identify the Part (A, B, C, or D) of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives, where you would find information on the following subjects:
____

Historical overview of the NCVS

____

How to answer questions from respondents

____

How to access a case to conduct an NCVS interview.

____

Discussion of the instrument’s front, middle, and back sections.

____

Where to look up a definition of the NCVS concept of presence during an
incident.

____

How the function keys work in case management

List the Part and Topic of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives
which provides instructions for completing the summary of the crime incident report.

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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FR CAPI Manual

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 4 - Answer Key
1.

Which of the following two manuals contains a section covering basic NCVS survey
concepts?
____
X

Listing and Coverage: A Survival Guide for Field Representatives (Volume II)
NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives

(Page 4-1)
2.

Identify the Part (A, B, C, or D) of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives, where you would find information on the following subjects:
A

Historical overview of the NCVS

A

How to answer questions from respondents

D

How to access a case to conduct an NCVS interview.

B

Discussion of the instrument’s front, middle, and back sections.

C

Where to look up a definition of the NCVS concept of presence during an
incident.

B

How the function keys work in case management

(Page 4-1 and the NCVS-550 Manual Table of Contents)
3.

List the Part and Topic of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives
which provides instructions for completing the summary of the crime incident report.
Part B, Chapter 4
(Page 4-4)

Continue with Lesson 5

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Blaise and the NCVS

Lesson 5. Blaise and the NCVS
Objective

At the end of this lesson, you will familiarize yourself with some of
the basic keys that you will use to navigate or “move around” in
the NCVS survey instrument.

What is Blaise?

Blaise is the name of the software in which the NCVS instrument
is programmed. The “instrument” is the automated questionnaire,
or the computer program used to present the survey questions.
Throughout training you will practice identifying information and
learning where to look for things in Blaise.

Entering Information

You can enter information and navigate through the instrument
by using the keyboard and/or a mouse. Throughout this selfstudy you will focus on using the keyboard. To enter information
and navigate through the instrument, you use several keys on
your laptop. Look at the illustration on the next page and take
note of where these keys are.
You use various Function Keys: Tab, PageUp and PageDown,
Enter, and End, as well as the up, down, right and left arrow
keys to navigate through the instrument.
Typing the appropriate pre-code and pressing “Enter” takes you
to the next question or item in the instrument.
The “End” key takes you to the next unanswered question, which
is good for getting back to where you left off if you need to reenter the case.
You will practice using these keys later in the self-study and
during classroom training.
[ ]

Summary Points

Familiarize yourself with the keys on your keyboard, particularly
the tab key, the enter key, the end key, the PageUp and
PageDown keys, the up, down, right and left arrow keys, and the
function keys.

5-1

Blaise and the NCVS

Review Exercise

Tab key

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Complete the review exercise starting on page 5-3 for this
lesson. Compare your answers to the answer key which follows
the review exercise and continue with Lesson 6.

Function keys

Arrow Keys

End key

Page Up

5-2

Page Down

Enter key

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Blaise and the NCVS

Lesson 5 - Review Exercise
1.

If you re-enter a case, which key do you press to take you to the next unanswered
question?
PageUp
PageDown
Enter
End

2.

The
is the automated questionnaire, or the computer program used to present
the survey questions.

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page.

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Blaise and the NCVS

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 5 - Answer Key
1.

If you re-enter a case, which key do you press to take you to the next unanswered
question?
PageUp
PageDown
Enter
End
X
(Page 5-1)

2.

The instrument is the automated questionnaire, or the computer program used to
present the survey questions.
(Page 5-1)

Continue with Lesson 6.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

Lesson 6. Case Management
Objectives

During this lesson, you will learn some of the basic ways that
information is displayed in Case Management for a Windowsbased survey. In this lesson, you will:
•
•
•

review some Case Management screen layouts;
learn how to identify different parts of the screen;
learn about the Case Management function keys.

What is Case
Management?

Case Management is an application that helps you (and staff at
headquarters) manage your work. Case Management provides a
list of all sample cases in your NCVS monthly assignment, along
with additional information that is helpful to you in managing your
work, such as appointments, telephone numbers, respondent
names, and so on. Some of the function keys used in Case
Management work differently than in the survey instrument
screens.

Practice

The best way to familiarize yourself with NCVS Case
Management is by hands-on practice. To do this, get into
Training Case Management and install your training cases.
• Turn your computer on, and log in using your profile name
and password.
•
• Click on the MCM Training Icon
• Click on the top right Training/ Manuals Tab (purple)
• Click on LCM Training
• Select NCVS from the survey list and press Enter (or click
OK).
• Highlight the row “NCVS Classroom training” and press F5 to
install your training cases.
• When you receive a message that the installation of training
cases was successful, press Enter (or click OK).
• Get into the training cases in Case Management; press F8.

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Case Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

You should have a list of training cases on your screen. When
you enter Case Management during actual production
interviewing, a dialog box appears that asks you to select the
assignment (interview) period with which you want to work (see
example below of screen). Arrow up or down to the appropriate
assignment period. (When using training cases, this screen does
not appear.)

Follow the instructions in this lesson as you go through some
Case Management functions.
Parts of Case
Management

There are four main parts to the Case Management window.
They are the:
•
•
•
•

Menu Bar,
Tool Bar,
Case List Pane, and
Details Pane.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

Menu Bar
Tool Bar
Case
List
Pane

Details
Pane

Tabs
MENU BAR

The first section of the Case Management window, called the
Menu Bar, is at the top left corner of the screen. The Menu Bar
shows the words File, Edit, View, Actions, and Help. These are
called menu items. Most applications have a menu; however,
different applications have different menu items.
Once a menu item is selected, you can move from one menu
item to the next by using your arrow keys or by pressing the Alt
key and the letter that is underlined in the menu item’s name, for
example, Alt+H will access the help drop down list. You can also
select a menu item by using the mouse pad and clicking on the
menu item you want to look at. A drop down menu appears,
displaying information contained within the menu item.

TOOL BAR

Look at the next section of the Case Management window just
below the menu bar. This section is the Toolbar. The Toolbar in
Case Management lists the function keys and contains a symbol
and name for each function key. Function keys are shortcuts for
evoking specific actions within Case Management.

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Case Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

For example, look at the question mark symbol just below the
words File and Edit on the Menu Bar. The question mark stands
for the Help function key (F1) which is printed directly below the
question mark. If you click on the question mark with your mouse
you get the Help window, but you can also access the Help
window by pressing the F1 key.
Using the
Function Keys

In this section of the self-study, we will discuss each function key.
As you review each of the function keys listed on the Tool Bar, do
not press a key unless instructed to do so.

F1 - Help

The F1 key is the Help key. By pressing F1, you access Case
Management Help, which explains a specific function of
Case Management.

F2 - Interview

Press the F2 key to begin an interview for the case currently
highlighted on your case list.
Once you press the F2 key to begin an interview, you are no
longer in Case Management, and have at that point accessed the
NCVS interviewing instrument.

F3 - Next Tab

Press the F3 key and the view in the Details Pane changes from
one tab to another. For example, if you are looking at the
Assignment tab and press F3, the view changes to the HH Roster
tab.

F4 - Go to (Case
List/Details)

The F4 key allows you to switch your focus between the Case
List Pane and the Details Pane. Press F4 so that the label on the
toolbar for the F4 button reads Case List. Notice that the
Assignment tab is in red and your cursor is in the Control Number
field. You are now in the Details Pane. Notice the Title Bar now
says “Case Management – Details.”
[ ]
Notice that some of the fields displayed in the Assignment tab are
shaded and others are white. The fields that are in white are
editable fields which means that you can make changes only to
those fields. If you make any changes in the Details Pane, it is
recommended that you save those changes (using the save
shortcut Ctrl + S) before returning to the Case List Pane.
However, if you do not save your changes before returning to the
Case List Pane, you will be prompted to save any changes upon
exiting Case Management or when you press F2 to interview a
case.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

Press the F4 key again, and you will see your cursor blinking in
the Case List Pane in the last column to the right titled, “RTE.”
Now any action you take affects the Case List Pane.
F5 - Reports

Press the F5 function key to view various reports to help you
check the status of your overall assignment. Some of the types of
reports you will be able to see are counts of your cases (all
complete interviews, all noninterviews or Type As, etc.), overall
response rates based on the information on your laptop, as well
as your Type Z noninterview rate. You can select the report you
want to view by using your down and up arrow keys until the
report you want is highlighted. Select “OK” to view the report.
Click on F5-Reports in the Toolbar.

[ ]

Highlight the “Counts” report and select “OK.” When you are
done viewing the report click on the “Close” button, which takes
you back to your Case List.
F6 - Listing

The F6 key is not used for the NCVS and is grayed out.

F7 – Case Level Notes

The F7 key allows you to add case notes and view existing case
notes for a highlighted case.

F8 - View

The F8 key allows you to look at your cases in a variety of ways,
such as those cases - Not Started,
Interviewed,
Transmitted, etc.
Click on the F8-View button now to see the different ways you
can view the cases in your assignment.
[ ]
DO NOT press a key unless instructed to do so. You will have an
opportunity to use these function keys during classroom training.

F9 - Sort

In organizing your work, you may find that you need to be able to
see your cases in a different order, according to a specific field.
The F9 key allows you to sort the list according to any column
heading or any field within the Case List Pane. Cases are
automatically sorted in the order of the control number, but that
may not work best for you. For example, you may want to view

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

your cases according to where they are located, in which case
you may want to sort according to ZIP code. Or you may want to
view your cases according to appointments you have made, in
which case, you would sort according to appointment.
F10 - Exit

Use the F10 function key to exit Case Management.

F11

F11 is inactive for the NCVS in Case Management.

F12

Press F12 to access the Person Level Contact History Instrument
(pCHI).

Ctrl T

Press the CTRL+T keys simultaneously to open the Interview
Time Preferences (also known as ITP) application. This
application allows you to view and record the best and worst
times to contact a case. You can also access the Interview Time
Preferences by clicking on the Ctrl +T ITP icon. You can view the
interview time preferences on the Case List toolbar or by clicking
on the Interview Time Preferences tab in the Details Pane.

Using other Keys

In addition to using the function keys alone, Case Management
uses function keys in combination with other keys on the
keyboard
to allow you to perform some additional operations in Case
Management. For example:
• Shift + F1 - Displays General Help.
• Alt + F4 - Closes the active window or exits the
active program or help screen.
• Shift + F8 - Returns you to the main Case Management
screen from the Display Categories (F8) screen.
Other useful shortcut keys in Case Management include:
•
•
•

Ctrl + S - Saves any changes you made to one or more
editable fields.
Ctrl + Home - Moves you to the first case in the list.
Ctrl + End - Moves you to the last case in the list.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Makes
Perfect

Case Management

After you begin working with your actual assignment, you will
use Case Management functions every day. As you use them
more, you will see how they work best for you.

Things change when you
access the survey
instrument ...

Case Management (and all of its functions) are separate from
how things operate once you access the NCVS instrument. Once
you use F2 in Case Management to access a case, you have
then accessed the NCVS instrument, and the function keys and
the way in which you view information, etc., changes somewhat.
Later in this self-study, you will have a chance to look at some
NCVS screens and see how they differ from Case Management.

CASE LIST PANE

The Case List Pane is directly under the Toolbar. (See the
illustration on Page 6-3.) It shows a line-by-line summary of some
of the information about the housing units in your assignment.
All of your monthly cases are listed in the Case List Pane, and
more information for the highlighted case is listed in the Details
Pane. As you complete interviews, cases will no longer appear
on this list.
The information displayed in the Case List Pane includes Control
Number, *, Address, Place Name/City, Zip, Appointment, P/T,
Status, Telephone #, Int #, and Rte. Most of the information
displayed is self-explanatory; however, a few of the columns
require further explanation.

Asterisk (*)
Column

P/T Column

The appearance of an asterisk in the column between the
Control Number and Address columns indicates that there is
something special about the case, such as the case is a
confirmed refusal and you are not to contact the case, or the
case has been reassigned from another FR. When there is a
special characteristic about a case, in addition to the asterisk,
one or more small icons appear in the upper right corner of the
Assignment tab in the Details pane. For example, if a case is a
confirmed refusal a STOP sign icon displays. To view what is
special about the case without getting into the Assignment tab,
right click on the icon and a description of the icon is displayed.
The P/T column indicates that the case is to be contacted either
by personal visit or by telephone. A “P” appears for those cases
that require a personal visit and a “T” for those cases that are
eligible for a telephone interview.

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Case Management

Status Column

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The Status column indicates the status of the case. A code is
entered in this column depending upon the outcome of the case.
Some of the codes you frequently see are:
•

no code (blank) appears in the Status column if the case
has not been started;

•

an “O” appears if you have opened a case but have not
completed the household respondent’s interview; and

•

a “P” appears if you have completed the household
respondent’s interview but need to complete interviews
for other eligible members of the household.

Rte Column

The last column, “Rte” or route is a function that can be used to
plan your route each day by prioritizing cases in the order in
which you plan to interview each case. The entry of “999” that
you see for all of your cases is the default setting for route. You
will learn more about this during classroom training.

Scroll Through
Your Case List

As you scroll through your case list (in the Case List Pane), the
information in the Details Pane (portion of the screen below the
Case List Pane) changes to reflect the case that is currently
highlighted. Try this now using your up arrow and down arrow
keys.
You can also use your Tab key to scroll down. Note how the
information in the Details Pane changes. Scroll back to the top
and make sure you have the first case on the case list
highlighted.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

DETAILS PANE

Case Management

Look at the last part of the Case Management window, the
Details Pane, in the illustration on Page 6-3. The Details Pane
is the section of the screen just below the Case List Pane.
Notice that the Details Pane has several sections called tabs.
The names of these tabs are listed horizontally at the top of the
Details Pane (about the middle of your screen). The tabs in the
Details Pane are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Assignment
HH Roster
Additional Information
Notes
Contacts
Letter Mgmt
History
Contact History
Returning Contact History
Interview Time Preferences.
Bldg Mgmt

Each tab is like a folder in a file cabinet. Now click on each tab
as they are discussed. Take a moment to look at the
information under each tab in the Details Pane.
Assignment

The Assignment tab (which is highlighted by default) shows
more detailed information about a case, such as the full
address, telephone number, case ID, current outcome code,
and so on. You can make changes in the white editable fields.
[ ]

HH Roster

The HH Roster tab shows the household roster, which consists
of the names of all household members from the last interview.
It is updated by the instrument if any changes are made during
the current interview period. The information in this tab is
useful for callbacks to households with missing data.
[ ]

Additional
Information

This tab provides additional information for those cases that
are in Group Quarters (GQ), such as the GQ name, type,
number of units, contact name, contact address, etc.
[ ]

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Case Management

Notes

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The Notes tab only allows you to view notes regarding this
case. If you or another FR enter notes for a case, you will see
a red checkmark in front of the word “Notes.” The red
checkmark is a quick way to tell if there is any information in
the Notes folder.
To add or edit notes use the F7 function key.

Contacts

Letter Mgmt

[ ]

The Contacts tab contains the names, addresses, and
telephone numbers of contact people who are persons other
than members of the household. Sometimes you get
information about the status of a unit from someone other than
the occupant. This happens when a unit is vacant and you talk
to a neighbor or a real estate agent, or when a unit does not
exist and you are able to verify it with a reliable source, such as
a post office. When you enter the contact person information in
the instrument, you can see the information in the Contacts
folder.
[ ]
This tab shows the history of the letters that have been sent
from the regional office to the household, by type and date.
[ ]

History

The History tab gives historical information about the case,
such as the previous outcome, whether the case was a
replacement household, or if the case was previously assigned
to another FR. It also shows you the previous addresses during
the current interview periods and captures and shows the
outcome code, action code, and the date/time each time an FR
enters into a case by pressing the F2 function key.
[ ]

Contact History and
Returning Contact History

The Contact History and Returning Contact History tabs
contain the history of previous visits/interviews for a case. They
also keep a record of the strategies used and respondent
behavior for the case. Contact History contains contact history
for the current interview period; Returning Contact History
contains history for the previous interview period.
[ ]

Interview Time
Preferences

This tab allows you to view the best and worst times to contact
a case. The best times are shown in green and the worst times
in red. To edit or enter good or bad times to contact, you may
press “Ctrl” +“T” at any time during an interview.
[ ]

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Bldg Mgmt

Case Management

To return to the Case List Pane, press the F4 function key.
The last tab is the Building Management tab. It contains
building manager contact information for large multi-unit
buildings. If you are assigned a case in such a building, the
building management’s contact information appears when you
click the tab.
[ ]
Press F10 to exit out of case management.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise on the next page. Compare your
answers to the answer key that follows the review exercise,
then continue with Lesson 7.

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Case Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 6 - Review Exercise
1. One of the purposes of Case Management is to help you manage your monthly assignment.
TRUE

FALSE

2. Match the function keys below with their function in Windows Case Management:
_____F1 Help

A - Lets you rearrange the listed cases according to your criteria.

_____F2 Interview

B - Enables you to move from tab to tab in the Details Pane.

_____F3 Next Tab

C - Displays the Notes field for the selected case.

_____F4 Go to

D - Displays Case Management Help information about the active
window.

_____F5 Reports

E - Closes Case Management

_____F7 Notes

F - Opens the selected case so you can interview the respondent.

_____F8 View

G - Toggles focus between the Case List pane and the Details
pane.

_____F9 Sort

H - Displays the CM Report Selection dialog box, in which you
choose the report(s) you want.

_____F10 Exit

_____Ctrl+T

I - Activates the Display Category Selected dialog box, in which
you choose the category of cases you would like to see. This
lets you look at a shorter list of cases, only those which fall into
the category you choose.
J - Opens the Interview Time Preferences application.

3. Identify the main section(s) of the Case Management system.
_____ Menu Bar
_____ File Bar

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

_____ Case List Pane
_____ Info Pane
_____ Tool Bar
_____ Details Pane
4. Which section of the Case Management lists all of your monthly cases?
_____ Menu Bar
_____ File Bar
_____ Case List Pane
_____ Info Pane
_____ Tool Bar
_____ Details Pane
5. Match the function keys below with their function in Case Management.
_____Shift + F1

A - Saves any changes you made to one or more editable fields.

_____Alt + F4

B - Moves you to the last case in the list.

_____Shift + F8

C - Displays General Help.

_____Ctrl + S

D - Moves you to the first case in the list.

_____Ctrl + Home

E - Returns you to the main Case Management screen from the
Display Categories (F8) screen.

_____Ctrl + End

F - Closes the active window or exits the active program or help
screen.

6. Match the tab in the Details Pane with its function.
_____Assignment

A - Displays notes.

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Case Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

_____HH Roster

B - Shows the contact people names, addresses and telephone
numbers.

_____Additional
Information

C - Displays the previous outcome code and the FR code of the
person who previously interviewed the case.

_____Notes

D - Shows more detailed information about a case, such as the full
address, telephone number, case ID, current outcome code.

_____Contact History E - Displays the names of all household members.
_____Contacts

F - Contains information about previous visits, strategies used,
and respondent behavior.

_____Letter Mgmt

G - Displays the best and worst times to contact a case.

_____History

H - Contains building manager contact information for large
multi-unit buildings.

_____Bldg Mgmt

I - Provides additional information for GQ cases.

_____Interview Time
Preferences

J - Provides type and date of respondent letters sent
by the regional office.

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

Lesson 6 - Answer Key
1. One of the purposes of Case Management is to help you manage your monthly assignment.
TRUE
(Page 6-1)
2. Match the function keys below with their function in Windows Case Management:
D F1 Help

A. Lets you rearrange the listed cases according to your criteria.

F F2 Interview

B. Enables you to move from tab to tab in the Details Pane.

B F3 Next Tab

C. Displays the Notes field for the selected case.

G F4 Go to

D. Displays Case Management Help.

H F5 Reports

E. Closes Case Management.

C F7 Notes

F. Opens the selected case so you can interview the respondent.

I F8 View

G. Toggles focus between the Case List pane and the Details
pane.

A F9 Sort

H. Displays the CM Report Selection dialog box, in which you
choose the report(s) you want.

E F10 Exit

I. Activates the Display Category Selected dialog box, in which
you choose the category of cases you would like to see. This
lets you look at a shorter list of cases, only those which fall into
the category you choose.

J CTRL+T
J. Opens the Interview Time Preferences application.
(Pages 6-4 through 6-6)

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Case Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

3. Identify the main section(s) of the NCVS Case Management system.
_X _ Menu Bar
____ File Bar
_X _ Case List Pane
____ Info Pane
_X _ Tool Bar
_X _ Details Pane
(Page 6-3)
4. Which section of the Case Management lists all of your monthly cases?
____ Menu Bar
____ File Bar
_X _ Case List Pane
____ Info Pane
____ Tool Bar
____ Details Pane
(Page 6-7)
5. Match the function keys below with their function in Case Management.
C Shift + F1

A - Saves any changes you made to one or more editable fields.

F Alt + F4

B - Moves you to the last case in the list.

E Shift + F8

C - Displays General Help.

A Ctrl + S

D - Moves you to the first case in the list.

D Ctrl + Home

E - Returns you to the main Case Management screen
from the Display Categories (F8) screen.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Case Management

B Ctrl + End

F - Closes the active window or exits the active program or help
screen.
(Pages 6-6 through 6-7)
6. Match the tab in the Details Pane with its function.
D Assignment

A - Displays notes.

E HH Roster

B - Shows the contact people names, addresses and telephone
numbers.

I Additional Information

C - Displays the previous outcome code and the FR code of the
person who previously interviewed the case.

A Notes

D - Shows more detailed information about a case, such as the full
address, telephone number, case ID, current outcome code.

F Contact History

E - Displays the names of all household members.

B Contacts

F - Contains information about previous visits, strategies used,
and respondent behavior.

J Letter Mgmt

G - Displays the best and worst times to contact a case.

C History

H - Contains building manager contact information for large
multi-unit buildings.

H Bldg Mgmt

I - Provides additional information for GQ cases.

G Interview Time
J - Provides type and date of respondent letters sent
Preferences
by the regional office.
(Pages 6-9 through 6-11)

Continue with Lesson 7

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NOTES

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Person Based Contact History Instrument (pCHI)

Lesson 7. The Person Level Contact
History Instrument (pCHI)
Person Level Contact
History Instrument (pCHI)

The Person Level Contact History instrument (also known
as pCHI) allows you to track NCVS contact history on a
person level basis.

pCHI Computer Based
Training (CBT)

Log onto your laptop and complete the pCHI Computer
Based Training. Click to open Mobile Case Management
and click the purple Training/Manuals tab. Click the CBT
folder under “Resources” and then click the NCS subfolder.
Finally, click the file, NCVS pCHI and follow instructions to
complete the training.
When you have completed it, continue with Lesson 8.

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Person Based Contact History Instrument (pCHI)

NOTES

7-2

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

More Details About Your Job

Lesson 8. More Details about Your Job
Objective

This lesson will help you understand the basic procedures for the
NCVS, as well as provide you with an overview of specific
household procedures.

Length of Time in Sample

Each address that is selected as a sample unit for the NCVS is
usually interviewed seven times. These interviews are conducted
once every 6 months over a period of 3 years. This allows us to
compile a continuous record of the sample household's
experiences at a reasonable cost while balancing respondent
burden.

Enumeration Periods

We refer to each time a sample household's address is assigned
for interview as an "enumeration period." Since we generally
interview or attempt to interview each sample household seven
times, there are usually seven "enumeration periods" for each
sample address.

Reference Periods

The reference period for the NCVS covers the 6-month time
period prior to the interview day. When conducting interviews, we
are only interested in crime incidents that occurred during a
household member's specific 6-month reference period. Even
though the NCVS instrument inserts the appropriate reference
period start date, it is still important that you understand how a
household member's reference period is determined.
For the first enumeration period, each household member's
reference period will start 6 months prior to the interview date on
the first day of that month, and end on the day prior to the
interview date.
For example: If a household respondent's first enumeration
period interview is conducted on March 1, 2018, the current
reference period for the household respondent is September 1,
2017 to February 28, 2018. If the remaining household
members were interviewed for the first enumeration period on
March 4, 2018, the current reference period for each of these
household members is September 1, 2017 to March 3, 2018.
After the first enumeration period, reference periods for all
remaining enumeration periods start on the date of the
household member's last interview and end on the day prior to
the member's current interview date. For example, if the
respondent was previously interviewed on February 3, 2018
and you are conducting the respondent’s current interview on
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More Details About Your Job

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

August 8, 2018, then the current reference period for this
respondent is February 3, 2018 to August 7, 2018.

Personal vs Telephone
Interviews

By using this type of reference period, we can compile a
continuous record of the household's experiences for the entire 3
years that they are in sample.
The first interview at a sample address is always conducted in
person. Interviews with units in sample for their second through
seventh interview should be conducted by telephone from a
secure place in your home. We realize that there will be times
when this is not possible, such as when the unit was a
noninterview the previous enumeration, there is no telephone
available in the sample unit, or the household indicated that a
telephone interview is not acceptable.
After completing the household respondent’s interview, always
try to complete interviews for all remaining eligible household
members during the same contact. Any follow-up contacts to
interview remaining household members should be done by
telephone. For sample units that are to be interviewed using the
personal visit procedure, after you complete the household
respondent’s personal interview, you are allowed to make
telephone callbacks to obtain interviews with the remaining
household members.
Try to plan your personal visits during the most productive hours
of the day and days of the week, so you can find household
members at home to reduce the number of return visits to a
sample address. Always remember to make the fewest number
of trips to a sample area as possible to complete your
assignment.

Interview Period

An interview period is the time that you are allowed to complete
all of the NCVS interviews assigned for an interview month.
Typically, the interview period begins on the first day of the
month and continues almost the entire month. Your close-out
date is typically a day or two before the last business day of the
month.

Refusals

Occasionally, an entire household may refuse to participate in
our survey. Make every effort to persuade the household to
participate. If your attempts to gain a household's cooperation
are unsuccessful, you need to indicate through the NCVS
instrument that the household refuses to participate.

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More Details About Your Job

If the household respondent refuses his/her interview and there
is no other eligible household member who can serve as the
new household respondent, discontinue interviewing in the
sample household. However, if there is another eligible
household member who can serve as the new household
respondent, you can interview that person as the new household
respondent. Remember, BEFORE you can interview any other
eligible household members, you must complete the household
respondent’s interview. When there is more than one eligible
individual respondent, the refusal of one individual respondent
does NOT end the NCVS interviews in the sample household.
Replacement Households

When an entire household moves out and the new household
moves in (i.e., the sample household is not the same household
as was interviewed in the previous enumeration period) the new
household at the sample unit is referred to as a “replacement”
household. Replacement households are treated as incoming or
first time in sample households -- you must interview the
household respondent in person, along with any remaining
household members who are eligible for interview and available
at the time of your visit. Callbacks for individual respondents can
be done by telephone.

NCVS Changes

The survey sponsor, the BJS, is always looking for ways to
improve the NCVS interview, as well as ways to collect
information on topics of current interest. Some of these changes
are temporary, while other changes could become permanent.
Over the past few years, new or revised questions have been
incorporated into the NCVS interview including questions about:
Hate crimes
Sexual Orientation
Gender Identity
Citizenship
Veteran’s Status

Starting With the
Household Respondent

ALWAYS complete the household respondent's interview before
interviewing any remaining eligible household members
(household members who are 12 years of age and older).
When you get into the NCVS CAPI instrument and the case is a
returning (continuing) household, that is, a household in sample
for its second through seventh interviews, you will be prompted
to ask to speak with the household member who was the
household respondent for the previous enumeration period. If

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that household member is not available, you will be instructed to
identify another eligible household respondent.

Reporting Crime Incidents

If the respondent reports one or more crime incidents, then
proceed through the incident report screens for each reported
incident that occurred during the 6-month reference period.
These screens are designed to gather information about:
• Where the incident took place
• Whether or not the respondent or other household members
were present during the incident
• How the incident happened
• Any injuries that the respondent or other household members
may have experienced during the incident
• Information about the offender(s).
• Details about the respondent’s employer and job when the
incident occurred while the respondent was working or on
duty when the incident occurred.
• Whether or not the police were notified and reasons for not
reporting the incident to the police.
• What the respondent was doing when the incident happened.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise that starts on the following page.
Compare your answers to the answer key, which follows the
review exercise, then continue with Lesson 9.

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More Details About Your Job

Lesson 8 - Review Exercise
1.

Each address that is selected as a sample unit for the NCVS is usually interviewed:
(Mark the correct answer.)

2.

_____

Only one time

_____

Seven times

_____

Three times

The reference period for the NCVS covers the following time period:
(Mark the correct answer.)

3.

_____

The 12 months prior to the interview month

_____

The 6 months prior to the interview day

_____

The 2 years prior to the interview month

The first NCVS interview at a sample address is always conducted in person.
TRUE

4.

When conducting first interviews at a sample household, you must complete the
household respondent’s interview as well as interviews with all other eligible household
members by personal visit.
TRUE

5.

6.

FALSE

FALSE

Typically, your interview period begins on the first day of the month and lasts for about:
(Mark the correct answer.)
_____

2 1/2 weeks

_____

One month

_____

1 week

It does not matter which household member gets interviewed first for the NCVS.
TRUE

FALSE

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7.

When an entire household moves out and a new household moves in, the new household
is referred to as a ______________________ and the interview with the new household
should be treated like ______________________ households.

8.

Interviews with units in sample for their second through seventh interview should be
conducted by telephone from a secure place in your home.
TRUE

FALSE

Compare your answers against the answer key on the next page(s).

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More Details About Your Job

Lesson 8 - Answer Key
1.

Each address that is selected as a sample unit for the NCVS is usually interviewed:
(Mark the correct answer.)
Only one time
X

Seven times
Three times

(Page 8-1)

2.

The reference period for the NCVS covers the following time period:
(Mark the correct answer.)
The 12 months prior to the interview month
X

The 6 months prior to the interview day
The 2 years prior to the interview month

(Page 8-1)

3.

The first NCVS interview at a sample address is always conducted in person.
TRUE
(Page 8-2)

4.

When conducting first interviews at a sample household, you must complete the
household respondent’s interview as well as interviews with all other eligible household
members by personal visit.
FALSE
(Page 8-2)

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5.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Typically, your interview period begins on the first day of the month and lasts for about:
(Mark the correct answer.)
2 1/2 weeks
X

1 month
1 week

(Page 8-2)

6.

It does not matter which household member gets interviewed first for the NCVS.
FALSE
(Page 8-3)

7.

When an entire household moves out and a new household moves in, the new household
is referred to as a replacement household and the interview with the new household
should be treated like incoming or first time in sample households
(Page 8-3)

8.

Interviews with units in sample for their second through seventh interview should be
conducted by telephone from a secure place in your home.
TRUE
(Page 8-2)
Continue with Lesson 9.

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The Survey Instrument

Lesson 9. The Blaise Basics: The Survey Instrument
Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is to familiarize you with the basic
setup of the NCVS instrument screens. At the end of this
section, you will be able to:
• differentiate between respondent questions and FR
instructions;
• locate different types of information on the screen; and
• locate Help items and other information on your screen.

Section tabs

Menu bar

Title bar

Info
Pane

Form
Pane

Status bar

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Basic Elements of a
NCVS Instrument
Screen

The illustration on the previous page shows a screen from the
NCVS instrument. The Blaise software features a distinctive
split-screen display. The “screen” in Blaise refers to the entire
area of the Blaise window, from the title bar on top to the status
bar on the bottom.

Title Bar

The Title Bar identifies the name of the survey.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar contains five menus:
• Forms
• Answer
• Navigate
• Options, and
• Help
These menus each contain lists that help you navigate, enter
data, and access help throughout the NCVS instrument.

Section Tabs

Section Tabs show the different sections of the NCVS
instrument, as well as give you the option of displaying the
household roster or answers to the most frequently asked
questions about the survey.

Info Pane

The panes are the different areas of the screen. Each pane is
surrounded by a border. The Info Pane contains the question
text and any FR instructions for an item as well as the list of
answer choices below the question.

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The Survey Instrument

Location of Info Card Booklet
and Help screen indicator

FR instruction

Question text

Answer list

Book Icon
Help Screens

Some questions have a “Help” screen. By accessing the Help
screen, you can look at additional information to help you enter
information for that screen. Access Help screens by pressing
F1. For those questions that have a specific Help screen, the
question mark (?) followed by [F1] appears in blue text in the
top left of the question screen.

Information Card
Booklet Icon

Looking at the illustration above, notice the graphic of a book
(this type of graphic is called an icon). This icon indicates that,
for this question, you must show the respondent the Information
Card Booklet for your personal visit interviews and refer to it for
your telephone interviews. Sometimes a number appears next
to the icon.
The number next to the book indicates the page to refer to
within the booklet. On your laptop, the graphic and page
number reference, if provided, are in blue text.

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Blue Text

Any time you see blue text in the Info Pane, it is an FR
instruction for you to read to yourself, not aloud, to the
respondent. For example, you may see an instruction that says
“Read answer categories.”

Bold Black Text

Bold black text in the Info Pane indicates that this is a question
you read aloud to the respondent. On the previous page, the
HOUSEHOLDINCOME question appears in bold black text
and is read aloud to the respondent. Note that some questions
require you to read the answer categories aloud to the
respondent. Remember, you are only required to read the
answer categories to the respondent when the categories are
in bold black text.

Gray Text

Gray text in the Info Pane indicates that you have the option to
read the text to the respondent. This appears for questions in
which you have read the same text to the respondent in a
previous question. You may want to re-read the question text
to reinforce the intent of the question.

Form Pane

The Form Pane contains data entry cells or spaces for
entering responses. It shows a “map” of where you are within a
section and displays previous information that has been
collected for that part. Look at the illustration of the Form Pane
on the next page.
The Form Pane is formatted differently depending on the type
of information being obtained. You can change or update the
information in boxes with white backgrounds. For example, if
you make a mistake, you can back up when you are in a case
by using the back arrows to correct an entry. If the information
is in a box with a gray background, it cannot be changed.

Locating Your Position
Within the Form Pane

Looking at the second column of the Form Pane, you see that
the information in the last box is displayed in white text within a
dark box (on your screen that box is blue). This is how you
know where you are within the Form Pane, or where your
cursor is.

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Case ID

Variable name

The Survey Instrument

Page number

Status bar

Status Bar

The Status Bar appears at the bottom of the screen and gives
information about the case you are interviewing, such as the
case ID, where you are within the instrument (i.e., section, page
number), as well as the variable name. When you encounter an
error that you must report to your regional office, supply the
regional office with specific information from the Status Bar,
including the section, page number, and the variable (screen)
name.

Navigation

To navigate through the instrument, the key you use most often
to move from one question to another is the Enter key. Pressing
Enter after typing an entry ensures that the entry is “accepted”
within the CAPI instrument and also takes you to the next

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question on the instrument path. Also, remember that if you need
to re-enter a case and want to return to where you left off,
pressing the End key takes you to the next unanswered
question.
Use the arrow keys mostly when navigating sequentially from
one item to the next. Use the Left and Right Arrows to navigate
horizontally, and use the Up and Down Arrows to navigate
vertically. Use the Page Up (PgUp) and Page Down (PgDn) keys
when navigating sequentially, from one Form Pane to the next.
You will learn about the types of navigation, such as backing up
and jumping to another section of the instrument, during
classroom training. The Tab key, the PgUp and PgDn keys, the
up, down, right and left arrow keys, the function keys, and of
course, the End and Enter keys – are the ones you will use the
most.
Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise that starts on the following page.
Compare your answers to the answer key which follows the
review exercise, then continue with Lesson 10.

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The Survey Instrument

Lesson 9 - Review Exercise
1. The Form Pane contains the specific survey questions and/or FR instructions for an item
as well as listing the answer categories.
TRUE

FALSE

2. Text appearing in blue in the Info Pane is for you to read to yourself and not out loud to
respondents.
TRUE

FALSE

3. Which key, when pressed, ensures that the entry is “accepted” within the CAPI
instrument?
____ Tab key
____ End key
____ PgUp key
____ Enter key

4. The Info Pane shows you where you are within a section and displays previous
information that has been collected within that section.
TRUE

FALSE

5. Where within the CAPI screen do you find information about the case such as the case ID
and the question name?
____ Title Bar
____ Menu Bar
____ Status Bar

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6. For those questions that have a specific Help screen associated with that question, which
symbol appears in blue text followed by which function key?
____ Exclamation point (!) followed by F1
____ Question mark (?) followed by F10
____ Exclamation point (!) followed by F10
____ Question mark (?) followed by F1

7. Which color text indicates that you have the option to read the text to the question to
reinforce its intent?
____ Blue text
____ Grey text
____ Black text
____ Red text

Compare your answers against the answer key on the next page.

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The Survey Instrument

Lesson 9 - Answer Key
1. The Form Pane contains the specific survey questions and/or FR instructions for an item
as well as listing the answer categories.
FALSE
(Page 9-2)
2. Text appearing in blue in the Info Pane is for you to read to yourself and not aloud to
respondents.
TRUE
(Page 9-4)
3. Which key, when pressed, ensures that the entry is “accepted” within the CAPI
instrument?
____ Tab key
____ End key
____ PgUp key
X Enter key
(Page 9-5)

4. The Info Pane shows you where you are within a section and displays previous information
that has been collected within that section.
FALSE
(Page 9-4)
5. Where within the CAPI screen do you find information about the case such as the case ID
and the question name?
____ Title Bar
____ Menu Bar
X Status Bar
(Page 9-5)

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6. For those questions that have a specific Help screen associated with that question, which
symbol appears in blue text followed by which function key?
____ Exclamation point (!) followed by F1
____ Question mark (?) followed by F10
____ Exclamation point (!) followed by F10
X Question mark (?) followed by F1
(Page 9-3)

7. Which color text indicates that you have the option to read the text to the question to
reinforce its intent?
____ Blue text
X Grey text
____ Black text
____ Red text
(Page 9-4)
Continue with Lesson 10.

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Lesson 10. The NCVS CAPI Instrument
Objective

This lesson will familiarize you with certain features of the NCVS
instrument, as well as its different sections. At the end of this
lesson you should know the difference between the instrument’s:
Front section,
Middle section, and
Back section.

Ask Questions
As Worded

When asking NCVS questions, do not change the words or omit
any parts of the questions. Even if the change seems
insignificant to you, it could change the way the respondent
interprets the question. We want each respondent to hear the
NCVS questions the same way, so the answers we get are
comparable throughout the entire sample. In general, use neutral
probes when the respondent does not seem to understand the
question. (Probing is prohibited for the sexual orientation and
gender identity questions. These are discussed more in Lesson
15.) When appropriate, verify the information entered.

Answer Categories

Notice that some question answer lists contain values starting with
“11” rather than “1.” This was designed to minimize errors in the
data collected.

Answer List

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Question/Item
Name

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

A descriptive name or label has been assigned to each
question/item. This label is referred to as the Blaise Variable
Name and is displayed on the screen’s Status Bar. For the
NCVS, we refer to the Blaise Variable Name as the screen or
item name. For example, the Blaise Variable Name for the
question below is START_CP.

Variable name
Single and Multiple
Response Categories

Some questions allow you to enter only one response, while
others allow multiple answers. Notice that there are two types of
responses, noted by radio buttons and boxes. Radio buttons ()
are used beside the response categories when a single
response is required. Boxes () are used beside the response
categories when multiple entries are acceptable. Also, for
questions that allow multiple responses the screen displays the
FR instruction

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

“Enter all that apply.” In the illustrations below and on the next
page, notice that the response field to the left of the answer
categories differs between multiple and single response
questions.

Single Response Question
“Radio Buttons”

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Multiple Response Question
“Boxes”

When you see response categories with boxes, before pressing
“Enter,” keep asking the appropriate probe, “Anything else?” or
“Any other way?” and record all responses. Continue probing
in this manner until you get a “No” response.
Edit Checks

In order to detect inconsistencies in the data at the time of
collection, several questions contain edit checks. The edit
checks examine the response to individual items and determine
if the responses are consistent with the other data entered. An
error message appears when possible errors (inconsistencies)
are detected in the respondent’s answers. The screen displays
an error message and identifies the questions that are
inconsistent.

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Items with Inconsistent Responses

Types of Edit Checks

Edit Check Error Message

There are two types of edit checks, soft edit checks and hard
edit checks. A soft edit check appears for a situation like a 14
year-old attending college (possible but not likely); a hard edit
check appears for a situation like a 4 year old attending college
(not possible).
• For soft edit checks, you can either accept the responses and
therefore the inconsistency (select the Suppress button) OR
resolve the error by going back (select the GoTo button) to the
items in question and rechecking the responses.
• For hard edit checks, you must go back and resolve the
inconsistency.

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In many cases, the inconsistencies occur as a result of keying
errors. To go back and correct a particular item, make sure that
the item displayed in the "Questions involved" column of the
"Edit Check Error Message" (refer to illustration on page 10-5) is
highlighted; then click the GoTo button, which takes you to the
question that needs correcting.
When resolving inconsistencies in a soft edit check, the pop-up
window displays two screens in the “Questions Involved”
column, which you can choose from to select which answer you
want to change. In the example on Page (10-5), if you want to fix
the inconsistency by updating the relationship value, highlight
the “RELATIONSHIP: Relation” row and select the GoTo button
to return to the Relationship Screen to change the answer. If the
respondent’s gender was incorrect, highlight the second row
“SEX:sex” and select the GoTo button to change the
respondent’s gender.
Don’t Know and
Refused Responses

Some questions allow a “Don’t know” response. In the NCVS
CAPI instrument, such questions either have a “Don’t know”
category displayed as a valid response category or the category
is “blind.” A blind “Don’t know” category is not displayed. The
instrument allows you to enter a “Don’t know” response by
pressing the “CTRL” + “D” keys if the respondent does not know
the answer to the question. A question mark (?) then appears in
the answer field. Also, some questions allow a “blind” refusal. For
those questions, you can press the “CTRL” + “R” keys if the
respondent refuses to answer. An exclamation point (!) then
appears in the answer field.

Specify Fields

Some questions require that you enter a description of the
respondent’s answer. For example, in the screener questions
you enter a brief description of the incident when the respondent
reports that he/she was a victim of crime. For questions that
contain an “Other - specify” category record the respondent’s
answer on the “Other - specify” screen if you are unable to
classify the respondent’s answer into a predefined category. For
these types of questions, as well as the crime incident report
summary, the length of the “Specify” field varies:
Screener questions – 100 characters
“Other – specify” categories, most are 35 characters
Crime incident summary – 300 characters

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If you need to record more information for a particular item, enter
additional text in the “Item Level” notes by pressing the F7
function key.
Overview of Front
Section

The Front Section of the NCVS instrument lets you:
Introduce and reintroduce the survey to the respondent;
Record the type of interview you are conducting (personal visit or
telephone);
Record the outcome of your attempts to contact the household
respondent or individual respondents; and
Select a new household respondent when necessary.
The Front Section of the instrument also includes screens for
verifying the sample address, the mailing address, and the
sample address’ phone number and also captures person and
household noninterview information.
Look at the START_CP screen shown on the next page. This is
the first screen in the instrument’s Front Section that appears
when you enter the NCVS CAPI instrument from Case
Management. At this screen you select whether to:
Interview by telephone or personal visit,
Classify the case as a noninterview,
Transmit the case, or
Exit the case before attempting to conduct an interview.
If a case is a Type A, B, or C noninterview, select category (4),
“Noninterview” at the START_CP screen which takes you to the
screen to classify the type of noninterview and code appropriate
noninterview reasons.

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For a noninterview, select Precode (4) at START_CP

Select the type of noninterview at NONTYP

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Select the reason for the noninterview at TYPEA (shown here), TYPEB, or TYPEC

However, if you are unable to interview an eligible
household member and the household member is not the
household respondent you must classify the respondent as a
Type Z person noninterview. In CAPI, you classify household
members for whom an interview was not obtained after you
have completed interviews with all other eligible household
members and are ready to transmit the case. When you enter “5
” at START_CP, the Type Z block appears and asks you to
record the best reason data were not collected for the
respondent. We will practice classifying a household member as
a Type Z noninterview during classroom training.
Also notice that at the START_CP Main Menu, the following
information about the case is displayed:
Case Status - Measures the progress of the case, such as “New
Case,” “Unreached Household,” “Household reached, no
respondent contact,” “Household Refusal,” “Household
Respondent (complete),” “Noninterview,” etc. (See illustration
below.)

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Case status
•

Date and Time - Displays the current date and time.

•

Incoming (Interview 1)/Continuing (Interviews 2-7) Identifies whether the case is an incoming or continuing
case.
Interview Number - Identifies the case’s interview number
or enumeration period (1-7).

•

•

Confirmed Refusal - Indicates whether or not the case is a
confirmed refusal. An entry of “Yes” indicates that the case is
a confirmed refusal and an entry of “No” indicates that it is
not a confirmed refusal.

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

A replacement household is always considered “incoming,” and
requires a personal visit interview but retains the interview
number of the parent. This is because the interview number is
associated with the sample address, not with the current
household.
Overview of
Middle Section

The Middle Section of the NCVS instrument collects household
characteristics and collects/updates the person level
characteristics of the household roster. Information collected
includes:
•

the sample unit’s tenure,

basic household data (names of all persons living in the
household, relationship, household membership, birthday, age,
marital status, sex, armed forces, education, ethnicity, and
race),
•

changes in household composition,

•

use of telephone,

•

building characteristics,

•

household income, and so on.

The Middle Section of the NCVS instrument also contains:
•

the screen questions,

•

socio-demographic questions,

the incident questions asked on the Crime Incident Report, and
screens for comparing/unduplicating incidents reported in the
current enumeration and previous enumeration periods.
To ensure that we do not collect duplicate information about
incidents, the unduplication screens compare incident(s)
reported by the current respondent against -other incidents reported during the current enumeration by the
current respondent,

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incidents reported during the current enumeration by other
respondents, and
up to four incidents reported by any respondent in the household
during the previous enumeration.
An example of a unduplication screen is shown below:

Overview of Back
Section

The Back Section of the instrument includes thank you screens,
screens for setting appointments and recording information,
such as telephone numbers, best time to call, whether there are
any language or hearing problems, case level notes, and
screens for recording the incomplete status (either
Refusal/Callback/Breakoff) of a household respondent's
interview.
The information you enter in the back of the instrument is fed

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

back into Case Management and appears in Case
Management after you exit the case.
Tabs

Throughout the instrument, starting at the START_CP screen,
there are various tabs you can access anytime during the
interview. Four tabs appear on all screens:
• Main tab - used to return to the interview after pressing the
“HH roster” or “FAQs” tab.
• HH Roster tab - Displays the Household composition. For
an incoming case this tab is empty until you complete the
household coverage items,
• FAQs tab - provides responses to Frequently Asked
Questions about the survey.
• F10 tab - which ends the interview.
Other tabs display depending on the progress of the interview.
For example, the New HHR tab appears until you have
completed the household roster. This tab can be used to
change the household respondent. This tab will only display the
persons eligible to act as the household respondent. If
displayed, the tabs items are accessible from any item in the
instrument.

Instrument
Function Keys

Function keys are shortcuts for specific actions in the
instrument. The function of some of the keys in the CAPI
instrument differs from their function in Case Management. In
the CAPI survey instrument you can display the function keys at
any time by going to the Navigate menu and selecting “Show
Function Keys.” You can also display the function keys by
pressing the Ctrl+K keys.

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

KEY
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10
F11
F12

FUNCTION
Question Help
(Unassigned)
(Unassigned)
Jump Menu
Show Status
(Unassigned)
Item Notes/Remarks
Return
Skip Forward
Exit
Calculator
Copy Down (Repeat)

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

KEY
Shift+F1
Shift+F2
Shift+F3
Shift+F4
Shift+F5
Shift+F6
Shift+F7
Shift+F8
Shift+F9
Shift+F10
Shift+F11
Shift+F12
Alt +F4

FUNCTION
Show HH
FAQs
RI FAQs
(Unassigned)
Language
(Unassigned)
Show notes/Remarks
(Unassigned)
(Unassigned)
Show Function Keys
Show Standard Abbr
Show Original Notes (RI)
Closes active window or
exits active program or
help screen

10-14

KEY
END
HOME
Ctrl+F3
Ctrl+D
Ctrl+F
Ctrl+H
Ctrl+F7
Ctrl+K
Ctrl+M
Ctrl+R
Ctrl+F11
Ctrl+T
Alt+S
Alt +F4

FUNCTION
Next Question on Path
First Question on Path
Show Question Text
Don't Know
Search Tag
Info
Case Level Notes
Show Function Keys
Show DK & Refused
Refused
Calendar
Interview Time Preferences
Save
Closes active window or
help screen

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS CAPI Instrument

The chart below further explains the operations of function keys in the NCVS survey instrument. During
classroom training, you will practice using some of the function keys.
If you press
function key:
F1

You can perform this operation within the instrument
during the interview
QUESTION HELP Displays any help screens for the current question. Help
screens are designed to aid you with a particular concept, to define the
meaning or intent of a particular word, to provide specific probes, and so on.

F4

JUMP MENU Accesses a “Jump” menu, which enables you to jump back to
a previously answered section of the incident report items. Note that this
function only works in the incident report items, which are part of the middle
section of the NCVS instrument.

ALT + F4

Closes the active window, closes help screen, or exits the active program.

F7

ITEM NOTES/REMARKS Allows you to view or add comments and
explanations for the screen currently displayed.

F8

RETURN Allows you to skip back over a block of questions.

F10

EXIT Skips from the present question to the REFCBBREAK_CP Screen at
the back of the instrument. You do this whenever you must make an early
exit from the interview.

SHIFT + F5

LANGUAGE
Allows you to switch from the English version of the instrument to the
Spanish version for the current question and all subsequent questions.

SHIFT + F11

SHOW STANDARD ABBREVIATIONS
Displays the standard recommended and accepted abbreviations for the
NCVS. Abbreviations can be used to conserve space when entering text
in item text boxes that allow only a limited number of characters.

END

Takes you to the next unanswered question in the instrument path.

CTRL + D

DON’T KNOW
Allows you to record a don’t know response to a question when a separate
“Don’t Know” response category is not a Precode in the answer list. Also
referred to as a “Blind” Don’t Know.

CTRL + R

REFUSED Allows you to record a refusal to a question by the respondent.

CTRL + T

INTERVIEW TIME PREFERENCES
Accesses the BOOST/BLOCK feature of the instrument for you to view
or record the best times or worst times to contact the household.

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Review Exercise

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Complete the review exercise that starts on the following
page. Compare your answers to the answer key that follows
the review exercise and continue with Lesson 11.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Lesson 10 - Review Exercise
1. How can you tell questions that allow multiple responses from those that allow a single
response in the NCVS CAPI instrument?
_____ The answer fields for multiple response questions have radio buttons, while single
response questions have square boxes.
_____ An asterisk appears in the answer list.
_____ The answer fields for multiple response questions have square boxes, while single
response questions have radio buttons.
_____ There is no distinction between the two types of responses.

2. The Middle Section of the NCVS CAPI instrument contains thank you screens and screens
for setting callback appointments.
TRUE

FALSE

3. The uses of the function keys within the survey instrument are identical to those in Case
Management.
TRUE

FALSE

4. You will capture Type Z information about NCVS noninterview respondents at the time
you discover that the respondent is a noninterview.
TRUE

FALSE

5. A “blind” “Don’t know” or “blind” “Refusal” means that the survey instrument accepts
such responses for certain questions even though “Don’t know” and “Refused” categories
are not displayed.
TRUE

FALSE

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

6. What appears in the answer field when you press Ctrl+D for a blind “Don’t know”?
_____ D
_____ !
_____ CtrlD
_____ ?
7. What appears in the answer field when you press Ctrl+R for a blind “Refusal”?
_____ R
_____ !
_____ CtrlR
_____ ?

8. Some items contain edit checks that identify data inconsistencies or errors. “Suppress”
accepts the inconsistency in a hard edit check.
TRUE

FALSE

9. “Goto” in an edit check returns you to inconsistent item(s) to make corrections to the items
in both soft and hard edit checks.
TRUE

FALSE

10. Which keys do you press to display the function keys for the NCVS CAPI instrument?
_____ Ctrl E
_____ Ctrl K
_____ Ctrl M
_____ Ctrl R

Compare your answers against the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS CAPI Instrument

Lesson 10 - Answer Key
1. How can you tell questions that allow multiple responses from those that allow a single
response in the NCVS CAPI instrument?
_____ The answer fields for multiple response questions have radio buttons, while single
response questions have square boxes.
_____ An asterisk appears in the answer list.
__X__ The answer fields for multiple response questions have square boxes, while single
response questions have radio buttons.
_____ There is no distinction between the two types of responses.
(Page 10-2)
2. The Middle Section of the NCVS CAPI instrument contains thank you screens and screens
for setting callback appointments.
FALSE
(Page 10-11)
3. The uses of the function keys within the survey instrument are identical to those in Case
Management.
FALSE
(Page 10-13)
4. You will capture Type Z information about NCVS noninterview respondents at the time
you discover that the respondent is a noninterview.
FALSE
(Page 10-9)
5. A “blind” “Don’t know” or “blind” “Refusal” means that the survey instrument accepts such
responses for certain questions even though “Don’t know” and “Refused” categories are not
displayed.
TRUE
(Page 10-6)

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The NCVS CAPI Instrument

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

6. What appears in the answer field when you press Ctrl+D for a blind “Don’t know”?
_____ D
_____ !
_____ CtrlD
__X__ ?
(Page 10-6)
7. What appears in the answer field when you press Ctrl+R for a blind “Refusal”?
_____ R
__X__ !
_____ CtrlR
_____ ?
(Page 10-6)
8. Some items contain edit checks that identify data inconsistencies or errors.
“Suppress”accepts the inconsistency in a hard edit check.
FALSE
(Page 10-5)
9. “Goto” in an edit check returns you to inconsistent item(s) to make corrections to the items in
both soft and hard edit checks.
TRUE
(Page 10-6)
10. Which keys do you press to display the function keys for the NCVS CAPI instrument?
_____ Ctrl E
__X__ Ctrl K
_____ Ctrl M
_____ Ctrl R
(Page 10-13)
Continue with Lesson 11.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Front Section

Lesson 11. The NCVS Front Section
Objective

Introduction

The objectives of this lesson are to:
•

Explain the design of the Front Section of the NCVS CAPI
instrument.

•

Provide an overview of the items that make up the Front
Section of the survey instrument.

The Front Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to:
• Give you case-level information to review before attempting to
contact the sample household.
• Guide you through screens for making contact with a household
respondent or an individual respondent for personal visit or
telephone interviews, and record possible interviewing
problems.
• Guide you through screens for selecting a new household
respondent or new individual respondent.
• Update sample address, mailing address, and telephone
number information for the household with the household
respondent.

Getting into the NCVS
Instrument

To access the NCVS instrument from Case Management to begin
interviewing a sample case, press the F2 key. Later in the
self-study you will practice getting into the NCVS instrument and
conducting an interview. For now, let’s review some of the main
screens you see when you enter the Front Section of the
instrument.

START_CP

Go to page B2-3 in your NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives and read about the START_CP screen, which is
the first screen in the instrument’s Front Section that appears
when you enter the NCVS instrument from Case Management.
The reading ends on page B2-4.
At this screen you select whether to proceed to interview the case
by telephone or personal visit, classify the case as a Type A, B, or
C noninterview, transmit the case, or get out of the case before

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The NCVS Front Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

attempting to conduct an interview.
SHOW_CP_ROSTER

After indicating at START_CP that you are ready to proceed to
interview the sample case, when conducting interviews with
continuing households (households that have been in sample
previously) the instrument takes you to SHOW_CP_ROSTER.
This screen displays the name and other information regarding the
composition of the household, as shown below. Once you have
reviewed this screen, enter 1 to proceed to the next screen.

Introductory Screen

The instrument goes to an introduction screen where you
introduce yourself and the survey to the respondent. When talking
to the household respondent, you inquire about whether or not the
respondent received the NCVS introductory letter, at the
GETLETTER screen.
Before the interview, the National Processing Center (NPC), sends
an advance letter to the household to say that you will be
contacting the household for an interview. For personal visit
interviews, if the respondent does not recall receiving the letter,
you must hand the respondent a copy of the introductory letter.
Allow the respondent time to read the letter.

VERADD_CP

The next question you ask the household respondent is if the
address listed on the screen for the household is the household’s
exact address. The question reads:
I have your address listed as ...
Is that your exact address?
If the respondent says: "This is 3423 Randolph Place," and the
address reads, “3423 Randolph Street,” first make sure that you
are at the correct address before indicating in VERADD_CP that
an “incorrect address was previously recorded.”
From the VERADD_CP screen the instrument proceeds to
CHGPH_CP, which asks if you need to change the household’s
current telephone number. Sometimes you may know that the
current telephone number recorded for the household needs to be
changed to another number. For example, when verifying the
household’s address the respondent may tell you to start calling at
a different telephone number than previously recorded.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Front Section

If you need to change the telephone number, the instrument takes
you to screen NEWPH_CP to enter the new telephone number.

NEWADDNO_CP

If you discover that you reached the correct sample address but
the address needs additions or corrections, you can edit the
address at one of the NEWADDNO_CP screens as shown on the
next page. Go to page B2-55 in your NCVS-550 Interviewing
Manual for Field Representatives and read about the address
information you can update or correct when you are at this screen.
[ ]
If you discover that an assigned housing unit is actually a Group
Quarters (GQ) unit and the “New Group Quarters” description is
incorrect or needs to be completed, enter the description before
pressing Enter. A GQ unit is a type of living quarters where the

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The NCVS Front Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

residents share common facilities, such as a college dormitory, or
where residents receive authorized care or custody. Detailed
procedures for working with GQs and explanations of the types of
GQs are covered in the LiMA – Listing and Coverage training you
reviewed in the self study generic training package.
You can either press the TAB key or the ENTER key to move
through the items and enter the correct information for those items
that need to be updated. To exit this screen you need to proceed to
the “New Group Quarters” field and then press Enter.
ADRCHECK_CP

The address check screen prompts you to select a reason or
multiple reasons as to why the address information provided by
the respondent did not match the displayed address for the
household.
Go to page B2-56 of the NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives and read the description of the reasons you can
select.
[ ]

MAILINGSAME_CP

At MAILINGSAME_CP you ask the respondent if the mailing
address is the same as the household’s physical address. If the
address is not the same because the household’s mail is sent to a
different address, the instrument goes to the
VERIFYMAILING_CP screen.

VERIFYMAILING_CP

At VERIFYMAILING_CP you re-verify the mailing address. If the
respondent indicates that the mailing address is correct, the
instrument goes to the Middle Section of the NCVS instrument. If
the mailing address is incorrect, the instrument goes to the
NEWMAIL_CP screen.

NEWMAIL_CP

NEWMAIL_CP allows you to modify the mailing address
information for the household. It includes all of the same address
fields for the sample address except the physical location
description, such as “red house on corner,” which is not part of the
mailing address.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Front Section

Lesson 11 - Review Exercise
1. The Front Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to: (Mark all that apply)
Provide information about the case for you to review before attempting contact
with the sample household.
Screen for crime incidents.
Guide you through screens for making contact with a household respondent or an
individual respondent.
Collect detailed information about the incident reported.
Update sample address, mailing address, and telephone number information for
the household with the household respondent.

2. Which function key do you press in Case Management to start the interview process with the
household?
F1
F2
F7
F10

3. The first screen in the survey instrument’s Front Section that appears when you enter the
NCVS instrument from Case Management is:
SHOW_CP_ROSTER
VERADD_CP
START_CP
HHROSTER

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The NCVS Front Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

4. A
is a type of living quarters where the residents share common facilities or
where residents receive authorized care or custody.

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Front Section

Lesson 11 - Answer Key
1. The Front Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to: (Mark all that apply)
X

Provide information about the case for you to review before attempting contact
with the sample household.

Screen for crime incidents.

X

Guide you through screens for making contact with a household respondent or an
individual respondent.

Collect detailed information about the incident reported.

X

Update sample address, mailing address, and telephone number information for
the household with the household respondent.

(Page 11-1)
2. Which function key do you press in Case Management to start the interview process with the
household?
F1

X

F2

F7

F10
(Page 11-1)

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The NCVS Front Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

3. The first screen in the survey instrument’s Front Section that appears when you enter the
NCVS instrument from Case Management is:
SHOW_CP_ROSTER
VERADD_CP
X

START_CP
HHROSTER

(Page 11-1)
4. A Group Quarters is a type of living quarters where the residents share common facilities or
where residents receive authorized care or custody.
(Page 11-3)

Continue with Lesson 12.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Household Questions

Lesson 12. NCVS Middle Section
Basic Household Questions
Objective

The objectives of this lesson are to:
Explain the design and components of the Middle Section of the
NCVS CAPI instrument.
Provide an overview of the items that make up the first part of the
Middle Section of the survey instrument: questions about the
characteristics of the sample unit and its members.

NCVS Middle Section

The Middle Section of the NCVS instrument is made up of four
main parts or sets of questions. These include:
Questions about the characteristics of the sample unit and its
members.
Screening questions designed to identify all crime incidents which
occurred during the respondent’s 6-month reference period.
Incident questions designed to collect detailed information about
each crime incident reported by a sample household member.
Other survey questions:
Socio-demographic questions about disability, citizenship, sexual
orientation, gender identity, veteran status, employment, and
household income.
Questions about use of telephone and contact information.
Questions about language requirements.

Basic Household
Questions

The purpose of this first set of questions is to collect or update
information about the characteristics of the household and its
members. These questions are asked initially during the first
interview and may be verified or updated in subsequent
interviews. This part of the instrument contains questions about:
• the sample unit’s tenure,
• each person’s relationship,

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Basic Household Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

• building characteristics and basic household information
(names of all persons living in the household),
• household membership,
• birthday,
• age,
• marital status,
• sex,
• armed force status,
• education,
• ethnicity, and
• race.
The Basic Household Questions can be divided into two parts:
• Questions designed for the collection of household
characteristics and
• Questions designed for the collection/updating of person
level characteristics of the household roster.
Household Characteristics Questions about the characteristics of the sample unit include the
following:
TENURE

Go to page B2-60 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and look at the question screen shot at the
top of the page.
[ ]
Item TENURE determines if the sample unit is owned or being
bought, rented for cash, or occupied without payment of cash
rent. You ask TENURE for each sample unit in the first, third,
fifth, and seventh interview (enumeration) periods. This question
is used to determine if people who own their own home are
more or less victimized than people who rent. The reason for

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Household Questions

asking this question four different times is that the tenure status
could change.
STUDENTHOUSING

Go to page B2-62 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and look at the screen shot for the
STUDENTHOUSING question.
[ ]
This question determines if the sample unit is being used as
student housing by a college or university. You ask or verify this
question each enumeration period. The reason for asking or
verifying this question each time is that the status of the housing
unit could change between enumeration periods.

PUBLICHOUSING

The public housing question is asked during the odd numbered
enumerations. This question determines if the sample unit is
owned by a public housing authority, and is asked only if the
sample unit is “Rented for cash” or “Occupied without payment
of cash rent.”
To be considered public housing the unit must be in a federally
funded project. A unit located in a building that is funded by a
state or local government or part of a federal assisted program,
such as VA (veteran), FHA (Federal Housing Authority), voucher,
or certificate assisted housing is NOT considered public housing
for the NCVS.

PUBLICHOUSINGMGR
VERIFY

If you determine that the sample unit is in a building that is
owned by a public housing authority, you must:
Locate the building manager and
Verify that this is correct and that the building is indeed owned
by a public housing authority.
This verification should be done during the first enumeration
period for incoming cases and in the third, fifth, and seventh
interview periods for continuing cases (or replacement
households).

INDIANRESERVATIONHU

This item asks if the sample unit is located on an American
Indian Reservation or American Indian Lands. On page B2-65 of

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Basic Household Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

your interviewing manual, read what is meant by an American
Indian Reservation and American Indian Lands. The reading
ends in the middle of page B2-66.
This screen only appears for you to ask during the sample unit’s
initial interview.
FARMSALES

FARMSALES is asked only during the first enumeration period
interview. This question asks if sales of crops, livestock, and
other farm products from the sample unit (or land on the sample
unit’s property) during the past 12 months were $1,000 or more,
or less than $1,000. This item will be covered in more detail
during classroom training.

ACCESS

Complete ACCESS by observation during your initial visit to the
sample housing unit. This item is designed to indicate whether
or not a sample household has direct access to their living
quarters.
A living quarters has direct access when an occupant can either:
Enter his/her living quarters directly from the outside of the
structure, or
Enter his/her living quarters from a common hall or lobby that is
used by occupants of more than one unit.
If the only entrance to an occupant’s living quarters is through a
room or hall of another household’s living quarters, then the
living quarters does not have direct access. Therefore, the unit is
not a separate housing unit and should be considered part of the
housing unit through which access to it is gained.

TYPEOFHOUSINGUNIT

A housing unit (HU) is a group of rooms or a single room
occupied as separate living quarters or intended for occupancy
as separate living quarters. A housing unit may be occupied by a
family or one person, as well as by two or more unrelated people
who share the living quarters. For this item you will select a
category that best describes the housing unit from one of the
following types:
 House, apartment, flat

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Household Questions

 HU in nontransient hotel, motel, etc.
 HU permanent in transient hotel, motel, etc.
 HU in rooming house
 Mobile home or trailer with no permanent room added
 Mobile home or trailer with one or more permanent rooms
attached
 HU not specified above
 Quarters not HU in rooming or boarding house
 Unit not permanent in transient hotel, motel, etc.
 Unoccupied site for mobile home, trailer, or tent
 Student quarters in college dormitory
 Other unit not specified above
NUMBEROFUNITS

During your initial or first interview with a household, you need to
determine how many housing units are in the structure. A
structure is a separate building that either:
Has open space on all sides (no other building attached to it) or
Is separated from other structures by dividing walls that extend
from ground to roof.
You can either ask the respondent this question if you have any
doubt about the number of units in the structure or you can
complete this item by observation.

DIRECTENTRANCETOUNIT

This question determines if there is some means of entering the
sample unit directly from the outside, such as a door, patio
doors, or windows, etc., on the ground level, or from outside
stairs that lead directly to an outside entrance for the sample
unit.

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Basic Household Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

GATEWALLEDCOMMUNITY This question determines if access to the household’s
community requires some kind of special entry procedure and
the community is surrounded by walls, fences, or other barriers
to restrict entrance to the community’s homes by non-residents
of the community. Some resort and retirement communities are
good examples of gated or walled communities.
RESTRICTEDACCESS

This question determines if the household’s unit is in a building
that has restricted access that requires some type of special
entry system, such as an intercom system where the occupants
can identify and buzz in visitors or a security guard who monitors
access into the building.

Person Level
Characteristics

After collecting basic information about the sample unit, you go
through a series of questions that builds or updates the
household roster or composition. You collect or update
information on the names of all persons living in the household
and their •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

sex,
relationship to the reference person,
household membership status,
birthday and age,
marital status
armed forces status,
education,
ethnicity, and
race.

You also select (or change, if necessary) the household’s
reference person. The reference person is one of the persons
who owns or rents the sample unit AND who is normally 18
years of age or older. The reference person for the household
can be the household respondent, but he/she does not have to
be the household respondent.
This lesson does not go over each of the personal characteristic
items, as these items are addressed in the practice exercise as
well as during classroom training when you complete the
practice interview exercises.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Household Roster

Basic Household Questions

When building the household roster, list the names of:
• All persons living or staying at the sample unit at the time
of your visit or telephone call, and
• Any persons who usually live there but are temporarily
absent.
Go to pages B2-80 and B2-81 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing
Manual for Field Representatives and read about who else to
list.
[ ]
The preferred order for entering names when building the
household roster is shown below. The order is by relationship to
the reference person and is as follows:
• Reference person
• Husband or wife of reference person
• Unmarried children of the reference person or his/her
spouse, starting with the oldest and ending with the
youngest.
• Married sons and/or daughters of the reference person or
his/her spouse followed by the married child’s spouse, and
each of their children (oldest to youngest)
• Other persons related to the reference person or his/her
spouse.
• Lodgers and other nonrelatives staying at the sample
address.
As you build the household roster, each person is assigned a
unique line number. These numbers correspond to the order in
which you list the occupants of a sample unit. The first person
listed on the roster is always the reference person when first
building a roster and therefore has a line number of one. In
subsequent interviews, the reference person may not be the first
person listed on the roster due to household roster changes.
These numbers are important since you use line numbers,
rather than names, to refer to any household member when
entering text in the screening questions about what happened

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Basic Household Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

and in the incident summary. You refer to the first person as L1,
the second person listed as L2, and so on. Since the survey
sponsor periodically requests to review the entries in the
screening items and summary reports, we want to ensure that
no identifying information about the respondent or the household
are entered, such as names, address, telephone numbers. The
only time it is acceptable to include information such as names,
phone numbers, address location directions, etc., is in the Case
Level Notes, particularly for difficult, potential, and actual
noninterview cases. The lack of such information can impact
subsequent interviews and can also prevent your supervisor
from effectively working on following up with household refusals.
RELATIONSHIP

In RELATIONSHIP, collect the precise relationship of all
members of the household to the reference person, such as
husband, wife, son, daughter, and so on.

HHMEMBER

After determining the person's relationship to the reference
person, identify whether or not each person is a member of the
household by asking, "Does (person's name) usually live
here?"

HHMEMURE

If you discover in HHMEMBER that a person does not usually
live at the sample unit, the instrument goes to HHMEMURE to
find out whether the person has a usual place of residence
elsewhere by asking,
"Does (person's name) have a usual place of residence
elsewhere?"
If a person usually lives and sleeps at the sample address and
does not have a usual residence elsewhere, he or she is a
household member.
"Usual residents" include such persons as lodgers and
servants who usually live at the sample address. Also included
are persons who usually live at the address, but are temporarily
away for some reason. However, do not consider students living
away at school as "usual residents."
Now take out your NCVS-554, Information Card Booklet, and
open it to Page 5. Look over this summary table designed to
help you determine household membership.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

HHLDCOVERAGE

Basic Household Questions

This question: “Have I missed anyone else living or staying
(HERE/THERE) such as any babies, any lodgers, or anyone
who is away at present traveling or in the hospital?” is
asked each time the household is interviewed to ensure that we
do not omit persons who may have moved into the household
since the previous interview. Many household respondents
forget to mention babies, lodgers, and visitors when asked about
persons staying at their home.
Once you determine that the listing of persons in the household
roster is complete, you will select a household respondent. This
is the household member at the sample address who is
answering the questions about the household for the current
enumeration period and is one of the household members who
is most knowledgeable about household matters. In most cases,
this person must be at least 18 years of age.

SP_ORIGIN

This question: “Are you Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino?” is
asked of each household member to determine if the person is
Spanish, Hispanic or Latino. Go to Page B2-119 of your NCVS
550 Interviewing Manual for Field Representatives and scan the
list of groups, in the middle of the page, which distinguishes a
person as being Spanish, Hispanic or Latino.
[ ]
Now open your NCVS-554 Information Card Booklet to Page 8
and look at the Hispanic Origin flash card. During a personal visit
interview, show this flash card to the respondent as you ask this
item. For Spanish-speaking respondents show the Hispanic
Origin flash card on Page 9. During telephone interviews you
must read the categories to the household respondent. [ ]
SP_ORIGIN is asked of each household member during the
initial visit and when a new person is added to the household
during subsequent interviews.

RACE

This question is asked of the household respondent to choose
one or more races that each household member considers
himself/herself to be. It is asked separately for each household
member and allows up to five different races to be reported for
each household member. You also ask this race question during
subsequent enumeration periods when a new person is added to
the household.

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During a personal visit interview, show the respondent the Race
flash card on Page 10 in your NCVS-554 Information Card
Booklet. For Spanish-speaking respondents show this the Race
flash card on Page 11. During telephone interviews you must
read the categories to the household respondent.
Take a moment now to look over this flash card.

[ ]

The Office of Management of Budget requires that the collection
of data on race be based on self-identification. Therefore, you
MUST ask this question for each household member even when
the race of the respondent may seem obvious. If a respondent
refuses to answer the race question, do NOT fill it by observation.
ROSTERREVIEW

Review Exercise

When you have completed the demographic questions in the
NCVS instrument for all household members, the
ROSTERREVIEW screen appears. At this screen, you can make
changes to some of the demographic information you entered,
such as the respondent’s name, relationship, or sex. You will
have the opportunity to make changes to the household roster
later in training.
Complete the review exercise for this lesson that starts on the
following page. Compare your answers to the answer key, which
follows the review exercise, and continue with Lesson 13.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Household Questions

Lesson 12 - Review Exercise
1.

The tenure question determines if the sample unit is owned or being bought, rented for
cash, or occupied without payment of cash rent.
TRUE

2.

FALSE

To be considered public housing for the NCVS, a unit can be located in a building that is
funded by the Federal government, a state or local government, or part of a federal
assisted program.
TRUE

FALSE

3.

The
AND who is normally

4.

When building the household roster, the household respondent is always the first person
listed.
TRUE

5.

is one of the persons who owns or rents the sample unit
years of age or older.

FALSE

You discover that a sample unit’s garage was converted into an apartment. The only
entrance to the apartment is through the kitchen of the sample unit. (Mark the correct
answer.)
The apartment has direct access and is considered a separate housing unit from
the sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment does not have direct access but is considered a separate housing
unit from the sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment has direct access but is not a separate housing unit from the
sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment does not have direct access and is not a separate housing unit
from the sample unit through which access to it is gained.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

6.

The household roster should include all persons living or staying at the sample address
at the time of the interview, including visitors and other persons who are not household
members, but are in the sample unit and have stayed at the sample address at least
_______________
before the interview.

7.

As you build the household roster, each person is assigned a unique line number. These
numbers correspond to the order in which you list the occupants of a sample unit.
TRUE

FALSE

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Basic Household Questions

Lesson 12 - Answer Key
1.

The tenure question determines if the sample unit is owned or being bought, rented for
cash, or occupied without payment of cash rent.
TRUE
(Page 12-2)

2.

To be considered public housing for the NCVS, a unit can be located in a building that is
funded by the Federal government, a state or local government, or part of a federal
assisted program.
FALSE
(Page 12-3)

3.

The reference person is one of the persons who owns or rents the sample unit AND
who is normally 18 years of age or older.
(Page 12-6)

4.

When building the household roster, the household respondent is always the first person
listed.
FALSE
(Page 12-6–12-7)

5.

You discover that a sample unit’s garage was converted into an apartment. The only
entrance to the apartment is through the kitchen of the sample unit. (Mark the correct
answer.)
The apartment has direct access and is considered a separate housing unit from
the sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment does not have direct access but is considered a separate housing
unit from the sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment has direct access but is not a separate housing unit from the
sample unit through which access to it is gained.
The apartment does not have direct access and is not a separate housing unit
from the sample unit through which access to it is gained.
(Page 12-4)
X

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Basic Household Questions

6.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The household roster should include all persons living or staying at the sample address
at the time of the interview, including visitors and other persons who are not household
members, but are in the sample unit and have stayed at the sample address at least one
night before the interview.
(NCVS-550, page B2-80)

7.

As you build the household roster, each person is assigned a unique line number. These
numbers correspond to the order in which you list the occupants of a sample unit.
TRUE
(Page 12-7)
Continue with Lesson 13

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NCVS Screen Questions

Lesson 13. The NCVS Middle Section
NCVS Screen Questions
Objective

The objectives of this lesson are to:
Explain the design of the second component of the Middle
Section of the NCVS CAPI instrument.
Provide an overview of the items that make up this section of the
instrument.

NCVS Screen Questions

The second component of the Middle Section of the NCVS
instrument is comprised of screening questions. These questions
are referred to as the screening items of the NCVS instrument.
These questions can be subdivided into three parts:
Mobility Questions
Business Operated from Sample Address Questions
Crime Screen Questions.
Discussion of the individual questions within each set will be
covered in detail during the classroom training.

Mobility Question:
TIMEATADDRESS

TIMEATADDRESS is the first question in the screening section of
the NCVS instrument and is used to determine the length of
continuous time the respondent has lived at the sample address.

Business at Sample
Address: BUSINESS

You ask the BUSINESS question only of the household
respondent to determine if a sample household member operates
a business from the sample address. If a business is operated
from the sample address you will next need to determine if the
business is a recognizable or unrecognizable business. Knowing
this distinction is important for the following reasons:
We keep crime incidents that involve property stolen from an
unrecognizable business, but
We do NOT keep crime incidents that ONLY involve property
stolen from a recognizable business.

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Go to Topic 2 in Part B, Chapter 3 of your NCVS-550 Interviewing
Manual for Field Representatives and read about recognizable
and unrecognizable businesses on pages B3-7 and B3-8. [ ]

Crime Screen Questions

These screen questions cover a wide variety of situations. They
are designed to stimulate respondent recall of incidents by
providing concrete examples of the kinds of crimes typically
reported for the NCVS that could be overlooked by respondents.
These screen questions ensure that we collect ALL incidents of
crimes in a sample household that occurred during each
respondent’s 6-month reference period.
All eligible NCVS respondents are asked questions about crime
incidents for which they may have been a victim. However, the
household respondent is asked a few additional screen questions
about crimes against the household, as well as personal and
property crimes committed against the household respondent.
The additional questions cover:
Things stolen from outside the house, such as lawn furniture or a
garden hose.
Things stolen from a household member under 12 years of age,
such as a bicycle stolen from the home’s driveway.
Break-ins, attempted break-ins, or illegal entries at the sample
address or at a hotel, motel, or vacation home where the
respondent was staying.
The total number of motor vehicles owned by the entire
household during the six months prior to the interview.
Thefts or attempted thefts of motor vehicles owned by the
household including gasoline and motor vehicle parts.
If in the screen questions a respondent reports an incident that
involves an attack or a threat of attack, or a theft or attempted
theft, you collect details about the incident later in the Crime
Incident Report section of the instrument.
Go to Page B3-9 in your NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives on the laptop now and read about the crime
screen questions. The reading ends on Page B3-29.
[ ]

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Review Exercise

NCVS Screen Questions

Complete the review exercise for this lesson that starts on the
following page. Compare your answers to the answer key which
follows the review exercise and continue with Lesson 14.

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Lesson 13 - Review Exercise
1.

The Crime Screen Questions asked of the household respondent include additional
questions about the household such as attempted break-ins or illegal entries.
TRUE

2.

FALSE

A business operated from a sample unit by a household member is considered
recognizable if: (Mark all that apply.)
There is a business sign visible from outside the sample unit.
The business is advertised in a newspaper, magazine, telephone book, or on
the Internet.
A business sign must be located on the sample household’s property.
There is a vehicle parked in the housing unit’s driveway or in front of the sample
unit that carries the business logo on it.

3.

Crime incidents involving property stolen from a/an
NCVS.
TRUE

4.

business are kept for the

FALSE

The two parts of the screener question are referred to as the “question stem” and the
“screener cues.”
TRUE

FALSE

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

NCVS Screen Questions

Lesson 13 - Answer Key
1.

The Crime Screen Questions asked of the household respondent include additional
questions about the household such as attempted break-ins or illegal entries.
TRUE
(Page 13-2)

2.

A business operated from a sample unit by a household member is considered
recognizable if: (Mark all that apply.)
X

There is a business sign visible from outside the sample unit.
The business is advertised in a newspaper, magazine, telephone book, or on the
Internet.

X

A business sign must be located on the sample household’s property.
There is a vehicle parked in the housing unit’s driveway or in front of the sample
unit that carries the business logo on it.

(NCVS-550, Pages B3-7 and B3-8)
3.

Crime incidents involving property stolen from a/an unrecognizable business are kept
for the NCVS.
TRUE
(Page 13-1)

4.

The two parts of the screener question are referred to as the “question stem” and the
“screener cues.”
TRUE
(NCVS-550, Page B3-9)

Continue with Lesson 14.

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NOTES

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Crime Incident Report

Lesson 14. The NCVS Middle Section
Crime Incident Report
Objective

The objectives of this lesson are to:
• Explain the design of the third component of the Middle Section
of the NCVS CAPI instrument.
• Provide an overview of the items that make up this section of
the instrument.

Crime Incident Report
Questions

This third component of the NCVS instrument is designed to
collect detailed information about each crime incident reported by
each sample household member. It is important to record accurate
and complete information about each reported crime incident to
give a clear picture of what happened during the incident.
In most cases, you complete a separate set of crime incident
report questions for each crime incident that a household member
reports during his/her 6-month reference period. The only
exception is a series of crimes which we will discuss in your
classroom training.

Kinds of Information
Collected

When you complete the Crime Incident Report section of the
NCVS instrument, you ask the respondent about:
• When the crime incident took place;
• Where the crime incident occurred;
• Whether the respondent or other household members were
present when the incident happened;
• How the crime incident was committed;
• What injuries the respondent may have suffered as a result of
the crime incident;
• What actions the respondent took and whether those actions
helped the situation in any way;
• Who committed the crime;

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

• Whether property that was stolen or damaged during the crime
incident will be covered by insurance; and
• Whether the police were informed.
You also ask whether or not the respondent:
• Had a job or business at the time of the incident; and
• Has any reason to suspect that the incident was a hate crime or
crime of prejudice or bigotry; and
Later in this self-study as well as during classroom training, we will
discuss the crime incident report items in detail. For this lesson, we
will highlight just a few of these items.
OFFENDERLIVE

When the respondent tells you that the incident happened in
his/her own home, in a detached building on his/her property, in a
vacation home or second home, or in his/her hotel/motel room,
you must determine whether or not the offender had a legal right to
enter the respondent’s home or lodging by asking:
Did the offender live (here/there) or have a right to be
(here/there), for instance, as a guest or a repair person?
An offender has a legal right to enter a respondent’s home or
lodging when the offender:
 Was living or staying with the respondent at the time of the
incident
OR
 Had the right to be in the home or lodging or had permission at
the time of the incident to be inside the home or lodging, such
as a maid from a cleaning service or a hotel maid, a babysitter,
nurse, salespersons, friend, and so on. However, the offender
must not have entered the sample unit fraudulently by
misrepresenting his/her purpose to enter the dwelling.

RESTRICTEDAREA

When an incident happened in a commercial place, parking lots or
garages, or on school property you determine if the incident
happened in a restricted area by asking:

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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

Did the incident happen in an area restricted to certain people
or was it open to the public at the time?
A “restricted area” is one which only certain people are allowed to
enter without being considered trespassers. An area “open to the
public” at the time of the incident is one in which anyone has a right
to enter the place.
HHMEMBERPRESENT

Understanding whether or not the respondent or any other current
member of the household was “present” during an incident is a
very important part of the Crime Incident Report interview.
For the NCVS, “presence” during an incident is intended to
determine whether any household member at the time of the
interview:
 Was at the immediate scene of the crime during the incident;
and
 Was in a place that was reachable by the offender so that the
offender could have or did attack, threaten to attack, or stolen
something directly from the household member.

ATTACK

Ask ATTACK to determine if the respondent was actually attacked
during the incident. In other words, there was some type of
physical contact between the offender and the respondent.

TRYATTACK

Ask TRYATTACK to determine if the offender tried to attack the
respondent during the incident, but did NOT have any physical
contact with the respondent. If there is any question in your mind
whether or not the offender tried to attack the respondent, go with
the respondent's perception.

THREATEN

Ask the question in Item THREATEN to determine whether the
offender made a face-to-face verbal threat to physically harm
the respondent during the incident. Both the respondent and the
offender must be present and the threat must be voiced by the
offender directly to the respondent.
Do NOT include threats made by:
×

Telephone,

×

Letter,

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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

×

Electronic mail or on the internet,

×

FAX machine, or

×

Threats delivered by someone other than the offender.

INJURY

Ask INJURY to determine if the respondent experienced any
personal injuries during the attack and, if so, to identify what type
of bodily injuries were suffered from the incident. Do not include
mental or emotional suffering as an injury.

POLICEINFORMED

Item POLICEINFORMED is used to determine whether the police
are aware that this incident took place, regardless of how they
found out about it. For the NCVS, consider the police to be all
regular police officers at the city, county, State, or Federal
government level, as well as officers who work for sheriff's
departments. Also include officers working for specialized police
forces who are authorized to make arrests in a special area or
jurisdiction (for example, campus police, park police, transit police,
harbor police, and airport police).
For the NCVS, exclude as police officers any security forces,
building guards, prison guards, fish and game wardens, fire
marshals, and all others who do not have the authority to make
police arrests.

SUMMARY

SUMMARY is designed for you to summarize all of the pertinent
facts surrounding a reported crime incident. Each summary report
must be written so that anyone reading it can get a clear,
well-defined picture of how the respondent was victimized. This
field allows a maximum of 300 characters.
Include in the summary report any details that you feel are not
evident from the answers in the incident report items. This is very
important because, before sending a case for processing, editors
often need more specific details than they can get from other
entries for the incident report items. When this happens, they must
rely on what is written in your summary report.
As you write your summary report, be careful not to use misleading
words or phrases that may raise more questions about the
incident, instead of clarifying what really happened. Also, when
writing the summary it is very important that you refer to

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Crime Incident Report

respondents by their line number, such as L1, L2, L3 and so forth
and not by their name. Since the survey sponsor periodically
requests to review the summary reports, we want to ensure that no
identifying information about the respondent or the household ,
such as names, address, telephone numbers, are entered in the
summary.
Other Incident Questions

Probing

We will cover some of the other incident report items in detail
during the classroom training.
As you ask the detailed crime incident questions, there may be
times when you need to probe for more information. At other
times, you only need to verify answers.
You may encounter situations when the respondent gives an
answer that does not quite fit the question. Probing is a technique
in which you casually get the respondent to provide an answer
that meets the question’s objective. At these times, you must ask
one or more probing questions. Whenever the respondent's
answer is not relevant to the question or the answer is unclear or
incomplete, probe to get the required information.
Sometimes probes are displayed for you to ask the respondent
when probing is necessary. These are called structured probes.
For example, for item FARFROMHOME, the question text
incorporates a structured probe.
How far away from home did this happen?
Probe: Was it within a mile, 5 miles, 50 miles or more?
This probe asks a more specific question than the original, more
general, question. It is worded so that we can get a more accurate
answer from the respondent.
For item WHATHAPPEN, the following probe appears only if the
respondent states he/she experienced unwanted sexual contact
with force.
You mentioned some type of unwanted sexual contact with
force. Do you mean forced or coerced sexual intercourse
including attempts?

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This probe is necessary in order to determine if the unwanted
sexual contact actually is an incident of rape.
Ways to Probe

If a probe is not displayed for a particular question, there are
many ways to probe, including:
• Repeating the question;
• Pausing to give the respondent time to think;
• Asking for more information to find out what the respondent
means;
• Stressing the generality of the question by asking for an
estimate;
• Zeroing in (In the example you just read, "How far away from
home did this happen?", you would probe by asking, "Was it
within a mile, 5 miles, 50 miles or more?").

Probes Must Not Suggest
Responses

As an FR, you may often think that you know what respondents
mean, how they feel, and what their real opinion is, even though
they have not expressed these feelings.
Do not assume and suggest an answer when you are probing.
Avoid any comments that may lead a respondent to an answer.
Probes must always be NEUTRAL.

Do Not Over Probe

Since probes, by nature, tend to press or challenge a respondent,
limit your use of probes so that they do not have an adverse effect
on the interview. Unless indicated in the questionnaire, only use
probes when necessary to clarify a response.
Once the respondent has answered your question, do not
continue to probe. You can avoid over-probing by knowing the
question’s objective. If you understand the main purpose for
asking the question, then you will know when the respondent has
answered it appropriately.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise for this lesson that starts on the
following page. Compare your answers to the answer key which
follows the review exercise, then continue with Lesson 15.

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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

Lesson 14 - Review Exercise
1.

In most cases, you complete a separate set of crime incident report questions for each crime
incident that a household member reports during his/her 12-month reference period.
TRUE

2.

Collecting details about a reported crime incident is important so that we have a clear picture
of what happened during the incident.
TRUE

3.

FALSE

FALSE

An offender has the right to be in the respondent’s home if: (Mark all that apply)
He was living or staying with the respondent when the incident happened.
Pushed his way into the dwelling when the respondent answered the door.
Was let into the dwelling by a child even though the parents would not have
allowed access to the offender.
Had permission to enter the respondent’s home because he was a repairman who
was called to fix the kitchen sink.
Had permission to enter the respondent’s home even though he fraudulently
misrepresented himself as a repair person.

4.

To be considered present during an incident, the household member must be at the
of the crime during the incident and was in a place that was reachable
by the offender so that the offender could have or did attack, threaten to attack, or stolen
something directly from the household member.

5.

An area that is
is one which only certain people are allowed to enter without
being considered trespassers.

6.

Probing is a technique in which you casually get the respondent to provide an answer that
meets the question’s objective.
TRUE

FALSE
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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

7.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Threats by an offender to physically harm the respondent includes face-to-face verbal
threats as well as those made over the telephone.
TRUE

FALSE

8.

The
screen is designed for you to summarize all of the pertinent facts
surrounding a reported crime incident.

9.

How do you complete the POLICEINFORMED question, which asks “Were the police
informed or did they find out about this incident in any way?” if the respondent states that
she reported the theft of her purse to the building’s security guard?
Yes (Police informed)
No (Police not informed)
Don’t know

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

Lesson 14 - Answer Key
1.

In most cases, you complete a separate set of crime incident report questions for each crime
incident that a household member reports during his/her 12-month reference period.
FALSE
(Page 14-1)

2.

Collecting details about a reported crime incident is important so that we have a clear picture
of what happened during the incident.
TRUE
(Page 14-1)

3.

An offender has the right to be in the respondent’s home if: (Mark all that apply)
X

He was living or staying with the respondent when the incident happened.
Pushed his way into the dwelling when the respondent answered the door.
Was let into the dwelling by a child even though the parents would not have
allowed access to the offender.

X

Had permission to enter the respondent’s home because he was a repairman who
was called to fix the kitchen sink.

Had permission to enter the respondent’s home even though he fraudulently
misrepresented himself as a repair person.
(Pages 14-2, 14-3)
4.

To be considered present during an incident, the household member must be at the
immediate scene of the crime during the incident and was in a place that was reachable by
the offender so that the offender could have or did attack, threaten to attack, or stolen
something directly from the household member.
(Page 14-3)

5.

An area that is restricted is one which only certain people are allowed to enter without being
considered trespassers.
(Page 14-3)

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The NCVS Crime Incident Report

6.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Probing is a technique in which you casually get the respondent to provide an answer that
meets the question’s objective.
TRUE
(Page 14-5)

7.

Threats by an offender to physically harm the respondent includes face-to-face verbal
threats as well as those made over the telephone or internet.
FALSE
(Page 14-3)

8.

The SUMMARY screen is designed for you to summarize all of the pertinent facts
surrounding a reported crime incident.
(Page 14-4)

9.

How do you complete the POLICEINFORMED question, which asks “Were the police
informed or did they find out about this incident in any way?” if the respondent states that
she reported the theft of her purse to the building’s security guard?
Yes (Police informed)
X _ No (Police not informed)
Don’t know
(Page 14-4)
Continue with Lesson 15.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Other NCVS Questions

Lesson 15. The NCVS Middle Section
Other Survey Questions
Objective

The objectives of this lesson are to:
• Explain the design of the fourth component of the Middle
Section of the NCVS CAPI instrument.
• Provide an overview of the items that make up this section of
the instrument.

Additional NCVS
Questions

The fourth component of the Middle Section of the NCVS
instrument is made up of questions about:
1. Disability
2. Citizenship
3. Sexual Orientation
4. Gender Identity
5. Veteran Status
6. Employment
7. Total Household Income
8. Use of Telephone and Contact Information
9. Language requirements

Disability Questions

The disability questions are asked of each respondent 12 years
of age or older except LEAVING_HOME which is asked of those
15 years of age or older. They are asked at the first, third, fifth
and seventh enumeration periods or if never asked before.
Research has shown that people with disabilities may be more
vulnerable to crime victimization. This series of questions asks
about impairments or disabilities the respondent has. The
reason for asking these questions more than once is that the
status of disability could change over time.

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Go to page B3-33 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and review the disability questions. [ ]
Citizenship Question

The citizenship question is asked of each respondent 12 years
of age or older. It is asked at the first interview. If the respondent
reports being a citizen, it is not asked again. If the respondent
does not report being a citizen, it is asked again at the next
enumeration since non-citizen status may change. The reason
for asking this question is to research if citizens have different
rates of crime victimization than non-citizens.
Go to page B3-34 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and review the citizenship question. [ ]

Sexual Orientation
Questions

A sexual orientation question is asked of all persons 16 years of
age or older at the first, third, fifth, and seventh interview or if
never asked before. There are two versions of the question that
differ slightly. What version you ask a respondent depends on
the sex recorded on the household roster for that individual. This
question will not be asked if the interview is being conducted by
a proxy.
The sexual orientation question does not follow the standard
NCVS probing guidelines. Do NOT mark this question by
observation or probing. Answers to this question must be
obtained strictly through self-identification; meaning that
you must ask the question even if you think you know the
answer.
Open your NCVS-554, Information Card Booklet, to Page 12
and look over the sexual orientation flash card. This flash card is
also provided in Spanish on Page 13.
[ ]
During personal visit interviews, show the respondent the flash
card as you ask the question.
Respondents may ask why you are asking them this question.
Refer to the FAQ tab in the instrument and read the answer to
the respondent.
Go to page B3-36 of your NCVS 550 Interviewing Manual for
Field Representatives and carefully review the information on
the sexual orientation questions.
[ ]

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Gender Identity Questions

Other NCVS Questions

The gender identity questions are asked of all persons 16 years
of age or older at the first, third, fifth, and seventh interview or if
never asked before. These questions will not be asked if the
interview is being conducted by a proxy.
The gender identity questions do not follow the standard NCVS
probing guidelines. Like the sexual orientation question, do NOT
mark this question by observation or probing. Answers to
this question must be obtained strictly through selfidentification; meaning that you must ask the question even
if you think you know the answer.
Open your NCVS-554, Information Card Booklet, to Page 14
and look over the gender identity flash card. This flash card is
also provided in Spanish on Page 15.
[ ]
During personal visit interviews, show the respondent the flash
card as you ask the question.
Respondents may ask why you are asking them this question.
Refer to the FAQ tab in the instrument and read the answer to
the respondent.
Go to page B3-40 of your interviewing manual and carefully
review the information on the gender identity questions. [ ]

Veteran Status Questions

The veteran status questions are asked of each respondent 18
years of age or older. After the first interview, it is only asked
again of those 18 to 39 years of age who previously did not
report being in the military as their status may change.
Go to page B3-44 of your interviewing manual and review the
veteran status questions.
[ ]

Employment Questions

The employment questions are asked of each respondent who is
16 years of age or older. These questions are used to determine
if the respondent had a job or worked at a business during the
week prior to the interview. We also determine the type of job
and the type of area in which the person is working. These
questions are asked to identify those jobs which may increase or
decrease a person's likelihood of becoming a crime victim.

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Other NCVS Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Open your NCVS-554, Information Card Booklet, to Page 16
and look over the employment flash card. This flash card is also
provided in Spanish on Page 17.
[ ]
During personal visit interviews, show the respondent the flash
card as you ask the question and ask the respondent to choose
the category which best describes his/her job. During telephone
interviews, read the main employment categories until you get a
"Yes" answer. Then read the subcategories contained within the
main category selected.
Total Household Income

During the first, third, fifth and seventh enumeration periods you
ask the household respondent the household income
(HOUSEHOLDINCOME) question. During the first interview with
a household, show the household respondent the flashcard on
Page 18 of the Information Card Booklet (Page 19 for Spanish)
and allow the respondent time to read the categories, make an
estimate, and respond. For telephone interviews, read each of
the following categories until the respondent identifies the
appropriate income category.
Less than $5,000
$5,000 - $7,499
$7,500 - $9,999
$10,000 - $12,499
$12,500 - $14,999
$15,000 - $17,499
$17,500 - $19,999
$20,000 - $24,999
$25,000 - $29,999
$30,000 - $34,999
$35,000 - $39,999
$40,000 - $49,999
$50,000 - $74,999
$75,000 - $99,999
$100,000 - $149,999
$150,000 - $199,999
$200,00 or more
The purpose of this question is to determine the TOTAL
combined income of all members of the HOUSEHOLD during
the past 12 months. This includes:

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Other NCVS Questions

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Income received from jobs
Net income from business, farm or rent
Pensions
Dividends and interest
Social Security payments
Alimony and child support
Public assistance
Any other money income received by members of the
household who are 14 years of age or older.

We do not need the respondent to identify the actual total
household income just the income range. We are interested in
the household’s combined income during the 12 months
immediately preceding the date of interview, not the last
calendar year unless they happen to coincide.
Use of Telephone and
Contact Information

At the end of your first interview with a sample household, you
ask the household respondent about the presence of a
telephone in the sample unit. Also, ask what the telephone
number is, and whether a telephone interview is acceptable. You
may need to explain to the respondent the reason for asking
these questions. You can tell a household respondent that:
• In order to limit survey costs, future interviews should be
conducted by telephone whenever possible.
• We need the household’s telephone number to:
 Make appointments to call other household members who
are not present during your initial visit to their interview.
 Re-contact respondents to obtain any missing information
that a respondent may be unable to supply during an
interview.
You can also record the best time to call or visit the household
by accessing the Interview Time Preferences screen by pressing
“CTRL” + “T.” Collecting this information ensures that we contact
each household at an acceptable time of day.
You will practice using the Interview Time Preferences during
classroom training.

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Other NCVS Questions

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

After each respondent’s interview, you also have the ability to
collect phone numbers for each individual respondent.
Language Questions

The last questions in the Middle Section of the NCVS instrument
pertain to language needs. These questions ask If the
respondent’s NCVS interview was conducted in a language
other than English, and if so, what language.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise for this lesson that starts on the
following page. Compare your answers to the answer key, which
follows the review exercise, then continue with Lesson 16.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Other NCVS Questions

Lesson 15 - Review Exercise
1.

Answers to the sexual orientation and gender identity questions can be marked by
observation if obvious?
TRUE

2.

FALSE

What resources are available in the instrument to help with questions from respondents
on the sexual orientation and gender identity questions?
_____ Verbatim response to read if asked, “Why are you asking me this question?” in
the FAQ tab.
_____ Definitions of terms used in the question in gray text on the question screen.
_____ Definitions of sexual orientation, gender identity, and terms used in the questions
in the FAQ tab.
_____ all of the above

3.

The employment questions are asked of each respondent who is 12 years of age or
older.
TRUE

4.

FALSE

When asking the household respondent the household income question, only include
income received from jobs.
TRUE

FALSE

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Other NCVS Questions

5.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The TOTAL combined household income includes money income received:
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 12 years of age or older.
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 14 years of age or older.
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 16 years of age or older.
during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 12 years of age or older.
during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 14 years of age or older.
during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 16 years of age or older.

6.

One reason why questions are asked about the presence of a telephone in the sample
unit and whether a telephone interview is acceptable is so you are able to conduct future
interviews with the sample household by telephone in order to save survey costs.
TRUE

FALSE

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Other NCVS Questions

Lesson 15 - Answer Key
1.

Answers to the sexual orientation and gender identity questions can be marked by
observation if obvious?
FALSE
(Page 15-2 and 15-3)

2.

What resources are available in the instrument to help with questions from respondents
on the sexual orientation and gender identity questions?
_____ Verbatim response to read if asked, “Why are you asking me this question?” in
the FAQ tab.
_____ Definitions of terms used in the question in gray text on the question screen.
_____ Definitions of sexual orientation, gender identity, and terms used in the questions
in the FAQ tab.
__X__ all of the above
(NCVS-550, Pages B3-36 and B3-40)

3.

The employment questions are asked of each respondent who is 12 years of age or
older.
FALSE
(Page 15-3)

4.

When asking the household respondent the household income question, only include
income received from jobs.
FALSE
(Pages 15-4 and 15-5)

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Other NCVS Questions

5.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The TOTAL combined household income includes money income received:
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 12 years of age or older.
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 14 years of age or older.
during the 6 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 16 years of age or older.
during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 12 years of age or older.
X _ during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 14 years of age or older.
during the 12 months preceding the interview by all members of the household
who are 16 years of age or older.
(Pages 15-4 and 15-5)

6.

One reason why questions are asked about the presence of a telephone in the sample
unit and whether a telephone interview is acceptable is so you are able to conduct future
interviews with the sample household by telephone in order to save survey costs.
TRUE
(Page 15-5)
Continue with Lesson 16.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Back Section

Lesson 16. The NCVS Back Section
Objective

The objectives of this lesson are to:
• Explain the design of the Back Section of the NCVS CAPI
instrument.
• Provide an overview of the items that make up the back part of
the survey instrument.

Introduction

The Back Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to guide
you through screens for:
• Setting appointments.
• Recording information, such as telephone numbers, best time
to call, and whether there are any language or hearing
problems
• Recording the incomplete status (either Refusal/Callback
/Breakoff) of a respondent's interview.
• Entering case level notes to record appointments for an
individual respondent other than the household respondent.
• Thanking the respondent for completing the interview.
The information you enter in the back of the instrument is fed
back into Case Management and appears in Case Management
after you exit the case. Now let’s review some of the main
screens you see when you enter the Back Section of the
instrument.

REFCBBREAK_CP

When you terminate an interview by pressing the F10 key or
clicking on the F10 tab, the instrument goes to
REFCBBREAK_CP. This item asks you if the interview ended
because of a refusal, a callback is needed to complete the
interview, if a breakoff occurred (for example, if the respondent
hung up the telephone), or there was some other problem you
encountered.

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The NCVS Back Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

If you indicate that you need to call the respondent back to
complete the interview, the instrument goes to APPT during
a household respondent’s interview; to PERSAPPT when
interviewing individual respondents.
APPT

At APPT you set an appointment to conduct or complete the
interview with the household respondent. Ask the respondent for
a date and time that is best to complete the interview.

THANKYOU_CP

At THANKYOU_CP, thank the respondent for his/her
participation in the survey. For all sample cases (except those
that are in sample for the last time), you tell respondents that they
will be contacted again in six months. Read the text displayed at
THANKYOU_CP:
"Six months from now we will be contacting you again.
Thank you for your time. You've been very helpful."
For cases that have completed their final interview, tell
respondents that this is their last interview. Read the text
displayed at THANKYOU_CP:
"This is the last regularly scheduled interview for this
household, for the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Thank you for your participation in this survey."
At THANKYOU_CP you also tell the respondent that a supervisor
may call them to conduct reinterview. You may have to explain to
respondents that reinterview is a quality control measure on
interviewing. In reinterview, a sample of interviewed households
are recontacted shortly after the original interview is completed
and interviewed again. The purpose of the reinterview program is
to deter and detect falsification by survey enumerators or FRs.

Review Exercise

Complete the review exercise on the next page. Compare your
answers to the answer key that follows the review exercise, then
continue with Lesson 17.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

The NCVS Back Section

Lesson 16 - Review Exercise
1.

The Back Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to guide you through screens for:
(Mark all that apply.)
Setting appointments.
Updating sample address, mailing address, and telephone number information
for the household with the household respondent.
Recording information, such as telephone numbers, best time to call, and
whether there are any language or hearing problems.
Making contact with a household respondent or an individual respondent.
Thanking the respondent for his/her participation.
Recording the incomplete status of a household respondent's interview.

2.

When you terminate an interview by pressing the
to _____
.

3.

The information you enter in the back of the instrument is retained within the survey
instrument and not fed back into Case Management.
TRUE

4.

The purpose of the
representatives.

key, the instrument proceeds

FALSE

program is to

and

_ falsification by field

Compare your answers to the answer key on the next page(s).

16-3

The NCVS Back Section

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Lesson 16 - Answer Key
1.

The Back Section of the NCVS instrument is designed to guide you through screens for:
(Mark all that apply.)
X

Setting appointments.
Updating sample address, mailing address, and telephone number information
for the household with the household respondent.

X

Recording information, such as telephone numbers, best time to call, and
whether there are any language or hearing problems.
Making contact with a household respondent or an individual respondent.

X

Thanking the respondent for his/her participation.

X Recording the incomplete status of a household respondent's interview.
(Page 16-1)
2.

When you terminate an interview by pressing the F10 key, the instrument proceeds to
REFCBBREAK_CP.
(Page 16-1)

3.

The information you enter in the back of the instrument is retained within the survey
instrument and not fed back into Case Management.
FALSE
(Page 16-1)

4.

The purpose of the reinterview program is to deter and detect falsification by field
representatives.
(Page 16-2)
Continue with Lesson 18.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

Lesson 17. Practice Interview
Objective

During this lesson, you will have the opportunity to familiarize
yourself with the NCVS CAPI instrument by going through a
practice interview. Since this is your first attempt at completing an
NCVS CAPI interview, this interview will be much simpler than
most of your actual interviews will be. The purpose of this selfstudy interview is to make you more familiar with the instrument.
Concentrate on mastering navigation of the NCVS instrument
and understanding the NCVS questions during your classroom
training session.

Caution

To keep things simple, go straight through the scripted interview.
DO NOT attempt to jump around to different sections or to enter
“Don’t Know” and “Refused” answers unless instructed in the
interview. If you follow the instructions throughout this lesson, you
should not have any problems.
If you are in the middle of an interview and get off track by
entering the wrong answer for a question, press the left or up
arrow key in the lower right corner of your keyboard. This step
will take you to the previous question so you can change the
answer. If you enter an invalid response by mistake you may get
a pop-up screen telling you that the value entered is invalid. Click
the “OK” button or press the Esc (Escape) key to return to the
question, then enter the correct answer.

What do I do when
I have questions?

Write down any questions or comments you have while
completing this interview on the pages at the end of this lesson
and mention them during classroom training. Remember to write
down the screen name if your question or comment pertains to a
particular screen.

Follow the Instructions

Complete this practice interview in its entirety. The script includes
the survey questions, statements, etc., that you, as the FR, will
read as well as the respondent’s answers. Throughout this
interview, you will see "FR" used to indicate what you, the field
representative, should say or do, and an "R" is used to indicate
what the respondent’s answers are. Below each FR and R
exchange, the information to enter is in bold and parentheses. In
order for a response to be recorded, you must press the ENTER
key. All instructions to you are written in bold.
17-1

Practice Interview

Access Training Case
Management

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Your practice interview is in Mobile Case Management Training. To
access your cases:
• Click on the MCM Training Icon
• Click on the top right Training/ Manuals Tab (purple)
• Click on LCM Training
• Use the up or down arrow key on your keyboard to highlight
“NCVS” on the “Survey List” that is displayed in the “Survey
Selection Dialog box.”
• Click the OK button or press Enter.
• When the Training Case Management main screen appears,
make sure that “NCVS Classroom” training is highlighted using
the up or down arrow key.
Your NCVS training cases should already be installed. You can tell
whether your cases have been installed by looking at the “Need to
Install” column on this screen. If your cases are already installed
you will see an N in the “Need to Install” column. Otherwise, a Y
appears in that column.
If you need to install your cases, press the F5 function key and wait
for the message that indicates that the installation of the training
cases was successful. Once the message appears, press Enter
to proceed.
***If you have trouble installing the training cases,
notify your supervisor. It’s important to complete the
practice exercise in this lesson before you go to
classroom training.***
• Press F8 to enter Training Case Management.

Access Your Case

For this practice interview, highlight the address 508 NEIL ST and
press F2.
DO NOT at any time get into the other households listed in your
Case List as these cases will be used during classroom training.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

Also, after completing this practice exercise, DO NOT restart or reinstall your training cases since doing so will delete the information
you entered for this practice interview.
At the “NCVS Selected Case Confirmation Screen,” press Enter
(or click OK).
TRAININGCASE

The first screen you see when accessing a training case is Item
TRAININGCASE. When you are conducting a live interview with a
production case this screen does not appear.

START_CP

(Enter 1 to continue)
START_CP is the first screen that is displayed. Look at the left of
the status bar (bottom of your screen; second box from the left).
You should see the word “START_CP.” This is the item or variable
name. While completing this interview, if you feel lost, look for the
variable name in the status bar. If it does not match the variable
name you see in this lesson, use the “left” or “up” arrow to back up
until you get to a screen that does match. Then re-enter your
answers from that point.
At START_CP, notice that this is a continuing case. Also notice the
“Interview Number” is “3” which indicates this is the third time this
case will be interviewed. Therefore, there may be information
already entered for this case from a previous interview.
Now let’s begin the interview. Remember to follow the scripted
interview and make the entries as indicated using the keyboard. Be
sure to read the instructions in bold since they describe specific
screens and concepts as you go through the script.

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Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

PRACTICE INTERVIEW
START_CP

The interview date and time are displayed on the screen.
(Enter 1, Telephone Interview)

SHOW_CP_ROSTER

Review the household roster. The screen shows the names of
all persons living or staying at the household, their
relationship, whether they are members of the household, their
sex, age, and interview status. An interview NEED SELF tells
you that you need to complete an interview with the
respondent by
self-response. After reviewing the household roster, enter 1 to
continue.
(Enter 1 to continue)

SHOW_INFO_CP

This screen prompts you to review or edit any case level notes,
if any were entered in previous interviews, as well as any
interview time preferences (best and worst times) to contact
the household if such times were previously recorded. You can
also enter new case level notes at this screen and interview
time preferences. Access the Case Level Notes now.
(Press Ctrl+F7 keys to view the Case Level Notes.)
(Enter a note into the Case Level Notes to practice this)
[ ]
To exit the Case Level Notes Editor, press F10. Do that now.
[ ]
Any time you change or enter any notes, a pop-up screen
would appear asking you if you want to save the notes. Click
on “Yes” now.
Now look to see if any preferred times to contact or not contact
the household were recorded previously.
(Press the Ctrl+T keys to view the “Interview Time
Preferences.”)

[ ]

If the best times to contact the household were previously
recorded, the time blocks appear in green. The worst time

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

blocks appear in red. This grid can be accessed anywhere in
the instrument by pressing Ctrl+T.
At this screen you can also enter the best and worst times to
contact the household. To enter best or preferred times, left
click on the appropriate hour slot. Left click 7:00 p.m. under
Monday now.
[

]

Notice that this time slot is now green.
To enter the worst times to contact a household, right click on
the hour slot. Right click on 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. under
Sunday now.
[ ]
Notice that these slots are now red. To exit this screen, press
F10. Do that now.
[ ]
Since you made changes to the grid, an Interview Time
Preferences pop-up screen will appear asking if you want to
save the changes. For this exercise, click on the “No” button.
(Enter 1 to continue)
HHNUM_VR_CP

This screen asks if this is a replacement household. If you are
unsure, enter 2.
(Enter 2, No, since you do not know if this is a replacement
household yet.)

DIAL_CP

This screen instructs you to dial the household’s telephone
number, which is displayed in the screen along with the name
of the prior household respondent and the sample unit’s
address.
(Enter 1, Someone answers)

HELLO_1_CP

FR:

Hello. This is (your name) from the U.S. Census Bureau.
May I please speak with Megan Moe?

R:

Yes, this is Megan Moe speaking.

(Enter 1, This is the correct person)

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Practice Interview

GETLETTER_CP

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

I’m calling concerning the National Crime Victimization
Survey. The Census Bureau is conducting a survey here and
throughout the Nation to determine how often people are
victims of crime. We contacted your household for this survey
several months ago. Did you receive our introductory letter in
the mail?

R:

I don’t think so.

For personal visit interviews, hand the respondent the
introductory letter and give him/her time to read the letter
before continuing with the interview. For telephone interviews,
press the F1 function key and read through the letter now. The
key points contained within the letter are highlighted in this
Help Screen and can be read to the respondent. Then press the
red X at the top to exit the Help screen.
(Enter 3)
VERADD_CP

FR:

I have your address listed as 508 NEIL ST, Any Town, AR
99991. Is that your exact address?

R:

Yes it is.

(Enter 1, Same address)
CHNGPH_CP

Sometimes at the beginning of an interview you may know that
the household’s telephone number has changed. At this screen
you are given the opportunity to change the telephone number.
DO NOT read the question to the respondent. For this
interview, you do not need to change the phone number so
select “No.”
(Enter 2)

MAILINGSAME_CP

FR:

Is your mailing address the same as your physical address?

R:

Yes it is.

(Enter 1)
TENURE

FR:

Ask or verify - Are your living quarters
- Owned or being bought by you or someone in your
household?

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

R:

Yes, we own our home.

Even though some items may already be pre-filled with a value
based upon responses from a previous interview, it is
important to ask or verify the question during the current
enumeration in case there are changes since the previous
interview. If in the current interview the response is the same,
you can press the Enter key rather than re-entering the
response value. In this case, the response is different.
(Enter 1, Owned or being bought)
STUDENTHOUSING

FR:

Are your living quarters presently used as student housing by
a college or university?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
NAMECHECK

FR:

I have Ted Moe and Megan Moe listed as living or staying at
that address.
Are ALL of these people still living or staying at that address?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
HHLDCOVERAGE

FR:

Have I missed anyone else living or staying there such as any
babies, any lodgers, or anyone who is away at present
traveling or in the hospital?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
AGECHECK

FR:

I have Ted Moe listed as 37 years old. Is that correct?

R:

Yes it is.

(For purposes of this exercise, enter 1 “Yes” even if the age is
different. This scenario will be discussed further in the classroom
training.)
(Enter 1)

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Practice Interview

MARITAL

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

If in doubt ask - Is Ted Moe now married, widowed, divorced,
separated or has he never been married?

R:

He’s married.

Remember, some items may already be pre-filled with a value based upon
responses from a previous interview. If in the current interview the
response is the same, you can press the Enter key rather than re-entering
the response.
(Press Enter)
ARMEDFORCES

FR: Is Ted Moe now in the Armed Forces?
R: No.
(Press Enter)

EDUCATIONATTAIN

FR:

What is the highest level of school Ted Moe completed or the
highest degree he received?

R:

The highest level he completed is 12th grade (no diploma).

(Press Enter)
ATTENDINGSCHOOL

FR:

Is Ted Moe currently attending or enrolled in a regular school,
such as elementary or high school or enrolled either full-time
or part-time in a college or university, trade, or vocational
school?

R:

No.

(Enter 5)
AGECHECK

FR:

I have you listed as 37 years old. Is that correct?

R:

Yes it is.

(Enter 1)

17-8

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

MARITAL

Practice Interview

FR:

If in doubt ask - Are you now married, widowed, divorced,
separated or have you never been married?

R:

I’m married.

(Press the Enter key since there is already a 1 pre-filled)
ARMEDFORCES

FR: Are you now in the Armed Forces?
R: No.
(Press Enter)

EDUCATIONATTAIN

FR:

What is the highest level of school you completed or the
highest degree you received?

R:

I am a high school graduate (diploma, or the equivalent).

(Press Enter)
ATTENDINGSCHOOL

FR:

Are you currently attending or enrolled either full-time or parttime in a college or university, trade, or vocational school?

R:

No.

(Enter 5)
ROSTERREVIEW

At this screen review the name, relationship, age, sex, and
marital status information for correctness. If the information is
not correct, you have the opportunity to make corrections to
these items if you enter 2 in this screen. Let’s assume that
Megan Moe’s age is incorrect because her birthday was not
correct.
(Enter 2)

WHOTOCHANGE

At this screen enter Megan Moe’s line number, which is 2, since
she is the respondent whose information you need to change.
(Enter 2)

17-9

Practice Interview

WHATFIX

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Now select the category that needs to be changed. Since
Megan Moe’s age is incorrect, you must fix her birth date.
(Enter 3)

CHNG_BRTHDATE
MO

(Press Enter)

CHNG_BRTHDATE
DY

(Press Enter)

CHNG_BRTHDATE
YR

(Enter 1944)

CHNG_ANYOTHER

At this screen you can review your changes and back up if you
need to make any further corrections. No additional changes
are needed, so you can proceed with the interview.
(Enter 1)

ROSTERREVIEW

The information displayed is now correct so you don’t need to
make any other changes.
(Enter 1)

TIMEATADDRESS

FR:

Before we get to the crime questions, I have some questions
that are helpful in studying where and why crimes occur.
How long have you lived at this address?

R:

15 years.

(Enter 15)
BUSINESS

FR:

Does anyone in this household operate a business from this
address?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQTHEFT

FR:

I'm going to read some examples that will give you an idea of
the kinds of crimes this study covers. As I go through them,
tell me if any of these happened to you in the last 6 months,
that is, since (date).

17-10

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

Was something belonging to YOU stolen, such as -- Things that you carry, like luggage, a wallet, purse, briefcase,
book -- Clothing, jewelry, or cell phone -- Bicycle or sports equipment -- Things in your home - like a TV, stereo, or tools -- Things outside your home such as a garden hose or lawn
furniture -- Things belonging to children in the household -- Things from a vehicle, such as a package, groceries, camera,
or CDs OR
-Did anyone ATTEMPT to steal anything belonging to you?
Ask only if necessary
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?
R: Yes.
This household was previously interviewed on (date).
Reminder! The date of the last interview is the basis for a
respondent’s reference period.
(Enter 1)
SQTHEFTTIMES

FR: How many times?
R: Once.
(Enter 1)

SQTHEFTSPEC

FR:What happened?
R: A co-worker and I were walking to my car when two young men
grabbed my leather tote bag and ran.
Briefly describe the incident in SQTHEFTSPEC. Remember, you
are limited to 100 characters.
Also remember, when writing a description of what happened
refer to the respondent and any other household member by
his or her line number (for example L1, L2) and NOT by their
name. If you click on the HH ROSTER tab, you will see the

17-11

Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

names of those persons living or staying in the household and
their corresponding line number. Click on the HH ROSTER tab
now.
You will see that Megan Moe’s line number is 2. Now either
click on the “Main” tab or enter 1 to continue on the toolbar to
go back to SQTHEFTSPEC.
Enter the following summary.
L2 and co-worker were walking to L2's car when 2 young men
grabbed L2's leather tote bag and ran.
(Press Enter to continue)
SQBREAKIN

FR:

Other than any incident already mentioned, has anyone -- Broken in or ATTEMPTED to break into your home by
forcing a door or a window, pushing past someone,
jimmying a lock, cutting a screen, or entering through an
open door or window?
-- Has anyone illegally gotten in or tried to get into a garage,
shed, or storage room?
OR
-- Illegally gotten in or tried to get into a hotel or motel room
or vacation home where you were staying?
Ask only if necessary:
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQTOTALVEHICLES

FR:

What was the TOTAL number of cars, vans, trucks,
motorcycles, or other motor vehicles owned by you or any
other member of that household during the last 6 months?
Include those you no longer own.

R:

We have two cars.

(Enter 2)

17-12

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

SQMVTHEFT

Practice Interview

FR:

During the last 6 months, other than any incident(s) already
mentioned, were any of the vehicles -- Stolen or used without permission?
-- Did anyone steal any parts such as a tire, car stereo,
hubcap, or battery?
-- Did anyone steal any gas from them?
OR
-- Did anyone ATTEMPT to steal any vehicle or parts
attached to them?
Ask only if necessary
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQATTACKWHERE

FR: Other than any incidents already mentioned, since (date), were
you attacked or threatened OR did you have something stolen
from you -- At home including the porch or yard -- At or near a friend's, relative's, or neighbor's home-- At work or school -- In places such as a storage shed or laundry room, a
shopping mall, restaurant, bank, or airport-- While riding in any vehicle -- On the street or in a parking lot -- At such places as a party, theater, gym, picnic area,
bowling lanes, or while fishing or huntingOR
-- Did anyone ATTEMPT to attack or ATTEMPT to steal
anything belonging to you from any of these places?
Ask only if necessary
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?
R:

Just the incident I told you about earlier.

(Enter 2)

17-13

Practice Interview

SQATTACKHOW

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

Other than any incidents already mentioned, has anyone
attacked or threatened you in any of these ways -- With any weapon, for instance, a gun or knife -- With anything like a baseball bat, frying pan,
scissors, or stick -- By something thrown, such as a rock or bottle -- Include any grabbing, punching, or choking,
-- Any rape, attempted rape, or other type of sexual attack -- Any face to face threats OR
-- Any attack or threat or use of force by anyone at all?
Please mention it even if you are not certain it was a
crime.
Ask only if necessary
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQTHEFTATTACKKNOWNOFF
FR:

People often don't think of incidents committed by someone
they know. Other than any incidents already mentioned, did
you have something stolen from you or were you attacked or
threatened by-----

Someone at work or school A neighbor or friend A relative or family member Any other person you have met or known?

Ask only if necessary:
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?
R:

No.
(Enter 2)

17-14

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

SQSEXUAL

Practice Interview

FR:

Incidents involving forced or unwanted sexual acts are often
difficult to talk about. Other than any incidents already
mentioned, have you been forced or coerced to engage in
unwanted sexual activity by -- Someone you didn't know -- A casual acquaintance OR
-- Someone you know well?
Ask only if necessary:
Did any incidents of this type happen to you?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQCALLPOLICECRIME

FR:

During the last 6 months, other than any incident(s) already
mentioned, did you call the police to report something that
happened to YOU which you thought was a crime?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
SQNOCALLPOLICECRIME
FR:

R:

During the last 6 months, other than any incident(s) already
mentioned, did anything which you thought was a crime
happen to YOU, but you did NOT report to the police?
No.

(Enter 2)
PRESENTFORSQS

(Enter 11, since this is a telephone interview)

INC_REPORTS

This screen tells you that you have completed the screening
questions and indicates the number of incidents reported in
the screen questions and the number of refusals in the screen
questions.
(Enter 1)

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Practice Interview

INCIDENTINTRO

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

You said before that during the last 6 months you and your
co-worker were walking to your car when 2 young men
grabbed your leather tote bag and ran. This happened just
one time?

R:

Yes, just once.

(Enter 1)
INCIDENTDATE

FR:

In what month did this incident happen?

R:

It happened in (pick date within 6-month reference period).

(Enter precode for appropriate month)
INCIDENTNUMBEROFTIMES
FR:

Altogether, how many times did this type of incident happen
during the last 6 months?

R:

Just once.

(Enter 1)
INCIDENTTIME

FR:

About what time did this incident happen?

R:

Around 5:00 in the evening.

(Enter 13)
INCIDENTPLACE

FR:

In what city, town, or village did this incident occur?

R:

Right here in Any Town.

Precode (3) is the correct choice.
It is important to be aware of what the precodes are for each
question. In this screen, the appropriate precode to enter is (3)
“SAME city/town/village as present residence,” based on the
respondent’s answer.
(Enter 3)

17-16

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

INCIDENTAIR

Practice Interview

FR:

Did this incident occur on an American Indian Reservation or
on American Indian Lands?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
LOCATION_GENERAL

FR:

Did this incident happen...

R:

-- In your home or lodging?
-- Near your home or lodging?
-- At, in, or near a friend’s/relative’s/neighbor’s home?
-- At a commercial place?
-- In a parking lot or garage?
-- At school?
-- In open areas, on the street, or on public transportation?
-- Somewhere else?
At school where I teach.

(Enter 16)
LOCATION_SCHOOL

FR:

Ask or verify - Where at school did this incident happen?

R:

In the school’s parking lot.

(Enter 32)
RESTRICTEDAREA

FR:

Ask or verify - Did the incident happen in an area restricted to
certain people or was it open to the public at the time?

R:

Well, it was the school parking lot, but that’s open to the
public.

(Enter 1)
INSIDEOROUT

FR:

Ask or verify - Did it happen indoors, outdoors, or both?

R:

Outdoors.

(Enter 2)

17-17

Practice Interview

FARFROMHOME

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

Ask or verify - How far away from home did this happen?

R:

The school is about 5 miles from my home.

(Enter 3)
HHMEMBERPRESENT

FR:

Ask or verify - Were you or any other member of this
household present when this incident occurred?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
WHICHMEMBER

FR:

Ask or verify - Which household members were present?

R:

Just me.

(Enter 1)
SEEOFFENDER

FR:

Ask or verify - Did you personally see an offender?

R:
You bet I did.
(Enter 1)
WEAPONPRESENT

FR:

Did the offender have a weapon such as a gun or knife, or
something to use as a weapon, such as a bottle or wrench?

R:

No, I don't remember anything like that. They just used their
hands to grab my tote bag.

(Enter 2)
ATTACK

FR:

Did the offender hit you, knock you down, or actually attack
you in any way?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
TRYATTACK

FR:

Did the offender TRY to attack you?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)

17-18

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

THREATEN

Practice Interview

FR:

Did the offender THREATEN you with harm in any way?

R:

No. In fact, I don't think they said anything.

(Enter 2)
WHATHAPPEN

FR:

What actually happened?

R:

Like I said, these two guys came running at us as we were
getting into my car, grabbed my tote bag, and ran off.

(Enter 11)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
PROTECTSELF

FR:

Did you do anything with the idea of protecting YOURSELF or
your PROPERTY while the incident was going on?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
ACTIONSDURINGINC

FR:

What did you do?

R:

I yelled at the guys.

(Enter 19)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
INJACTIONHELP

FR:

Did your action help the situation in any way?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)

17-19

Practice Interview

ACTIONWORSE

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

Did your action make the situation worse in anyway?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
ANYONEPRESENT

FR:

Was anyone present during the incident besides you and the
offender? (Other than children under age 12.)

R:

Yes, my co-worker.

(Enter 1)
OTHERSACTIONS

FR:

Did the actions of (this person/ any of these people) help the
situation in any way?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
OTHERSACTIONSWORSE
FR:
R:

Did the actions of (this person/ any of these people) make the
situation worse in any way?
No.

(Enter 2)
PERSONSHARMED

FR:

Not counting yourself, were any of these persons present
during the incident harmed (Pause), threatened with harm
(Pause), or robbed by force or threat of harm?
(Do not include yourself, the offender, or children under 12
years of age.)

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
ONEORMOREOFFENDERS
FR:

R:

Ask or verify - Was the crime committed by only one or by
more than one offender?
There were two offenders.

(Enter 2)

17-20

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

HOWMANYOFFENDERS
FR:

How many offenders?

R:

As I just told you, there were two offenders.
Remember, even though you know the answer to this
question, you must ask it because it does not show the
“Ask or verify” instruction.

(Enter 2)
MULTOFFENDERKNEW
FR:

Were any of the offenders known to you, or were they all
strangers you had never seen before?

R:

No, neither of us had seen them before.

(Enter 3)
MULTOFFENDERRECOG
FR:

Would you be able to recognize any of them if you saw them?

R:

Possibly.

(Enter 2)
MULTOFFENDERSIGHT FR:

R:

Would you have been able to tell the police how they might
find any of them, for instance, where they lived, worked, went
to school, or spent time?
No.

(Enter 2)
MULTOFFENDERGENDER
FR:
R:

Were they male or female?
They were both male.

(Enter 1)

17-21

Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

MULTOFFENDERYOUNG
FR:

How old would you say the youngest was?

R:

He was about 18.

(Enter 4)
MULTOFFENDEROLD

FR:

How old would you say the oldest was?

R:

Probably about 22.

(Enter 5)
MULTOFFETHNICITY
FR:

Were any of the offenders Hispanic or Latino?

R:

No

(Enter 2)
MULTOFFENDERRACE

FR:

Were the offenders White, Black or African American,
American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or
Other Pacific Islander?

R:

They were both White.

(Enter 1)
MULTOFFENDERGANG FR:

R:

Were any of the offenders a member of a street gang, or don't
you know?
I don't know.

(Enter 3)
MULTOFFENDERDRINKDRUG
FR: Were any of the offenders drinking or on drugs, or don't you
know?
R:

I really don't know.

(Enter 3)

17-22

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

MULTOFFENDERONLYTIME
FR:

R:

Was this the only time any of these offenders committed a
crime against you or your household or made threats against
you or your household?
Yes.

(Enter 1)
THEFT

FR:

Ask or verify - Was something stolen or taken without
permission that belonged to you or others in the household?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
WHATWASTAKEN

FR:

What was taken that belonged to you or others in the
household?

R:

My leather tote bag.

(Enter 29,)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

I had three credit cards in my tote bag.

(Enter 14,)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

My car keys.

(Enter 26,)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

Yes, my watch. I had taken it off in the classroom and it was
in my tote bag when the tote bag was stolen.

Category 26, which you already entered, includes watches.

17-23

Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

Anything else?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
WHOOWNEDSTOLENPROPERTY
FR: Did the stolen property belong to you personally, to someone
else in the household, or to both you and other household
members?
R:

It was all mine.

(Enter 1)
ARTICLEINCAR

FR:

Ask or verify - Were the articles IN or ATTACHED to a motor
vehicle when they were taken?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
OTHERONPERSON

FR:

Ask or verify - Was there anything the offenders took directly
from you, for instance, from your pocket or hands, or
something that you were wearing?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
ITEMSTAKEN

FR:

Which items did the offenders take directly from you?

R:

My tote bag and the items in it.

For this item, the categories selected in item WHATWASTAKEN
are displayed.
(Enter 40, since all the items stolen were taken directly from the
respondent or click on all the categories displayed.)
PROPERTYVALUE

FR:

What was the value of the PROPERTY that was taken?
Include recovered property. (Exclude any stolen checks, or
credit cards.) If jointly owned with a nonhousehold member,
include only the shared owned by the household member.

17-24

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

R:

I don't suppose the keys had any real monetary value. The
tote bag was worth about $150 and the watch about $85.

To help you add the different values reported, you can press
the F11 key to access the calculator function. You can also get
to the calculator function by clicking on the Options tab and
selecting Calculator.
Take a moment now to use the calculator. Then verify the total
amount with the respondent before proceeding.
[ ]
FR:

(Probe) So, altogether, the stolen property was worth about
$235. Is that correct?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 235, then press Enter)
DECIDEDVALUE

FR:

How did you decide the value of the property that was taken?

R:

That was the cost for me to purchase the items.

(Enter 11,)
FR:

Any other way?

R:

Well, I paid about the same amount to replace some of the
stolen items.

(Enter 12,)
FR:

Any other way?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
ALLPARTRECOVERED

FR:

Was all or part of the stolen property recovered, not counting
anything received from insurance?

R:

No, nothing.

(Enter 3)

17-25

Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

RECOVEREDINSURANCE
FR:

Was the theft reported to an insurance company?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
DAMAGED

FR:

Other than stolen property was anything that belonged to you
or other members of the household damaged in this incident?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
POLICEINFORMED

FR:

Were the police informed or did they find out about this
incident in any way?

R:

Oh yes!

(Enter 1)
POLICEFINDOUT

FR:

How did the police find out about it?

R:

I called them.

(Enter 11)
REASONREPORT

FR:

Besides the fact that it was a crime, did YOU have any other
reason for reporting this incident to the police?

R:

Well, I wanted to recover everything the two men stole from
me.

(Enter 13)
FR:

Any other reason?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)

17-26

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

REPORTIMPORTANT

Practice Interview

FR:

Which of these would you say was the most important reason
why the incident was reported to the police?

R:

I wanted to recover my property.

(Enter 13)
POLICEARRIVE

FR:

Did the police come when they found out about the incident?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
TIMEPOLICEARRIVE

FR:

How soon after the police found out did they respond? Was it
within 5 minutes, within 10 minutes, an hour, a day, or longer?

R:

They came about 25 minutes after I called.

(Enter 3)
POLICEACTION

FR:

What did they do while they were there?

R:

They took a report from both me and my friend, questioned
some of the people that had seen the incident, and told us
they would investigate.

(Enter 11, 14, 16)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
POLICECONTACT

FR:

Did you or anyone in your household have any later contact
with the police about the incident?

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)

17-27

Practice Interview

POLICEINTOUCH

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

FR:

Did the police get in touch with you or did you get in touch
with them?

R:

The police called me.

(Enter 1)
HOWPOLICECONTACT

FR:

Was that in person, by phone, or some other way?

R:

By phone.

(Enter 2)
POLICEFOLLOWUP

FR:

What did the police do in following up this incident?

R:

They told me they had uncovered no leads in the case and
that they thought the possibility of recovering the tote bag and
its contents was unlikely. They were just staying in touch.

(Enter 16,)
FR:

Anything else?

R:

No.

(Press Enter)
SIGNCOMPLAINT

FR:

Did you or someone in your household sign a complaint
against the offenders to the police department or the
authorities?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
ARRESTMADE

FR:

Ask or verify - As far as you know, was anyone arrested or
were charges brought against anyone in connection with this
incident?

R:

Not that I know of.

(Enter 2)

17-28

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

AGENCYHELP

Practice Interview

FR:

Did you or someone in your household receive any help or
advice from any office or agency -- other than the police
-- that deals with victims of crime?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
CONTACTAUTHORITIES
FR:

Have you or someone in your household had contact with any
other authorities about this incident (such as a prosecutor,
court, or juvenile officer)?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
ANYTHINGFURTHER

FR:

Do you expect the police, courts, or other authorities will be
doing anything further in connection with this incident?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
DOINGATINCIDENTTIME
FR:

Ask or verify - What were you doing when this incident
happened?

R:

I had just left work and was about to drive home.

(Enter 12)
LOSTOTHERWORKTIME
FR:

Did YOU lose any time from work because of this incident for
such things as cooperating with a police investigation,
testifying in court, or repairing or replacing damaged or stolen
property?

R:

No.

(Enter 6)

17-29

Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

HHMEMLOSTWORKTIME
FR:

Were there any household members 16 years or older who
lost time from work because of this incident?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
TYPETRANSPORTATION
FR:

Ask or verify - You told me earlier you were on the way from
work when the incident happened.
What means of transportation were you using?

R:

I was walking.

(Enter 14)
INCIDENTHATECRIME

FR:

Hate crimes or crimes of prejudice or bigotry occur when
offenders target people because of one or more of their
characteristics or religious beliefs.
Do you have any reason to suspect the incident just
discussed was a hate crime or crime of prejudice or bigotry?

R:

I really don’t know.

(Press Ctrl+D, then press Enter)
SUMMARY

Now write a summary about this incident. Remember, your
summary must include all of the pertinent facts surrounding
the reported incident and be written so that anyone reading it
can get a clear, well-defined picture of how the respondent was
victimized. Because you are limited to 300 characters, you may
use abbreviations when writing your summary. Go to page B514 of your NCVS-550 Interviewing Manual for Field
Representatives and review the acceptable abbreviations you
can use for the NCVS. The list of abbreviations ends on page
B5-19.
[ ]
In addition to using these abbreviations when preparing your
summary for an incident, you can also use them when entering
any other written entries or notes in the NCVS instrument. Also
remember when writing the summary to use the respondent’s
line number, not the respondent’s name, when referring to the

17-30

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

respondent. If you need additional space, you can press F7 to
include additional notes.
Here is an example of what to enter, "In 1/2017 at 5:15 pm 2
men took L2's leather tote bag as L2 & co-worker were walking
to L2's car in school parking lot where L2 teaches. L2 not
attacked, injured, or threatened. L2's tote bag contained credit
cards, keys, & L2's watch. Total value of property stolen was
$235. L2 called police.”
After completing the summary, read it back to the respondent
to make sure you have the facts entered correctly and have not
omitted any pertinent information. When you read back the
summary to the respondent insert the appropriate pronoun in
place of the respondent’s line number. As a result you may
have to reword the summary slightly. For example, you would
say:
In 1/2017 at 5:15 pm 2 men took your leather tote bag as you
and a co-worker were walking to your car in your school
parking lot where you teach. You were not attacked, injured, or
threatened. Your tote bag contained credit cards, keys, and
your watch. The total value of the property stolen was $235.
You called the police.
(Press Enter)
SUMMARYPROBE

This screen asks if you have completed the summary. If you
need to edit or need to continue entering summary text, press
the “up” arrow key, otherwise enter 1 to continue. If you use
the “Up” arrow key to return to the Summary, the next box is
highlighted in blue. If you need to edit the Summary, move your
mouse key to access the next box. Do this before making any
revisions. Please Note: If you begin clicking inside the text box,
you will lose the Summary you just typed.
(Enter 1)

INCIDENTTOADD

If, during the course of the interview, the respondent recalls
any incidents that were not reported in the screen questions, at
INCIDENTTOADD you indicate that other incidents need to be
added for the respondent.
(Enter 2)

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Practice Interview

CRIME_END

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

This screen tells you that you have completed all incidents for
Megan Moe.
(Enter 1)

ENDINCIDENT

The current incident is completed so enter 1 to continue.

ENDSCREENER

Since there are no more incident reports to complete enter 1 to
continue.

INTRO_SOCIO_DEMO

FR:

Now we have some questions about your demographic
characteristics.

(Enter 1)
HEARING

FR:

Are you deaf or do you have serious difficulty hearing?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
VISION

FR:

Are you blind or do you have serious difficulty seeing even
when wearing glasses?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
LEARN_CONCENTRATE
FR:

Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition do you
have serious difficulty:
Concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
PHYSICAL_LIMIT

FR:

Walking or climbing stairs?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
DRESS_BATH

FR:

Dressing or bathing?

17-32

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
LEAVING_HOME

FR:

Because of a physical, mental or emotional condition, do you
have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s
office or shopping?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
CITIZENSHIP

FR:

Are you a citizen of the United States? That is, were you
born in the United States, born in a U.S. territory, born of
U.S. citizen parent(s), or become a citizen of the U.S.
through naturalization?

R:

Yes, I was born in the U.S.

(Enter 1)
ORIENTATION_FEMALE FR:

Which of the following best represents how you think of
yourself?
-- Lesbian or gay
-- Straight, that is, not lesbian or gay
-- Bisexual
-- Something else
-- I don’t know the answer

R:

Straight.

If you were conducting a personal visit interview you would
show the respondent the appropriate SO_ Flash Card in the
Information Card Booklet. Remember that screens with an
associated flashcard will have an open book icon in the upper
left hand corner of the Info pane.
(Enter 2)
GENID_BIRTH

FR:

What sex were you assigned at birth, on your original birth
certificate?

R:

Female.

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Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

If you were conducting a personal visit interview, you would
show the respondent the first question on the GI Flash Card in
the Information Card Booklet. Remember that screens with an
associated flashcard will have an open book icon in the upper
left hand corner of the Info pane.
(Enter 2)
GENID_DESCRIBE

FR:

Do you currently describe yourself as male, female or
transgender?

R:

Male.

If you were conducting a personal visit interview, you would
show the respondent the second question on the GI Flash Card
in the Information Card Booklet. Remember that screens with
an associated flashcard will have an open book icon in the
upper left hand corner of the Info pane.
(Enter 1)
GENID_CONFIRM

FR:

Just to confirm, you were assigned female at birth and now
describe yourself as male. Is that correct?

R:

I don’t want to answer.

(Enter 3)
ACTIVE_DUTY

FR:

Have you ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed
Forces, Reserves, or National Guard?

R:

Yes, I have served in the military.

(Enter 4)
ACTIVE_DUTYWHEN

FR:

When did you serve on active duty in the U.S. Armed
Forces?

R:

I served in August 1964 to 1968.

(Enter 14)
JOBLASTWEEK

FR:

Did you have a job or work at a business LAST WEEK?

17-34

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

R:

Yes.

(Enter 1)
JOBDESCRIPTION

FR:

Ask or verify -- Which of the following best describes your
job?
Were you employed in the --- Medical Profession?
-- Mental Health Services Field?
-- Teaching Profession?

R:

Yes, teaching profession. I teach the third grade.

If you were conducting a personal visit interview you would
show the respondent the Employment Flash Card in the
Information Card Booklet. Remember that screens with an
associated flashcard will have an open book icon in the upper
left hand corner of the Info pane.
(Enter 13)
TEACHINGJOB

FR:

Were you employed in a
-- Preschool?
-- Elementary school?

R:

Yes, elementary school.

(Enter 19)
EMPLOYERTYPECURRENT
FR:

Ask or verify - Is your job with a private company, business,
or individual for wages?

R:

No.

FR:

The Federal government?

R:

No.

FR:

A State, county, or local government?

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Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

R:

Yes, it’s a county public school.

(Enter 3)
COLLEGEEMPLOYER

FR:

Are you employed by a college or university?

R:

No.

(Enter 2)
CURRENTJOBMSATYPE
FR:

While working at your job, do you work mostly in
---Or
--

R:

A city?
Suburban area?
Rural area?
Combination of any of these?

In a suburban area.

(Enter 2)
INTVDONE

FR Instruction
Enter 1 to continue. DO NOT F10 OUT OF THIS SCREEN.

HOUSEHOLDINCOME

FR:

Which category represents the TOTAL combined income of
all members of this HOUSEHOLD during the past 12
months? This includes money from jobs, net income from
business, farm or rent, pensions, dividends, interest, Social
Security payments, and any other money income received by
members of this HOUSEHOLD who are 14 years of age or
older.

R:

I really don’t want to answer that question.

For personal interviews, remember to always show the
household respondent the Household Income flashcard
located in the Information Card Booklet BEFORE asking this
question. Allow the respondent time to read the categories,
make an estimate, and respond. If necessary, explain that we
do not need the respondent to identify the actual amount of the
total household income, just the income range that it falls
within.

17-36

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

FR:

If you are more comfortable, you can provide a range that
your household income falls within.

R:

I’d rather not.

(Press Ctrl + R keys to record a refusal, then press Enter)
BESTTIME_NO SUNDAY Use this screen to update the interview time preference chart. After
updating the chart (or if you do not need to update now), press “1” to
continue.
RESPONDENTPHONENUMBER
FR: What is the telephone number where you would like to be
called?
R:
RESPONDENTPHONE
TYPE

FR:

R:

It’s (555)555-5555.
What type of phone is this (for example, a home, office, or
cell phone?
It’s my cell phone.

(Enter 3)
RESPINTERVIEWLANG

Was this respondent’s interview conducted in a language other than
English?
(Enter 2)

ENDPERSON

(Enter 1)

ENDSCREENER

(Enter 1)

NEXTPERSON

FR:

I also need to talk with Ted Moe. Is Ted Moe at home now?

R:

No, he is not at home.

Ted Moe is not available at the time of your interview with
Megan Moe.
(Enter 33)
REFCBBREAK_CP

This question asks you if the interview with the household
ended because of a refusal, a callback was needed, or a

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Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

breakoff occurred. Since Ted Moe is not available at the time of
your interview with Megan Moe and there are no other persons
in the household to be interviewed, you will need to call back
the household to complete Ted Moe’s interview.
(Enter 2)
PERSAPPT

This screen tells you that you can enter appointment
information for Ted Moe in the Case Level Notes by pressing
Ctrl+F7.
Megan Moe tells you to call her husband back later in the day
after 6:00 p.m. Press the Ctrl+F7 keys and enter a note to call
the household back at 6:00 p.m. to complete Ted Moe's
interview.
Remember, the only time it is acceptable to include information
such as names, phone numbers, address location directions,
etc., is when you are entering such information in the Case
Level Notes.
After entering this note, press F10 to exit the Case Level Notes.
After pressing the F10 key, a Note Editor pop-up screen will
appear asking if you want to save the notes entered. Click
“Yes.”
Since Ted Moe is the only remaining household member to be
interviewed, enter 1 to continue at PERSAPPT.

THANKYOU_INDIV

FR:

Thank you. I’ll call back at the time suggested.

(Enter 1)
VERIFY

This screen asks if you need to change the household’s
telephone number or review or edit the interview time
preferences for this household. For this interview, you don’t
need to do either, so enter 2.
(Enter 2)

CASE LEVEL NOTES

Enter any additional notes about the case that you feel will be
helpful for completing interviews with remaining eligible
household members or for future interviews with the
household.

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NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Practice Interview

Here is an example of what to enter in the Case Level Notes:
“L2 completed interview, set up callback with L1.”
(Press F10)
After pressing the F10 key, save the notes entered by pressing
the “yes” button. You will then automatically return to Case
Management. Click on the “OK” button at the Case
Management pop-up screen.
CTATEMPT

(Enter 2 for telephone - outgoing)

TIMEOFCT

(Enter 1 since you are entering pCHI at the time of the contact
attempt)

pCASECONTACT

(Enter 1 [made contact with one or more eligible persons]
because you were able to complete Megan Moe’s interview
during this contact attempt)

PCONTACTPER

(Enter 3 [noncontact] for L1 because Ted Moe was not at home
during this contact.)

pNOCONTACT

(Enter 1 [person not home]) because Megan Moe said he was
not at home [Page 17-34])

pSTRATEGS

(Enter 2 [scheduled appointment] because Megan Moe was
able to provide a time for a callback)
Now enter the contact information for Megan Moe (L2):

PCONTACTPER

(Enter 1 [made contact with Megan Moe])

pCTTYPE

(Enter 1 [completed interview]) because you were able to
complete L2’s interview)

pRSPNDENT

(Enter 98 [no concerns]; we’ll assume Megan had no concerns
about completing her interview)

pSTRATEGS

(Enter 98 [no strategies] because no additional strategies were
needed to complete L2’s interview)
After answering pSTRATEGS, you exit the pCHI and return to
Case Management.

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Practice Interview

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

This concludes the practice interview. During classroom
training you will complete the interview with Ted Moe and then
practice transmitting the completed case. Also, you will
practice using the NCVS CAPI instrument in more detail during
classroom training using the other training cases; therefore,
DO NOT get into these cases before classroom training. DO
NOT RESTART OR RE-INSTALL your training cases; otherwise,
all the information you entered during this practice interview
will be lost.
When you return to the Case Management case list, notice that
a “P” appears in the “Status” column for this household. This
indicates that the case is a sufficient partial which means that
you completed the household respondent’s interview but there
remain other eligible household members whose interview still
needs to be completed.
You can now exit Case Management by pressing the F10 key or
clicking on the F10-Exit button on the Case Management
toolbar.
Complete the final review exercise in Lesson 18

17-40

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Final Review Exercise

Lesson 18. Final Review Exercise
Complete each item in the final review exercise. Bring all of your self-study materials to the
classroom training, including your completed self-study.
1.

The BJS needs the NCVS data primarily to obtain an accurate, up-to-date measure of the
kinds and amount of crimes committed against persons 12 years of age and older.
TRUE

FALSE

2. The reference period is important because we only ask about crime incidents that occurred
during this period. Listed below are interview dates for first month interviews. For these
interviews, what is the 6-month reference period for crimes committed?
Date of Interview

Reference Period

August 5
April 1
December 3
3. Listed below are the Moe family members and their ages. Answer the questions
(3a - c) which follow:
Name

Age

Household Relationship

John Moe

46

Reference person

Megan Moe

42

Wife

Mary Moe

20

Daughter

Michael Moe

8

Son

When you make your initial visit to the Moe household, Megan Moe is the only person
home. She answers the household characteristic questions, along with other questions
relating to her family.

18-1

Final Review Exercise

a.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Who is the household respondent?
___________________________________________________________________

b.

Which members of the Moe household are eligible respondents for the NCVS?
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

c.

Are there any members of the Moe household who are not required to be interviewed
for the NCVS?
YES

NO

If yes, who?
4.

If the occupants at a sample address change between enumeration periods, you: (Mark
the correct answer.)
Try to locate the occupants’ new address at the local post office.
Select another address randomly on the same block.
Interview the people who currently live at the sample address and who consider the
address to be their usual place of residence.

5.

___________________ is an interviewing technique you can use to get the respondent to
provide more information when the respondent’s initial answer is unclear or incomplete.

18-2

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Final Review Exercise

6. A respondent is considered present during an incident if he/she is at the immediate scene of
the crime during the incident and there is an opportunity for the offender to harm the
respondent. In the following scenarios, indicate whether or not the respondent was present
during the incident:
a. A woman was putting her groceries in her car when a man approached her and stole her
purse.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

b. A man fell asleep on the beach and when he woke up his CD player and keys were
gone.
PRESENT
NOT PRESENT
c. A woman’s leather coat was stolen from the coat room in the restaurant lobby while she
was eating dinner at the restaurant.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

d. The respondent was in the kitchen cooking dinner while the offender (who was a guest)
was stealing jewelry and money from her bedroom dresser.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

e. The respondent looked out his living room window and saw someone steal his
10speed bicycle from his front yard. By the time he got outside, the person and his bicycle
were gone.
PRESENT
f.

NOT PRESENT

A woman was asleep in her house and someone stole a motorcycle from the attached
garage.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

g. A man was asleep in his house and someone stole a lawn mower from the detached
garage.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

h. A woman was walking at the shopping mall and a man walked up behind her and
shoved her.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

18-3

Final Review Exercise

i.

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

A man arrived home from work and saw someone stealing several lawn ornaments out
of his yard. He got out of his car and started yelling at the offender, but the offender got
away.
PRESENT

j.

NOT PRESENT

A woman on the subway was part of a group robbery when the offender showed a gun,
passed around a bag, and told everyone in the subway car to put all their valuables in it.
PRESENT

NOT PRESENT

7. Enter the letter next to each item that corresponds to the letter that points to a specific
part of the NCVS CAPI instrument illustrated below.
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____

Info Pane
Title bar
Section Tabs
Form Pane
Menu Bar
Status Bar
A
B
C
E

D
F

18-4

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

Final Review Exercise

8. Describe in the answer space below how you identify or differentiate each item from
other information on the screen.
a. FR Instructions: _________________________________________________
b. Questions to ask respondents: _______________________________________
c. Questions that require you to use the information booklet to show respondents:
________________________________________________________________
d. Questions that allow multiple answers: ________________________________
e. Questions that allow only a single response: ____________________________
9. Which key, when pressed in the NCVS CAPI instrument, ensures that the entry is
“accepted” within the instrument and moves to the next question?
____________________________
10. Which Function key in the NCVS CAPI instrument allows you to enter Item Level
Notes?
____________________________
11. Which keys, when pressed while in the NCVS CAPI instrument, allow you to enter Case
Level Notes?
____________________________
12. Which Function key in the NCVS CAPI instrument allows you to end the interview?
____________________________
13. Which section of the NCVS CAPI instrument collects basic household data as well as
characteristics of the sample unit?
_____
_____
_____

Front section
Middle section
Back section
18-5

Final Review Exercise

NCVS-521 CAPI (9/2017)

14. At the START_CP screen, select category 4, Noninterview, to classify a person as a
Type Z noninterview. (See illustration of this item on Page 18-4.)
TRUE

FALSE

15. In the NCVS CAPI instrument, ___________________ accepts data item inconsistencies in
a _________________ edit check.

16. Six months ago when you interviewed a sample household there were three household
members. During the current month, you discover that two of the three household members
moved out. You must create a replacement household and interview the remaining
household member.
TRUE

FALSE

Bring your laptop and this completed self-study
to the classroom training. Write down any
questions you want to ask during the training.

18-6


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