The Bureau of Justice Statistics will:
1. By or before March 3, 2025, brief OMB in person or virtually on:
a. Whether the agency will conduct small-scale testing of the new default race/ethnicity question, and, if the agency does conduct testing, its proposed testing plan and how it will assist the agency in implementing the 2024 SPD 15 in the NCVS;
b. Its draft NCVS action plan describing how the data collection and publication will comply with the 2024 SPD 15 as soon as possible, no later than January 2027; and
c. Its communications strategy describing how the agency has been/will continue to meaningfully engage with stakeholders about how the NCVS is working toward compliance with the updated data standards.
2. By or before September 2, 2025, brief OMB in person or virtually on the final NCVS action plan describing how data collections will comply with the 2024 SPD 15 as soon as possible, no later than January 2027 (2028 for publication).
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
11/30/2026
11/30/2026
11/30/2026
180,831
0
354,831
156,241
0
124,888
0
0
0
This is a substantive change to the currently approved collection to obtain approval for full-scale implementation of the new NCVS instrument in 2025.
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) collects analyzes publishes, and disseminates statistics on the amount and type of crime committed against households and individuals in the U.S. Since 1972, the NCVS has been providing national data on personal and household victimization, both reported and not reported to police. The data collection allows the BJS to fulfill its mission of collecting, analyzing, publishing, and disseminating information on victims of crime. Together with the Federal Bureau of Investigationâs (FBI) statistics on crimes reported to law enforcement agencies, the NCVS provides an understanding of the nature of and changes in the nationâs crime problems.
The BJS is specifically requesting clearance for the core NCVS from January 2022 through December 2024. The core NCVS includes the administration of the basic screen questionnaire (NCVS-1, Attachment 19) and crime incident report (NCVS-2, Attachment 20) instruments to a nationally representative sample of persons age 12 or older living in households in the United States, including samples of persons representative of the 22 most populous states in the U.S.
The core NCVS survey instrument covers nine general areas: 1) incidence of rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault, personal larceny, burglary, motor vehicle theft, and other theft; 2) characteristics of these victimizations, including location, time, presence of a weapon, injury, and property/monetary loss; 3) characteristics of victims, including sex, age, race, Hispanic origin, disability, and occupation; 4) relationship between victim and offender; 5) emotional impact of victimization; 6) victim self-defense and bystander intervention; 7) offender characteristics including sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin; 8) reporting to police and police response; and 9) bias- or hate-motivated victimizations. NCVS core work also includes the analysis and dissemination of data products and reports stemming from the core collection, as well as technical and methodological analyses and reports based on the sampling for, administration of, and analysis of data from the NCVS basic screen questionnaire and crime incident report.
The estimated total annual hours for 2025 (156,246) is slightly higher than the 124,888 requested in the prior OMB package. This change in estimated burden is due to the implementation of the new instrument. The new instrument is estimated to take 36 minutes compared to the estimated 32 minutes based on the large-scale national field test. The estimated burden is now based on five months (FebruaryâJune 2024) of split sample data collection with the Census Bureau for the new instrument. The increased administration time of the new instrument is also due to the addition of the two new modules on police performance and community safety and updates to the crime screener but is balanced against the significant reduction in administration time for crime incident reports compared to the current instrument.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
NCVS Redesign Questionnaire
Attachments_NCVS Redesign 2025.pdf
NCVS Redesign 2025 Supporting Statement A_OMB passback 10.29.24.docx
NCVS Redesign Questionnaire