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Personal Safety and Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System in the Territories (Revised)In 2004, as part of its General Social Survey program, Statistics Canada conducted a survey on victimization and public perceptions of crime and the justice system. It was the fourth time that the General Social Survey (GSS) had examined victimization - previous surveys were conducted in 1988, 1993, and 1999. The target population was Canadians aged 15 years and older living in the ten provinces. This survey also included a test collection of telephone survey data in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. This document contains data tables for these territories produced from the sample of this test collection. These tables are similar to the ones produced for Canada and the provinces, within a document called 'General Social Survey on Victimization, Cycle 18: An Overview of Findings, 2004' (Catalogue no. 85-565-XIE). The following is a summary containing information on limitations of the test survey that helped produce these data. Pilot test in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and NunavutIntroductionStatistics Canada's 1999 General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization included a test collection of telephone survey data in the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Yukon , using the Random Digit Dialing method (RDD). Following a detailed evaluation of the results, it was recommended that data from this pilot test not be released because of bias caused by substantial under-coverage. The 2004 GSS on victimization again included a test collection of telephone survey data north of the ten provinces. This time the test sample included Nunavut as well as Yukon and NWT. In an attempt to improve the coverage of the survey, the sample was selected from respondents to the Canada Community Health Survey rather than using RDD. The CCHS cycle used was conducted in 2003. The main objective of the 2004 GSS northern test was to attempt to collect the data needed to produce reliable estimates of criminal victimization for the territories through a telephone survey using a sub-sample of the another Statistics Canada survey. This evaluation report assesses the success of this pilot test collection. Main findingsCollection in the Yukon , NWT, and Nunavut poses unique challenges, including language difficulties and incomplete telephone service. As a result, obtaining a representative sample in the territories is more difficult than in other parts of Canada . It is estimated that the data collected by GSS-18 only represent 60% of the population of the territories; 40% of the population could not have been interviewed for the survey. This compares with only 4% of the population being excluded in the ten provinces. The size of the population excluded from the survey would not be a major concern if it represented an exclusion at random. However, this evaluation found that Aboriginal people and individuals living in rural areas are under-represented in the 2004 GSS sample for Yukon , NWT and Nunavut . Adjustments to the weights were made to help correct for under-representation across these dimensions. However, some evidence suggests that there are problems with other characteristics. In Yukon , for example, even with new adjustments to the weights, Census estimates for four out of eight characteristics examined were outside the 95% confidence interval for the GSS estimate of the same characteristic. In the NWT, Census estimates for six out of the eight characteristics were outside this interval, as was the case for three out of the eight in Nunavut . Compared with the Census, the GSS estimates show significant biases. RecommendationsStatistics Canada's Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division recommends not releasing a 2004 GSS Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) for the Yukon , NWT and Nunavut because the large proportion of the population excluded from the survey makes the representativity of the responding sample questionable. In particular, Aboriginal people and individuals living in rural areas are under-represented in the survey's sample for the territories. Instead, we recommend releasing an analytic data file for the territories to the Canadian Centre of Justice Statistics. This file would be provided with a full report on limitations and a cautionary statement, as follows: The 2004 GSS on victimization was conducted in Yukon , Northwest Territories and Nunavut as part of a pilot test. Compared to other areas in Canada , collection in the territories poses unique challenges, including incomplete telephone service and language difficulties. As a result, sampling and data collection are more difficult in the territories. The 2004 victimization data produce estimates with known biases and may include unknown biases. For example, the sample over-estimates the population with English as a household language and under-estimates the Aboriginal population whose mother tongue is not English. Between slippage and non-response, only 60% of the northern population is represented in the GSS-18 sample. It is unknown whether the other 40% are similar with respect to all characteristics. As a result the data contained in these files should be used with caution. You need to use the free Adobe Reader to view PDF documents. To view (open) these files, simply click on the link. To download (save) them, right-click on the link. Note that if you are using Internet Explorer or AOL, PDF documents sometimes do not open properly. See Troubleshooting PDFs. PDF documents may not be accessible by some devices. For more information, visit the Adobe website or contact us for assistance. |
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