Overview
The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) (formerly the British Crime Survey) provides an important source of information about levels of crime, public attitudes to crime and other related issues. The CSEW asks people about crimes they have experienced in the last year, including crimes not reported to the police.
The CSEW is a cross-sectional, annual victimisation survey of households.
The Victimisation and demographic datasets includes data on domestic and sexual violence that crosses the criminal threshold (prevalence and incidents in past 12 months) and whether the respondent has mental health issues or illnesses expected to last 12 months or more; whether they are affected by a mental health condition; and whether they suffered mental or emotional problems as a result of the incident; as well as whether the perpetrator had or appeared to have mental health problems. The Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault and Stalking dataset includes data on domestic violence, abuse and coercive control, sexual assault and stalking crimes and non-criminal incidents (prevalence in past 12 months and since age 16) and whether the respondent got help from specialist mental health / psychiatric services.
The CSEW is a cross-sectional, annual victimisation survey of households.
The Victimisation and demographic datasets includes data on domestic and sexual violence that crosses the criminal threshold (prevalence and incidents in past 12 months) and whether the respondent has mental health issues or illnesses expected to last 12 months or more; whether they are affected by a mental health condition; and whether they suffered mental or emotional problems as a result of the incident; as well as whether the perpetrator had or appeared to have mental health problems. The Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault and Stalking dataset includes data on domestic violence, abuse and coercive control, sexual assault and stalking crimes and non-criminal incidents (prevalence in past 12 months and since age 16) and whether the respondent got help from specialist mental health / psychiatric services.
Sample TypeRandom Sample of households in England and Wales using the PAF and then a random selection of one household adult on the doorstep.
High response rate (c.70%); the survey is weighted for non-response bias and to ensure the sample reflects the profile of the general population. Weighted analysis produces estimates at the population level. |
Geographical CoverageEngland and Wales
Start-end date of seriesFrom 1982 – on going
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Sample Description |
Sample Size |
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Adults aged 16 and over in private households in England and Wales.
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The sample size is currently c. 35,000 households though this has changed over different sweeps since 1981/2 to present.
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Access
Access is via the UK Data Service (https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/)
The main CSEW datasets are available to download to anyone registered with the UK Data Service utilising the data for ‘public good’, subject to an end user license agreement. The Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault and Stalking dataset is secure access and has an additional layer of security requirements, including training and working via the UK Data Service secure server.
All sweeps come with full documentation to download, including User Guide and Questionnaire.
The main CSEW datasets are available to download to anyone registered with the UK Data Service utilising the data for ‘public good’, subject to an end user license agreement. The Domestic Abuse, Sexual Assault and Stalking dataset is secure access and has an additional layer of security requirements, including training and working via the UK Data Service secure server.
All sweeps come with full documentation to download, including User Guide and Questionnaire.