The Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) captures the ‘dark figure of crime’, those crimes that are unreported to the police.

The CSEW has higher validity than the official police recorded statistics as it relies upon first-hand information from those that have been victims of crime.

The CSEW gives a more complete picture of crime in England and Wales and can be used to create initiatives and lead to policy reforms.

The CSEW uses a large sample that is representative of the population.

The CSEW is repeated annually using similar questions and can compare the amounts of crime from one year to the next making it reliable.

The CSEW also collects data on people’s perceptions of crime which is useful in policy formation.

Limitations:

CSEW fails to capture victimless crimes such as prostitution and drug use.

CSEW is an estimate of the amount of crime in the UK.

CSEW relies upon the subjective interpretation of individuals as to whether a crime has been committed.

CSEW relies upon people remembering the past 12 months and whether they have been the victim of a crime.

Respondents in the CSEW may not be aware that they have been the victim of a crime, e.g. fraud.