title: Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: methodology.
abstract: This article describes the methodology of the first Canada-wide study of the incidence and characteristics of reported child abuse and neglect. Child welfare investigators from a random sample of 51 child welfare service areas completed a three-page survey form describing the results of 7,672 child maltreatment reports received during the months of October to December 1998. The study documented a 90% participation rate and a 95% item completion rate. An estimated 135,571 child maltreatment investigations were completed, a rate of 21.52 investigated children per 1,000 children in Canada in 1998. The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect is a rich database that will provide researchers with important contextual information on reported child maltreatment in Canada and a comprehensive source of information on factors associated with key service decisions made by child welfare investigators.
authors.affiliation: Bell Canada Child Welfare Research Unit, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON. nico.trocme@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Trocmé
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: MacLaurin
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Daciuk
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tourigny
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Billingsley
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002669:Child Welfare; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006302:Health Services Research; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence