Validation of the Crime and Violence Scale (CVS) against the Rasch measurement model including differences by gender, race, and age.
In assessing criminality, researchers have used counts of crimes, arrests, and so on, because interval measures were not available. Additionally, crime seriousness varies depending on demographic factors. This study examined the Crime and Violence Scale (CVS) regarding psychometric quality using item response theory (IRT) and invariance of the crime seriousness hierarchy for gender, age, and racial/ethnic groups on 7,435 respondents. The CVS is a useful measure of criminality, though some items could be improved or dropped. Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis revealed that crime seriousness varies by age and gender. IRT shows promise in assessing and adjusting for demographic variations in crime seriousness.
Conrad
Kendon J
KJ
University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, 1603 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. kjconrad@uic.edu
Riley
Barth B
BB
Conrad
Karen M
KM
Chan
Ya-Fen
YF
Dennis
Michael L
ML
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011594:Psychometrics; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011902:Rape / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult