U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics The Flow of Criminal Justice Statistical Information by Electronic Means May 1996 The full text of this report is available through: *the BJS Clearinghouse, 1-800-732-3277 *on the Internet at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ *on the BJS gopher: gopher://www.ojp.usdoj.gov:70/11/bjs/ *on the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Electronic Bulletin Board (set at 8-N-1, call 301-738-8895, select BJS). By Jacob Perez, Ph.D. BJS Statistician The National Criminal Justice Reference service (NCJRS) maintains a list of over 100,000 criminal justice professionals, including more than 36,000 BJS registered users from the United States. Questionnaires were mailed to all those BJS users, and a total of 5,811 responses were received, an overall response rate of 16%. Given recent developments in computer technology, users of statistical information increased their demand for instantaneous access to data which can be manipulated electronically. BJS conducted this User Survey to explore demand for its products and how customers may use a variety of electronic means to meet their information requirements. The responses indicated a feasibility of any combination of fax technology (64%), computers (69%), or online transmission (60%). This outcome also pointed the way to greatly expanded services through the Internet. The capacity of users in terms of facsimile technology may range from retrieving a file from a fax-on-demand system to faxmodems, possessed by 25% of fax users. BJS users with computers reported on their software capabilities: operating systems (65%), word processors (56%), and electronic file format (43%). They prefer using electronic modes to retrieve complete searchable files. In general, a user's level of computerization is directly related to his or her likelihood of possessing an Internet connection. Most online users prefer interacting with a system equipped with search capabilities and 1 in 3 would download files directly from the Internet. BJS registered users expressed interest in publications of a general nature such as BJS Bulletins and the Sourcebook, 26,574 and 20,463 respectively. But, more than 21,000 users are interested in the report on `Drugs and Crime Data'. The 5,811 respondents were classified, in terms of the type of their capacity to retrieve BJS reports electronically, into users with a computer (69%), facsimile only (15%), and those with no electronic capacity (16%). Three out of 4 respondents indicated that they read or archive the reports they receive from BJS (41%) or further manipulate the statistical portion (36%). ---------------- BJS User Survey ---------------- Introduction ------------- The BJS User Survey was designed to explore the feasibility of providing criminal justice professionals access to BJS publications electronically. Specifically, the survey explored users' level of computerization, interest profiles, willingness to pay transmittal cost, and the intended usage of the data. As a result of the findings in the User Survey, BJS developed its own home page on the Internet (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/) containing publications in ASCII text version and Acrobat portable format. Datasets can be downloaded from the Web page of NACJD (http://www/icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/home.html). The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) maintains a list of over 100,000 professionals in the area of criminal justice. Questionnaires were mailed to 36,129 BJS registered NCJRS users from the USA, excluding 332 BJS users from other countries. The number of respondents was 5,811 with an overall response rate of 16%, ranging from 14.4% in the South to 17.2% in the West (table 1). The regional distributions for the respondents as well as BJS registered users was quite close to that of the U.S. resident population. ---------------------------------------------- Table 1. Regional rates of response, BJS registered users, respondents, and the 1994 resident population 1994 Percent resi- of BJS Percent dent regis- of Rate popu- tered respon- of lation users dents response ------------------------------- United States 100% 100% 100% 15.7% Northeast 20% 22% 22% 15.3% New England 5 7 7 14.2 Middle Atlantic 15 15 15 15.9 Midwest 24% 23% 23% 17.0% East North Central 17 16 16 17.1 West North Central 7 7 7 16.6 South 35% 37% 37% 14.4% South Atlantic 18 23 23 14.8 East South Central 6 5 5 14.8 West South Central 11 10 10 13.2 West 22% 18% 18% 17.2% Mountain 6 6 6 17.1 Pacific 16 12 12 17.3 Note: Figures are based on 35,910 BJS registered users, 5,635 respondents, and 260,341,000 residents of the USA. Population statistics were downloaded from the internet at http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/statab/freq/94s0026. txt ------------------------------------------------ ---------------------- The electronic system ---------------------- The dissemination of BJS publications on paper can be augmented with an electronic system, specifically any combination of fax technology (63.7%), computers (69.4%), or online-transmission (60.1%) (table 2). Nearly 70% of the 5,811 respondents have access to a computer, including faxmodems. This figure is based on 3,664 and 3,871 responses relative to hardware and software capabilities, respectively. Adding 854 users with fax machines, brings the overall total to 84%. In addition, respondents reported on recorded media capabilities; diskettes (60%), CD-ROM (23%), and hardware components such as PostScript printers (18%). About 87% of all BJS users contemplating online-transmission want to receive searchable files. Users in this group reported possessing modems or faxmodems (64.2%), capacity to download BJS publications and datafiles from a bulletin board (48.6%), or from the Internet (32.5%). Two-thirds of the respondents reported on software programs in their computers: operating system (65%), word processors (56%), and electonic file format for BJS reports (43%). The most popular operating systems among the 3,747 respondents reporting on this item were MS-DOS and Windows (79% and 61%, respectively). Wordperfect was the most popular word processor and can be used by 42% of all respondents, followed by MS-Word which can be used by 1 in 4 users with word processing capabilities. Among the 2,479 respondents who reported that they can use electronic files, 1 in 2 indicated that they can use BJS reports in ASCII text file format. BJS files formatted as spreadsheets or as databases can be used by 35% and 26% of those users, respectively. ----------------------------------------------- Table 2. The flow of criminal justice information in an electronic system as reported by 5,811 BJS users ----------------------------------------------- Number Percent ----------------- Number of respondents 5,811 100.0% Total 4,906 84.4% Facsimile 3,702 63.7% Computer 4,030 69.4% Hardware 3,664 63.1 CD-ROM 1,328 22.9 Software 3,871 66.6% Operating system 3,747 64.5 MS-DOS 3,075 52.9 Windows 2,376 40.9 Word processors 3,227 55.5% WordPerfect 2,409 41.5 E-file format: 2,549 43.9% ASCII 1,924 33.1 Spreadsheet 1,354 23.3 dBASE 1,018 17.5 Online research 3,494 60.1% Modem 2,244 38.6 Bulletin board 1,697 29.2 Internet connection 1,136 19.5 Search engine 3,031 52.2 Note: Operating system includes Unix, Macintos, and Os-2. Word processors include MS-Word, Amipro, Wordstar, and others. ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------- Level of computerization ------------------------- Respondents were asked to indicate whether they own any of the following ordered set of eight computer capabilities: 1. Modem 5. Operating System 2. Internet connection 6. Database program 3. CD-ROM reader 7. Spreadsheet software 4. PostScript printer 8. Word Processors A third of the 5,811 respondents indicated that they own no computer capabilities (table 3). The level of computerization, defined as a simple count of the number of items checked by each respondent, was directly correlated with the percentage of users with an Internet connection. Nearly 77% or 4,460 respondents reported on the usage of the reports they receive from BJS: read or archive (53%) manipulating the statistical portion of the report (47%). There is a direct relationship between the users' plan to manipulate statistical figures from BJS publications and their level of computer sophistication. Forty-one percent of users with 2 or less capabilities plan further data manipulation as opposed to more than two-thirds of users with six or more capabilities. ---------------------------------------------- Table 3. Level of computerization, Internet connection and data manipulation for 5,811 respondents All respondents Internet Level of ---------------- connection computerization Number Percent Percent* Total 5,811 100.0% 19.5% 0 1,912 32.9% 0.0% 1 433 7.5 4.8 2 692 11.9 7.5 3 771 13.3 20.4 4 734 12.6 27.5 5 540 9.3 46.7 6 417 7.2 51.3 7 241 4.1 69.3 8 71 1.2 100.0 Data manipulation** ----------------------------- Computa- Level of Read or tion/ computerization Total archive database Total 100% 53.2% 46.8% 0 100% 75.1% 24.9% 1 100 65.7 34.3 2 100 59.3 40.7 3 100 55.7 44.3 4 100 46.0 54.0 5 100 42.1 57.9 6 100 33.8 66.3 7 100 25.4 74.6 8 100 25.0 75.0 *Reflects the ratio of users with Internet access to the number of respondents within each computerization level. **Figures for data manipulation are based on 76.8% or 4,460 respondents. ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Interest profiles of BJS registered users ------------------------------------------ Table 4 displays the percentage distribution of the interest profiles for 36,367 BJS registered users. They expressed about 214,000 preferences so that the typical user is interested in receiving BJS reports from about six major areas of interest in the criminal justice system. BJS Bulletins and the Sourcebook are general publications and they lead with 26,574 and 20,463 users, rspectively. In terms of specific publications, `Drugs and Crime Data' leads with 21,043 users. The overall level of computerization among the 5,811 BJS registered users who responded to the survey average 2.5 and does not vary substantially among interest profiles (table 5). The 5,811 respondents were classified, in terms of the type of their capacity to retrieve BJS reports electronically, into users with a computer (69%), facsimile only (15%), and those with no electronic capacity (16%). This distribution varied slightly by specific BJS publications. For example, variations for the first group ranged from 67.7% for corrections reports to 70.6% for the Sourcebook and the special report on international statistics. BJS users who are planning to further manipulate the statistical portion of BJS publications tend to be interested more in reports on International Statistics (53%), Federal Statistics (52%), and Justice Expenditure (51%). ---------------------------------------------- Table 4. Interest profiles for 36,367 BJS registered users Users' preferences ------------------ BJS Report Type Number Percent BJS Bulletins 26,574 12.4% BJS National Update 13,491 6.3 BJS Publication Catalog 2,896 1.4 Corrections Report 17,106 8.0 Courts Reports 15,140 7.1 Drugs and Crime Data 21,043 9.8 Federal Statistics 12,391 5.8 International Statistics 4,708 2.2 Justice Expenditure 12,329 5.8 Juvenile Statistics 9,012 4.2 Law Enforcement 19,476 9.1 NCVS Reports 19,105 8.9 Privacy and Security 12,115 5.7 Sourcebook* 20,463 9.6 White Collar Crime 7,874 3.7 Total 213,723 100.0% Note: The file on interest profiles contains 213,723 preferences expressed by 36,367 BJS registered users; an average of 5,877 per user. *Most BJS publications are either bulletins or special reports. The Sourcebook compiles those and other reports based on nationwide criminal justice data. ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- Table 5. Respondents' interest profiles by type of capacity and data manipulation Type of Capacity --------------------------- Com- Fax Total puter only None --------------------------- All 100% 68.7% 15.0% 16.3% BJS Bulletins 100% 69.2% 14.2% 16.6% Corrections Report 100 67.7 14.1 18.2 Courts Reports 100 67.8 14.4 17.8 Drugs & Crime Data 100 69.7 14.2 16.1 Federal Statistics 100 69.1 12.8 18.1 International Statistics 100 70.6 12.7 16.7 Justice Expenditure 100 70.2 13.4 16.4 Juvenile Statistics 100 69.2 13.8 17.0 Law Enforcement 100 69.7 14.6 15.7 NCVS Reports 100 69.6 13.9 16.5 Sourcebook 100 70.6 13.5 15.8 Data manipulation --------------------------- Read/ Computer/ Total archive database --------------------------- All 100% 52.7% 47.3% BJS Bulletins 100% 52.8% 47.2% Corrections Report 100 51.8 48.2 Courts Reports 100 51.1 48.9 Drugs & Crime Data 100 50.3 49.7 Federal Statistics 100 48.4 51.6 International Statistics 100 47.3 52.7 Justice Expenditure 100 49.1 50.9 Juvenile Statistics 100 51.5 48.5 Law Enforcement 100 51.2 48.8 NCVS Reports 100 50.6 49.4 Sourcebook 100 51.0 49.0 Note: Data available on 73% of data manipulation and 95% of the remaining figures. *'Fax only' category excludes faxmodems but may include Automated Fax-Back technology. ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Modes of data transfer ----------------------- Forty-six percent of the respondents prefer to receive reports on paper compared to 19% and 30% who prefer faxed or computer-readable files, respectively (table 6). Equivalently, 46% users opt for a combination of paper and other forms, depending on the length of the report (39%), the data (35%), or its format (32%). Naturally, users with no electronic capacity prefer receiving BJS reports on paper (Diagonal values of the submatrix created by modes of data transfer and capacity type, at the upper right corner of table 6). Users with a fax machine prefer either paper or faxed copies of BJS reports as well as retrieving images only files. Those with computer capabilities, including faxmodems, prefer using electronic modes to retrieve searchable files. They would retrieve complete reports as well as the text, tables, or graphics portion. This group of users also dominates preferences for combined modes of data transfer irrespective of data, length of the report, or its format. Users who prefer electronic modes of data transfer tend to be slightly more interested in publications on international statistics (43.6%), law enforecement (42%), justice expenditure (42.1%), and drugs (41.7%) (table 7). ----------------------------------------------- Table 6. Preferences for modes of data transfer and file searchability by capacity type for by 5,811 respondents Modes of Total Total data transfer number percent Computer 1,725 29.7% Text 500 8.6 Tables 512 8.8 Graphics 467 8.0 Complete 1,535 26.4 Facsimile 1,087 18.7% Paper 2,663 45.8% Combination 2,671 46.0% Data 2,048 35.2 Length 2,281 39.3 Format 1,859 32.0 Searchability 3,263 56.2% Searchable 3,031 52.2 Images only 232 4.0 Capacity type Modes of ----------------------------- data transfer Total Computer Fax None Computer 100% 96.8% 1.6% 1.7% Text 100 96.2 1.8 2.0 Tables 100 96.9 1.2 2.0 Graphics 100 96.8 1.3 1.9 Complete 100 97.3 1.1 1.6 Facsimile 100% 81.7% 17.5 .8% Paper 100% 43.6% 23.6% 32.8% Combination 100% 89.6% 8.5% 1.9% Data 100 89.8 8.0 2.2 Length 100 88.8 9.2 2.0 Format 100 90.6 7.5 1.9 Searchability 100% 97.2% 1.7% 1.1% Searchable 100 98.6 .5 .9 Images only 100 78.4 17.2 4.3 Note: The modes of data transfer are not mutually exclusive. Thus, for example, the intersection of computer and facsimile technologies contains 57.7% of the users. The base for the percentages in this column is 5,811. ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Table 7. Interest profiles of 5,811 respondents by their preferences for modes of data transfer Mode of data transfer* -------------------------- Respondents' Number of interest respon- Com- Paper dent Total puter Fax only All 5,517 100% 39.8% 10.1% 50.1% BJS Bulletins 4,200 100% 39.3% 9.6% 51.1% Corrections Report 2,674 100 38.7 7.9 53.4 Courts Reports 2,329 100 40.4 8.1 51.4 Drugs & Crime Data 3,303 100 41.7 8.7 49.6 Federal Statistics 1,864 100 41.0 7.8 51.2 International Statistics 616 100 43.6 7.1 49.3 Justice Expenditure 1,945 100 42.1 8.5 49.4 Juvenile Statistics 1,540 100 39.8 7.3 52.9 Law Enforce- ment 3,229 100 42.0 9.9 48.1 NCVS Reports 3,138 100 40.4 8.7 50.9 Sourcebook 3,402 100 41.6 8.6 49.7 Note: Rate of report for modes of data transfer is 76%. However, the percentage distribution of nonrespondents clusters around 20.4%, ranging from 19.2% to 20.6%. *The modes of data transfer are not mutually exclusive. Thus, the category 'computer' contains 57.7% of the users who also expressed preferences for facsimile technology. ----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Facsimile technology and bulletin boards services -------------------------------------------------- Facsimile technology transcends the mere possession of a fax machine. It can include the capabilities of automatically faxing a document to a designated fax number and even periodically faxing documents to a group of users. A combination of a modem and faxing capabilities, either as a faxmodem in a computer or a modem in a fax machine, is also possible. Indeed, the 5,811 respondents in the present survey can use their computer capabilities to perform 78% of the fax capacity and 58% of the preferences for faxed documents. About the same percentage of fax users are willing to pay long-distance telephone charges to retrieve BJS publications using facsimile and computer technologies, 43.4% and 44.8%, respectively (table 8). The gap is much larger among BBS users, 29.8% and 62.1%, respectively. Most respondents opted for searchable files, but a larger percentage among fax users would consider image format (13% vs. 7.7%). For both groups, the willingness to pay cost is negatively related to length of file and preferences relative to file components are similarly ordered; complete files, text, tables, and graphics. -------------------------------------------------- Table 8. Modes of data transfer and properties of datafiles for fax and BBS users Modes of data transfer and Bulletin properties Facsimile boards of datafile technology services Modes of data transfer 76.1% 72.8% Facsimile 43.4 29.8 Paper 24.7 11.7 Computer 44.8 62.1 File component 50.0% 89.8% Text 22.1 38.6 Tables 16.9 29.3 Graphics 15.4 25.8 Complete 41.1 73.5 Length of file 45.2% 78.4% Short 34.5 58.7 Medium 26.1 44.7 Large 16.4 28.6 Searchability 80.2% 91.0% Images 13.0 7.7 Searchable 73.5 88.9 Note: Figures are based on 1,508 fax users and 1,697 BBS users. May 1996 ************************************************** END OF FILE