Undeniably, national criminal survey is decidedly crucial in various ways. I would answer honestly if I was participating in a national crime survey. As a matter of fact, I will answer honestly because of various reasons. Honesty in participation will help in the collection of correct profiles, data, and information, which is helpful to the nation. Perhaps, the information that I will give out will form the basis of national planning and policy development on issues pertaining criminal behaviors. I have no reason to lie during the participation, since I have nothing to hide in the public domain. In some scenarios, individuals may not answer honestly because they do not want to be known. Individuals, who have behaviors to hide, will answer in a way that is publicly, socially, as well as morally acceptable in society. Hence, the choice to answer honestly may depends on how the questions are asked, and how it will affect individual at a personal level. Additionally, the data are collected with an objective; hence, false information may misplace the real intent and criminologist will produce false criminal profiles. Moreover, by answering honestly, I will be placing criminologist and delinquency prevention and control unit, in a better place in figuring out how to prevent crime, and comprehend why people commit such crimes. Generally, I will answer honestly during the participation because my information will be in a direct and indirect way beneficial to authorities, criminologist, society, and the entire nation (Siegel, 2011).
Certainly, self-reported data entail volunteering of the target population in identifying the crimes that they have been involved. In this case, dishonesty and honesty are the main factors during self-report studies. As a matter of fact, honesty is crucial in self-report because it helps various groups in comprehending criminal behaviors and crime (Siegel, 2011). The reports collected are used by different stakeholders in analyzing various issues and developing policies. In fact, the FBI publishes the information in their yearly reports. In most cases, self-respected research is carried out by groups who promise anonymity so as to ensure that the response is honesty and valid. On the other hand, reports that are received in this form have some form of dishonesty in it. Many individual do not admit on their illegal acts, regardless of anonymity (Siegel, 2011). Honesty and dishonesty in self-report has proved to determine the outcome of the data collected. Self-report studies are better in measuring deviance in society. Honesty make people be open in giving out of self-report, which presents an upper hand in making correct decisions. On the other hand, dishonesty will make an individual project an icon that is wanted by society, instead of saying the truth. Perhaps, dishonesty vague the facts and jeopardizes the entire study, which in turn hinders progress in achieving research objective.
References
Siegel, L. (2011). Criminology. California: Wadsworth
