| UCR | NCVS | Self-Reports | |
| Validity Problems: | Nonreported Crimes, Part II Offenses | Victimless crimes, commercial or business victims, delinquency | Depends on crimes included in survey |
| Reliability Problems | Crimes not recorded by police, incomplete and inconsistent recordkeeping | Forgotten crimes, telescoping, series crimes | Reluctance to report illegal acts, recall error |
| Best for | Murder, commercial and business victims | Individual and household incidents not reported to the police | Victimless crimes, delinquency, crimes neither reported nor observed |
| Number of Crimes Included in 1990 | 14 million | 34 million | NA |
Table from Maxvield and Babbie, Research Methods for Criminal Justice and Criminology, 1995 p. 119