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Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

Fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS–4)

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Maltreatment forms on sampled cases. These adjustments enlarged the weights forparticipating entities to make up for the loss <strong>of</strong> similar, nonparticipating entities.Multiplicity adjustments. The unduplication process identified <strong>and</strong>removed multiple forms on the same child, as described above, ensuring that just a singlerecord on the child entered the final analyses. The process <strong>of</strong> unifying a single record torepresent the child included the calculation <strong>of</strong> a unified weight for the child as well. Theunified weight summarized the probability <strong>of</strong> having sampled a duplicated child,correcting for the fact that the child entered the study through multiple sources.Annualization adjustments. The NIS–4 gathered data for two 3-monthstudy reference periods. Agencies participated in either the 3-month fall reference periodor in the 3-month spring reference period. The annualization adjustments enabled thedata from the two 3-month reference periods to provide estimates that reflect the numbers<strong>of</strong> children who experienced maltreatment over the course <strong>of</strong> 12-months during 2005—2006. The NIS–4 annualization adjustments used data from the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Abuse</strong><strong>and</strong> <strong>Neglect</strong> Data System (NCANDS) on substantiated children in the NIS–4 counties.The NCANDS data provided four adjustment factors, two for children maltreated duringeach reference period (fall or spring), depending on the source that reported the child toCPS (school versus other sources). 15The Design <strong>and</strong> Methods Summary (Appendix A) provides additionalinformation about the weighting process, with further details available in the AnalysisReport (Sedlak, Mettenburg, Winglee et al., 2010).2.7Data AnalysisThe principal NIS–4 findings are estimates <strong>of</strong> totals <strong>and</strong> rates: the totalnumber <strong>of</strong> maltreated children in the U.S. <strong>and</strong> the rate <strong>of</strong> maltreated children per 1,000 in15 The NIS targets children maltreated or reported to CPS during the reference period in question. Incontrast, NCANDS annual data files include cases based on the date that CPS assigned a disposition.Thus, in order to reflect all children reported to CPS during the 2005 calendar year, it was necessary tointegrate data from two NCANDS fiscal year files: 2005 <strong>and</strong> 2006.2–17

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