Valuating Law Enforcement Data in the 21st Century: An Adaptive Mixed Methods Approach

This award was competitively made in response to a proposal submitted by Research Triangle Institute to a National Institute of Justice FY 2015 solicitation: “Developing a Method to Valuate Law Enforcement Data.” With this solicitation, NIJ sought proposals to conduct research to improve the understanding of the comparative value of data relevant to the law enforcement business process. In its application, Research Triangle Institute proposes an adaptive, mixed-methods approach. This project is intended to address five research questions: (1) How can law enforcement data be valuated? (2) What data sources are important to the law enforcement business process? (3) How do different sources of data influence these practices? (4) How do agency characteristics influence the consumption and production of data? (5) How are datasets connected and how does connectivity affect value? RTI International will begin with expert panels whose output will be a defined set of data categories and valuation methods on which to focus. Through focus groups and interviews with stakeholders, RTI will then refine the data categories and valuation methods, as well as use the data collected to develop case study summaries that will include detailed information on the costs and benefits of datasets being used in 10–12 jurisdictions. RTI International will next assess a nationally representative sample of LEAs to determine the broad applicability of the valuation methodology and to collect data that can be used to identify key data of interest and national estimates of relative valuation. It will develop a valuation methodology framework that considers both the current value placed on the data and the potential future value of the data. This project is being funded incrementally in 4 phases, with the effort funded in FY15 representing the first phase.

This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law.

ca/ncf