Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 
The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey SCJS is a social survey which asks people about their experiences and perceptions of crime in Scotland. The survey is an important public resource and for the government of Scotland. Respondents are selected at random from the Postal Address File and participation in the survey is entirely voluntary.
The main aims of the SCJS are to:
- Provide reliable statistics on peoples experience of crime, including services provided to victims of crime
- Assess the varying risk of crime for different groups of people in the population
- Examine trends in the level and nature of crime in Scotland over time
- Collect information about people's experiences of, and attitudes on a range of crime and justice related issues
An important role of the SCJS is to provide an alternative and complementary measure of crime to the police recorded crime statistics, which provide statistics on crimes and offences recorded and cleared up by the eight Scottish police forces.
Interviews for the SCJS began in April 2008 and will run continuously until March 2010. The survey involves interviewing a randomly selected adult in 16,000 households across Scotland per year .The findings from the SCJS will be used by policy makers across the public sector in Scotland to help understand the nature of crime in Scotland, target resources and monitor the impact of initiatives to target crime.