Novel linkage of individual and geographic data to study firearm violence

Author: Branas CC / Culhane D / Richmond TS / Wiebe DJ
Publication: Homicide Studies
Topics: Local Social Science Urban/Rural
Keywords: Data linkage Geographic data Intentional Firearm Shootings Methods
Bibliographic information +

This study lays out the methods used in a study of intentional firearm shootings in a large US city. Later publications will presumably present findings from the study. The focus of the study is to identify individual, temporal and geographic risk factors for shootings. Drawing on multiple data sources, the authors identified all shootings known to the police and/or the medical examiner that occurred over approximately 2 ½ years 2003-2006 in Philadelphia, PA. For a random sample of shootings, an age-group, gender and race-matched “control” case was identified by a survey research firm using random digit dial telephone methods and information on the location of the control person at the time of the case shooting collected. Additional data on the location of other crimes, alcohol and fast food outlets, firearm dealerships, drug markets and census-tract level social capital data were also collected and the proximity of cases and controls to these factors calculated. Data from the study will be used “to assess the risk of firearm violence on urban populations.”