Magnitude estimation for assessing personal security is introduced. Magnitude estimates were obtained and used to compute security indexes. The advantage of magnitude estimate–based indexes over summated scales is that they are ratio rather than ordinal data. Residents of Greensboro, North Carolina, were surveyed regarding crime in the vicinity of bus stops. Responses were analyzed, and violent crime around bus areas was rated 2.5 times more serious than nonviolent crime (e.g., panhandling). In a model of the index, the gender of residents, an interaction term denoting crime victimization and taking precautionary measures, and the crime rate were significant predictors; race and age were not.
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