Analysis of Suburban Crime — An Exploratory Data Analysis Approach

This paper analyses possible causes of violent and property crimes in suburban communities using a step by step approach to investigate “what the data tries to tell us”. It deviates from the common hypothesis testing approach used by social scientists by incorporating simultaneously theoretical models with extensive data analysis in order to derive the best statistical model to fit the data. The output of each stage in the analysis is the input to the next stage. The paper concludes with a crime attraction model indicating that most property offences are attracted by the special characteristics of suburban localities.