The interpretation of crime rates seems unproblematic, but those sociologists who study crime know that is not the case. Even simple counts of crime raise difficult issues. To imagine the difficulties consider two men at a bar. One of them makes a rude comment to the other and the other person shoves him. The person shoved strikes the other person on the jaw before the fight is broken up. The person hit on the jaw calls the police to the scene and wants to press charges, but the person shoved claims self-defense and that the person who shoved him is guilty of an assault. The two men may decide that the matter is not worth pressing and the police may agree. On the other hand, the police may file a report that results in an arrest. If a grand jury thinks the evidence warrants it, the...