INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS To assist users in understanding and interpreting data from the PSS, information about how the data has been compiled for output purposes is outlined below for: Prevalence data; Most recent incident data; Partner violence data; Emotional abuse by a partner data; and Stalking data. Further information about interpreting the results is also provided below for: Percentages; Time frame reference periods; Quality of estimates; Impact of survey procedures; and Comparability with PSS 2005 data. PREVALENCE DATA - MEASURING MULTIPLE INCIDENTS AND MULTIPLE TYPES OF VIOLENCE It is possible that people have experienced multiple incidents of violence. In the PSS dataset where a person has experienced more than one type of violence, they are counted separately for each type of violence they experience but are only counted once in the aggregated totals. Components therefore may not add to the totals. For example if a person had experienced an incident of physical assault by a stranger and an incident of physical assault by their current partner, they would be counted against each type of violence by type of perpetrator (i.e. physical assault by a stranger and physical assault by a current partner) but they would only be counted once in the total for those who had experienced physical assault. Refer to the Glossary for further information. It is also possible that a single incident of violence may involve more than one of the different types of violence. In the PSS dataset a single incident of violence is only counted once. Where an incident involves both sexual and physical assault, it is counted as a sexual assault. For example if a person is physically assaulted during or as part of a sexual assault, this would be counted once only as a sexual assault. Where an incident involves a person being both threatened with assault and assaulted, it is counted as an assault. For example if in a single incident a perpetrator threatens to sexually assault a person and then sexually assaults them, this would be counted only once in the survey as a sexual assault. The same applies for incidents where a person is both threatened with physical assault and physically assaulted. Refer to the Glossary for detailed definitions of an incident. While information was collected about people’s experience of violence by each type of perpetrator, the survey did not collect the actual number of violent incidents people experienced. It also does not provide information about repeat victimisation, that is, the number of incidents a person experienced by the same perpetrator. MOST RECENT INCIDENT DATA Due to constraints on the length of interview and the load placed respondents, it was not possible to collect detailed information about each incident of violence a person had ever experienced (ie a person's lifetime experience of violence). Instead the PSS uses a methodology to select a representative sample of incidents in order to make inferences about the prevalence, characteristics, impacts and outcomes of violence. The methodology uses a person's 'most recent incident' as the method of selecting a representative sample of incidents: people who had ever experienced an incident of violence were asked to focus on their most recent incident and provide more detailed information about that incident. However, the characteristics and actions taken following an incident of violence differ depending on the type of violence a person experienced and the gender of the perpetrator. So for the PSS, this 'most recent incident' methodology was applied to each of the different types of violence a person had experienced by a male and by a female perpetrator. If the most recent incident occurred more than 20 years ago, detailed information was not collected due to difficulties associated with recalling the incident. People who had experienced violence were asked to provide more detailed information about their most recent incident including: what happened during the incident; the actions taken following the incident; and the impact of the incident. This provides information for each of the eight different types of violence a person could experience including: Sexual assault by a male; Sexual assault by a female; Sexual threat by a male; Sexual threat by a female; Physical assault by a male; Physical assault by a female; Physical threat by a male; and Physical threat by a female. This information is able to be used to analyse the different types of violence experienced by men and women to assess: Whether there are differences in what happens when different types of violence are experienced; and Whether there are differences between what happens when a woman experiences violence, and when a man experiences violence. The characteristics of the different types of violence are not able to be added in the PSS dataset to produce a total for characteristics of "violence". Conceptually it is invalid to add together data about the characteristics for the different types of violence, as actions a person may take could differ depending on the type of violence experienced. For example, if a person had contacted the police about their most recent incident of physical assault by a male but had not contacted police about their most recent incident of physical assault by a female, it is impossible to calculate an estimate of whether or not this person has contacted the police about "violence" - they both have and haven't. To add together data about characteristics of the different types of violence would also double count all persons who have experienced more than one type of violence. As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, rates will not reflect the total prevalence of different characteristics. For example, if a person had experienced more than one incident of physical assault by a male and had not contacted police about their most recent incident but had about an earlier incident then they have actually contacted the police at some point (just not for their most recent incident). In this instance the characteristics of a person's most recent incident would understate their overall behaviour in reporting of incidents to the police. PARTNER VIOLENCE DATA The 2012 PSS collected information about a person's experience of violence, since the age of 15, by a partner. The term 'partner' in the PSS is used to describe a person the respondent currently lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship. Partner violence only refers to violence a respondent experienced from a person they currently live with, or lived with at some point, in an intimate relationship and does not include violence by a "boyfriend/girlfriend or date". Violence by a partner excludes violence experienced by persons in an intimate relationship which does not involve living together. For the purposes of the PSS current and previous partner have been defined as follows: Current partner: The person the respondent currently lives with in a married or de facto relationship. Previous partner: A person the respondent lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship from whom the respondent is now separated. Includes a partner the respondent was living with at the time of experiencing violence; or a partner the respondent was no longer living with at the time of experiencing violence. Due to constraints on the length of interview and the load placed on respondents, it was not possible to collect detailed information about every previous partner a person had ever experienced violence by. People who had experienced violence by a previous partner were asked to focus on their 'most recently violent' previous partner and provide more detailed information about that relationship. Respondents who have experienced violence by a boyfriend/girlfriend or date were not asked the more detailed questions relating to partner violence. The partner violence questions focus on what happened when the respondent experienced violence while they were living with their partner and are not applicable or relevant to a boyfriend/girlfriend or date type relationship. In addition, the impacts of experiencing violence by someone who the respondent has lived with are different to the impacts for those who experience violence from someone they have not lived with. Therefore a conscious decision was made to make the distinction between relationships that involved living together at some stage during the relationship (such as current or previous partner), and relationships that did not involve living together (such as boyfriend/girlfriend or date). Where a person reported experiencing any type of violence by a current or previous partner, additional information was collected about the actions taken, consequences, and the impacts of the violence over the course of the entire relationship. As a person may have experienced violence by both a current partner and a previous partner, information is collected separately about violence by both partner types. Where a person experienced violence by more than one previous partner, they were asked to focus on their most recently violent previous partner and what happened with that particular previous partner (note: this detailed information is not collected for all their violent previous partner relationships). This provides a powerful dataset with comprehensive information for what happens when a person experiences: Violence by a current partner; and Violence by a previous partner. The characteristics of current partner and previous partner violence are not able to be added in the PSS dataset to produce a total for characteristics of "partner violence". Conceptually it is invalid to add together data about the characteristics for current and previous partner violence, as actions a person may take could differ depending on the type of partner. For example, if a person had contacted the police about the violence by their most recently violent previous partner but had never contacted police about the violence by their current partner, it is impossible to calculate an estimate of whether or not this person has contacted the police about "partner violence" - they both have and haven't. To add together data about characteristics of current and previous partner violence would also double count all persons who have experienced violence by both a current and a previous partner. EMOTIONAL ABUSE BY A PARTNER DATA The 2012 PSS collected information about a person's experience of emotional abuse by a current partner and by a male and/or female previous partner. Where a person had experienced one or more emotional abuse behaviours, they were classified as having experienced emotional abuse. For further details refer to the Glossary. For the PSS current and previous partner are defined as: Current partner: The person the respondent currently lives with in a married or de facto relationship. Previous partner: A person the respondent lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship from whom the respondent is now separated. Includes a partner the respondent was living with at the time of experiencing the emotional abuse; or a partner the respondent was no longer living with at the time of experiencing the emotional abuse. Where a person had experienced emotional abuse by both a current and a previous partner, or by both a male and a female previous partner, they are counted separately for each type of partner but are only counted once in the aggregated totals. Due to constraints on the length of interview and the load placed on respondents, it was not possible to collect detailed information about every previous partner a person had ever experienced emotional abuse by. Where a person had experienced emotional abuse by more than one male previous partner, the information relates to the male previous partner who had most recently emotionally abused them. Similarly, where a person had experienced emotional abuse by more than one female previous partner the information relates to the female previous partner who had most recently emotionally abused them. While it is acknowledged that a person may have experienced emotional abuse by someone other than a current or previous partner, information about emotional abuse by other persons was not collected in the 2012 survey. In addition, the previous partner who most recently emotionally abused the respondent is not necessarily the same previous partner who was reported as the most recently violent previous partner. Information on previous partner emotional abuse cannot be directly linked to previous partner violence. The characteristics of current partner and previous partner emotional abuse are not able to be added in the PSS dataset to produce a total for characteristics of "partner emotional abuse". Conceptually it is invalid to add together data about the characteristics for current and previous partner emotional abuse, as these may differ depending on the type of partner. For example, if a person had experienced anxiety or fear due the emotional abuse by their current partner but had not experienced anxiety or fear due the emotional abuse by their most recently emotionally abuse male previous partner, it is impossible to calculate an estimate of whether or not this person has experienced anxiety or fear due to "partner emotional abuse" - they both have and haven't. To add together data about characteristics of current and previous partner emotional abuse would also double count all persons who have experienced emotional abuse by both a current and a previous partner. STALKING DATA The 2012 PSS collected information about a person's experience of stalking. Due to constraints on the length of an interview and the load placed on respondents, it was not possible to collect detailed information about each episode of stalking a person had experienced. Instead, detailed information was collected about their most recent incident of stalking by male perpetrator and stalking by a female perpetrator. Where a person had experienced stalking by a male and stalking by a female, they are counted separately for stalking by a male and by a female but are only counted once in the aggregated total. The characteristics of stalking by a male and stalking by a female are not able to be added in the PSS dataset to produce a total for characteristics of "stalking". Conceptually it is invalid to add together data about the characteristics for stalking by a male and stalking by a female, as actions a person may take could differ depending on the episode. For example, if a person had contacted the police about the stalking by a male but had not contacted police about stalking by a female, it is impossible to calculate an estimate of whether or not this person has contacted the police about "stalking" - they both have and haven't. To add together data about characteristics of stalking by a male and stalking by a female would also double count all persons who have experienced stalking by both a male and a female. In addition, the previous partner who most recently stalked the respondent is not necessarily the same previous partner who was reported as the most recently violent previous partner, nor the most recently emotionally abusive previous partner. Information collected about previous partner stalking cannot be directly linked to previous partner violence, or previous partner emotional abuse data.

FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT INTERPRETING THE RESULTS

Percentages

In Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0) tables provide information on both the number of persons and the percentage of persons. Percentages in the tables are used to express proportions. For a brief summary on how to use and calculate percentages, see Statistical Language!, 2008 (cat. No. 1332.0.55.002).
In Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0), depending on the purpose of the table, the percentages shown in the tables will use different data as the denominator in the percentage calculation:

• Sometimes the 'total number of males/females' is used as the denominator - this percentage is used to describe what proportion of the overall population has a particular characteristic (this is often referred to as the 'prevalence rate');
• While at other times another sub population is used as the denominator - this percentage is used to describe what proportion of a sub population has a particular characteristic.

To determine which number has been used as the denominator in any percentage calculation, refer to the description of the "Total" row/column showing the percentage of 100% in the table.

Examples of some of the different population/sub populations which have been used as the denominator in Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0) include (but are not limited to) the following examples:

• Table 1 (row 41) - the total number of males/females (18 years and over) is used as the denominator (100%) to calculate the prevalence of violence for all males/females in the population (see Table 1 in the Downloads tab );
• Table 7 (column F) - the total number of male/females in each age group is used as the denominator (100%) to calculate the prevalence of violence for persons in each age group (see Table 7 in the Downloads tab );
• Table 8 (column F) - the total number of males/females in each State/Territory is used as the denominator (100%) to calculate the prevalence of violence for males/females in each State/Territory (see Table 8 in the Downloads tab);
• Table 16 (column F) - the total number of males/females who experienced each type of violence is used as the denominator (100%) to calculate what proportion of all persons who experienced each type of violence did/did not seek advice or support about their most recent incident (see Table 16 in the Downloads tab );
• Table 22 (row 21) - the total number of males or females who had experienced violence by a current partner is used as the denominator (100%) to calculate what proportion of all males/female who experienced violence by a partner experienced violence once/more than once (see Table 22 in the Downloads tab).

When using the percentages shown in Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0) it is important to pay attention to which population or sub population has been used as the denominator (ie. the 100%) in any table. The population or sub population which is the denominator will impact how the data should be interpreted and described. Some examples are provided below:

When explaining the percentages presented in Table 7, these would need to correctly describe the sub population of interest ie 'total persons in each age group'. For example "24 percent of males aged 18 to 24 years experienced violence during the last 12 months" or "Of all males aged 18 to 24 years, 24 percent had experienced violence during the last 12 months" or "24 percent of 18 to 24 year old men had experienced violence during the last 12 months". Without the qualifying statement of men/males aged 18 to 24 years, the data may incorrectly be interpreted as 24% of all men experienced violence in the last 12 months (which would be incorrect).

When explaining the percentages presented in Table 22, these would need to correctly describe the subpopulation of interest ie 'persons who had experienced violence by a current partner/previous partner'. For example: "65 percent of males who experienced violence by a current partner, experienced violence more than once". Without the the qualifying statement of who experienced violence by a current partner, the data may incorrectly be interpreted as 65% of all men experienced violence by a partner more than once (which would be incorrect).

For further examples of how the data should be described, refer to the detailed summary of findings presented in Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0).

Time frame reference periods

There are four main reference periods reported in the publication:

• During the last 12 months;
• Since the age of 15;
• Before the age of 15; and
• Lifetime.

Estimates for 'during the last 12 months' are used to measure the current number and proportion of persons in Australia who have experienced any type of violence, stalking, partner emotional abuse or sexual harassment in the 12 months prior to the survey. This information is used to determine whether there have been any changes in the prevalence rates over time.

Estimates for 'since the age of 15' are used to measure the number and proportion of persons in Australia who have experienced any type of violence or partner emotional abuse since the age of 15. This information is used to determine a broader measure of a person's overall experiences of violence or partner emotional abuse.

Estimates for 'before the age of 15' are used to measure the number and proportion of persons in Australia who have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse before the age of 15. This information is used to determine a broader measure of a person's early experiences of violence.

Estimates for 'lifetime' are used to measure the number and proportion of persons in Australia who have ever experienced stalking or sexual harassment. This information is used to determine a broader measure of a person's overall lifetime experiences of stalking or sexual harassment.

When interpreting the results presented in the PSS publication, reference should be made to the title of each table, as well as the footnotes to determine the reference period and any further measures used in the table.

Quality of estimates

Users should also take into consideration the quality of the estimates when interpreting data from the PSS.

Estimates with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are considered sufficiently reliable for most purposes, and only estimates of such precision are referred to in the Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0) (unless otherwise noted). Due to the relatively small numbers of persons experiencing certain types of violence, some of the estimates provided within the data cubes in Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0) are subject to very high sampling error.

To determine if there is a real difference between two estimates, statistical significance testing has been conducted for estimates and proportions presented in Personal Safety, Australia, 2012 (cat. no. 4906.0). Only differences where this test confirmed a statistically significant difference, with a 95% level of confidence, are noted in any commentary. Otherwise, despite what might appear to be apparent differences between estimates, it cannot be stated with confidence that the differences are real and not the result of sampling error.

The ABS advises users to consider RSE's in any data analysis, and conduct significance testing on data to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between estimates.

For further information about how to calculate RSE's and conduct significance testing, refer to Data Quality.

Impact of Survey Procedures

Finally, users should be aware of the possible impacts of survey procedures on the estimates. For example, the ABS is aware that some survey procedures may have impacted on the representation of certain population groups in the PSS. For further details, refer to Data collection.

Comparability with PSS 2005 data

As discussed in Comparability between the Personal Safety Survey and other data sources, the 2012 PSS was designed to provide, where possible, information that was comparable to the 2005 PSS. However users should always consider the comparability notes discussed in the Appendix, as well as any other issues noted within this user guide (such as the possible impact of survey procedures, as discussed above and detailed in Data Collection), before making any comparisons between outputs from the 2005 and 2012 surveys.

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