Who Speaks First? Analyzing Response Waves in a Campus-Wide Safety Survey

• In Event: Methodological Advancements in Victimization Research: The Importance of Place, Time, and Situational Contexts

Abstract

Recent policy and scholarship advocates for conducting campus climate surveys at colleges and universities, yet little scholarship has explicitly examined the methodologies employed in such studies. Using response data from 5,524 students who participated in a web-based campus safety survey at a large university in a South Atlantic part of the United States, four waves of data corresponding with participation spikes after reminder emails are analyzed. These waves are first compared across a number of demographic variables including age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, international student status, academic year, and living status. Next, data on club participation, perceptions of campus safety, and overall prevalence rates of victimization (e.g., stalking, intimate partner violence, sexual violence) are considered with respect to each participation wave. Results and analysis of “early” versus “late” survey responder comparisons are discussed along with their implications for methodological design when conducting campus safety research.

Authors

• Adam Pritchard, University of Central Florida

• Walter Steven DeKeseredy, West Virginia University

• James J. Nolan, West Virginia University

• Amanda Hall-Sanchez, West Virginia University