Writing Between the Lines: Examining Unprompted Handwritten Student Comments on a Campus-Wide Climate Survey

• In Event: Poster Session II

Abstract

A campus-wide paper-and-pencil survey was recently administered at a southeastern four-year university investigating students’ perceptions of safety, campus climate, and social experiences. Using open coding, the current research examines unprompted hand-written comments left by survey respondents on the paper instrument. Several of the handwritten comments led to coding and data entry decisions. Other comments were related to survey format and survey content. Implications for future research that investigates campus climate, uses campus-wide random samples, and employs paper-pencil methods are discussed.

Authors

• Matthew Allan Bills, Sam Houston State University

• Eryn Nicole O'Neal, Sam Houston State University

• Brittany E. Hayes, Sam Houston State University