The research question we ask is “To what extent are First Year students at Miami University aware of campus sexual assault prevalence?” This question is relevant for the field of Sociology because we are researching the human behaviors of college students depending on their experience and knowledge of Sexual Assault. Our research group sent out emails to Miami University first year students with the hope of a ten percent response rate (approximately 460 first-year responses). Within our study we are using quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. As we view our responses, we are examining how sexual assault may alter college students’ behavior and decisions, as well as how it may affect how they interact with others and the connections they form. Our initial findings show that while 47.7% of respondents stated that sexual assault on campus was a problem at Miami University, 61.4% of respondents claimed that they felt moderately safe on campus. A possible conclusion our team has drawn is that respondents of this survey focus more on individual responsibility for feeling safe rather than campus policy. Working through this research experience has shaped our group members skill sets by giving us transferable skills that can work across our multiple fields of interest. Our initial research into this field of study taught us how to work through extensive sources and how to format annotated bibliographies. We learned how to determine the values and drawbacks of these sources by analyzing these complex bodies of work.
Authors: Jessie Smith, Val Hernandez Godinez, Savannah Perry, Carver Spangle
Advisors: Joyce Fernandez, Biology; Carolyn Craig, College of Arts and Science; Abigail Morgan, University Libraries; Katie Gibson, University Libraries; Jenny Presnell, University Libraries
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