1. Lessons Learned and Findings from the Campus Climate Survey Validation Study
Allison Randall, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
U.S. Department of Justice

2. Presentation Overview
Background on the Campus Climate Survey Validation Study (CCSVS)
Research Goals and Methodology
How we know the data are valid and issues to consider when implementing your own survey
Major findings/value of these data
And what that means for schools and school climate surveys
Summary of key lessons learned on how to conduct a campus climate survey

3. Why conduct a climate survey?
National research ≠ your campus
To reduce risks – for both students and schools – we must understand unique problems and opportunities
Best practices for campus surveys exist, and free surveys, tools and resources are available
Self-report surveys present a more complete picture of victimization than can be obtained through law enforcement or administrative estimates.
Clery-reported
incidents of rape (about 2%)

4. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology: Objective 1
Develop a valid and reliable instrument to collect data about sexual victimization experiences and the campus climate related to sexual victimization.
Approach
Bureau of Justice Statistics used the WH Task Force Toolkit as a starting point
Held listening sessions with stakeholders
Conducted cognitive testing to understand how well questions work and are understood by students
Included items to enable validity checks and latent class analysis
9 schools agreed to participate
Variation in terms of size, public vs. private status, 2- vs. 4-year status, and geography
Survey administered to undergraduate males and females at the 9 schools
Schools were not identified publicly or to each other

5. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology - Instrument
Final CCSVS Instrument: “College Experiences Survey (CES)”
Brief (~15 minutes), confidential, self-administered web survey
Behaviorally-specific, 2-stage approach
Asked about sexual harassment and coercion prior to asking about sexual assault
Multiple reference periods
“since the beginning of the current ( ) academic year” (focus of most estimates)
“since entering college”
“lifetime”
Incident-specific follow-up questions (up to 3 incidents)
Broad array of campus climate measures
Sections on Intimate Partner Violence and Perpetration

6. Sexual Assault, Rape, and Sexual Battery: Measurement
This section asks about times when you may have experienced unwanted sexual contact. In these questions, unwanted sexual contact is sexual contact that you did not consent to and that you did not want to happen. Remember that sexual contact includes touching of your sexual body parts, oral sex, anal sex, sexual intercourse, and penetration of your [IF D3 NE MALE, FILL “vagina or”] anus with a finger or object.
Please check off each point as you read through these descriptions. Unwanted sexual contact could happen when:
someone touches or grabs your sexual body parts (e.g., butt, crotch, or breasts);
someone uses force against you, such as holding you down with his or her body weight, pinning your arms, hitting or kicking you;
someone threatens to hurt you or someone close to you; or
you are unable to provide consent because you are incapacitated, passed out, unconscious, blacked out, or asleep. This could happen after you voluntarily used alcohol or drugs, or after you were given a drug without your knowledge or consent.
Please keep in mind that anyone – regardless of gender – can experience unwanted sexual contact. Also, the person who does this could be a stranger or someone you know, such as a friend, family member, or person you were dating or hanging out with.

7. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology: Objective 2
Design and implement a data collection methodology that achieves response rate and survey completion targets, and avoids nonresponse bias.
Approach
Administered between Spring break and start of finals
Field period lasted ~57 days
Use of incentives ($25 for most respondents)
Survey could be taken on a range of devices (30% used smartphone)
About 23,000 respondents (15,000 females; 8,000 males)

8. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology – High Data Quality
Response rates higher than anticipated – (54% for females; 45% for males)
Nonresponse bias analysis suggested that nonresponders were not significantly different from those who responded

9. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology – High Data Quality
Among females, sexual assault rates stabilized after about 20 days of data collection in all schools
29 days, when 8 out of 9 sample size targets were hit

10. CCSVS Research Goals and Methodology: Objective 3
Generate school-specific estimates of victimization and have the ability to compare findings across schools.
Approach
Selected a representative sample of students at each school (vs. a census of all students)
Sample sizes based on anticipated response and victimization rates
Used a standardized instrument and methodology across all 9 schools
Standard errors and confidence intervals used to show significant differences

11. CCSVS Prevalence Rates for Females - 2014-2015 Academic Year
Rates varied widely by school – climate surveys can help schools understand their unique issues.
Rape and sexual battery shown as mutually exclusive categories; sexual assault includes both.

12. CCSVS Prevalence Rates for Females – Since Entering College and Lifetime
Again, rates varied widely by school.
Includes respondents in all grades; not broken out by type of sexual assault.

13. Sexual harassment and coercion (females)
Sexual harassment and coercion are also problematic and vary by school.
Sexual harassment in particular can be very high and schools with higher levels of harassment also had higher levels of sexual assault.

14. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students were most at risk
Sexual assault prevention and intervention strategies must address the needs of these students.
Gender identity is not shown below. Since entering college, the prevalence rate of sexual assault at all 9 schools was about 28% for transgender students.
Data were also collected on age, race/Hispanic origin, year of study; no differences were found by race or ethnicity.

15. CCSVS Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (females)
IPV (dating/domestic violence) was a fairly consistent problem across all schools, and rates of IPV did not track with rates of sexual assault – it overlaps but is a distinct problem.

16. CCSVS Incident-level data – Month of sexual assault incident (females)
Higher rates in Sept and Oct, especially for 1st year students – surprisingly high in August as well. Prevention messages need to reach students before college begins and immediately after.
Lower rates in April/May and absence of June/July data are due in part to the timing of data collection.

17. Victim Offender Relationship (female victims) – Someone the victim knew casually is most common offender
Among female victims at the nine schools, incidents of rape and sexual battery were most likely to be perpetrated by someone the victim knew casually, primarily, an acquaintance, friend of a friend, or someone that the victim had just met (59% for rape and 48% for sexual battery).
For incidents of rape, the offender was a current or ex dating partner or spouse in 23% of incidents, current or ex friend or roommate in 16%, and a stranger in 9%.
For incidents of sexual battery, the second most common category of offenders was strangers (34%), followed by current or ex friends or roommates (12%) and current or ex dating partner or spouse (7%).
Average estimates for categories across all schools, but variability was present between estimates at each school. For example, the percentage of rape incidents involving someone else the victim knew as the category of offender ranged from 50% at School 4 to 71% at School 3.
*Someone else the victim knew includes someone the victim had seen or heard about but not talked to; an acquaintance, friend of a friend, or someone that the victim had just met; or a professor or teaching assistant.

18. CCSVS Incident-level data - Tactic used by offender (female victims)

19. Offender school affiliation (female rape victims) – Varies, but usually 50%+
The nine schools varied in the proportion of victimizations that were committed by an offender affiliated with the school (students, professors, or other employees of the school). For rape incidents, the proportion ranged from 71% to 43%, and similarly the range for sexual battery incidents went from a high of 69% to a low of 39%.

20. CCSVS Incident-level data - Victim disclosure and impact (female victims)
Students disclose to roommates and friends, not law enforcement or school officials – even though rape is highly upsetting. Friends need to know how to respond to disclosures.

21. CCSVS Incident-level data - Victim impact (continued)
Rape and sexual battery lead to serious problems – for students and for schools.

22. CCSVS Incident-level data - Reasons for not reporting rape incidents (females)

23. Campus Climate Measures and Association with Victimization#
Label 1
General School Connectedness   2
General Perceptions of Campus Police   3
General Perceptions of Faculty   4
General Perceptions of Leadership Staff   5
Perceptions of School Leadership Climate for Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response    6
Awareness and Perceived Fairness of School Sexual Assault Policy and Resources   7
Perceptions of School Leadership Climate for Treatment of Sexual Assault Victims   8
Likelihood of Personal Bystander Behavior to Prevent Sexual Misconduct   9
Perceptions of Student Norms Related to Sexual Misconduct: Student Misconduct   10
Perceptions of Student Norms Related to Sexual Misconduct:  Student Bystander Behavior and Involvement   11
Personal Acceptance of Sexual Misconduct  

24. Don’t Forget to Ask Questions about Intimate Partner Violence
IPV (dating/domestic violence) against females was a fairly consistent problem across all schools, and annual prevalence of IPV did not track with sexual assault – it overlaps but is a distinct problem.

25. Summary – Lessons Learned
Valuable information can be obtained from campus climate surveys if conducted using sound methodology and valid/reliable instrument
CCSVS instrument available for download
Ordering of modules and question wording is important for generating clean estimates
To reduce cost and resources use a sample of students rather than a census
Offer an incentive ($25-30/student) to increase response rates and reduce bias
Provide options for taking survey on a wide-range of devices
Keep the survey in the field for at least 30 days (ideally more)
Consider fielding at the end of the year, between spring break and finals
Offer resources for victims at the end of the survey instrument
15% of CCSVS respondents accessed these resources
Check out our “best practice” tips and other resources online

26. For More Information about the CCSVS
Reach out to the Department of Justice, Office on
Violence Against Women at:
Follow us on
For the full report and additional resources: