Fellowship for Margaret Campe: Lindsey M. Bonistall Fellowship

Estimates derived from research vary, depending on how broadly researchers define and measure sexual violence, but the most frequently cited statistic is that one in four college women experience some type of sexual violence or abuse during their collegiate careers (Fischer, Cullen, & Turner, 2000; Krebs et al., 2009). These numbers speak to the need for additional research aimed to inform prevention policies and programs on college campuses. The proposed dissertation project has three main methodological objectives: 1) to expand on previous quantitative research regarding Greek and athletic social networks by utilizing the University of Kentucky's (UK) Campus Attitudes Toward Safety (C.A.T.S) survey, which is the only population-based campus climate survey in the U.S.; 2) to push quantitative analysis of college campus Greek and athletic social networks and their relationship to sexual violence beyond the traditional regression models that use singular, often binary variables to categorize college students by incorporating social networks analysis methods; and 3) to use focus groups to better understand certain social networks' opinions and feelings about sexual violence against women.