Comparative Analysis and Visualizaiton of Campus Sexual Assault Data
Author:
Twity Gitonga ’24Co-Authors:
Hannah Holt, Arianna Gambrell , Marisa Alkalay, Ken FlerageFaculty Mentor(s):
Professor Erica Delsandro and Prof Bill Flack, Women and Gender Studies, and PsychologyFunding Source:
James L.D. and Rebecca Roser Research FundAbstract
Abstract for the Kalman Symposium
Twity Gitonga, Class of 2024
Advised by Professor Delsandro
Women and Gender Studies Department
Program for Undergraduate Research
James L.D. and Rebecca Roser Research Fund
Comparative Analysis and Visualization of Campus Sexual Assault Data
Sexual assault on college campuses is a prevalent and well-documented problem. I aim to seek more specifics about sexual assault on Bucknell’s campus and ask more Bucknell oriented questions. We decided to look at the stories of students on campus, starting from the moment they arrived. Specifically, we examined with which groups did they become involved, Greek life or sports teams, and explored how group affiliation shaped their knowledge and experience of campus sexual assault. I utilized Professor Bill Flack’s archive of campus sexual assault survey data to explore my questions. My goal was to create a virtual ecological model of campus sexual assault at Bucknell.
One issue that we had to negotiate was whether to look at one class year or compare data sets that include representatives of all class years.
The research questions for both approaches are:
1. Was there a significant cultural change (ie, new Title IX guidelines, #MeToo, etc.) that impacted the campus climate and, thus, patterns of campus sexual assault?
2.How does a student’s group affiliation impact their knowledge and experience of campus sexual assault?
3.If a student was sexually assaulted, did they report it or seek advice on the actions to take?
I employed SPSS and Tableau. SPSS allowed me to convert the data into excel, which then gave me the opportunity to clean the data and conduct the analysis on the data visualization platform, Tableau, with the help of Ken Flerage.