March 11, 2016

Dear Oracle Editor in Chief,

Thank you for continuing to cover the important issue of sexual violence at Hamline University. We write to clarify some inaccuracies in the article “Sexual violence: the disturbing truth,” published in the March 9, 2016 edition of The Oracle.

In spite of the claim made in the article, given the nature of the information we are attempting to collect, our sampling method is sound. We were not asked by the reporter to discuss our method. If we had been, we would have been happy to explain it further. We used a version of snowball sampling, which is an effective sampling method that provides a number of benefits, particularly for connecting with hard-to-reach populations who might be hidden by stigma or choice. Unlike true snowball sampling, our survey was seeded from a variety of populations, and was promoted by a variety of Hamline offices, Hamline faculty, HUSC, and student groups. In addition, a motivation for this survey was to increase transparency of sexual assault data. We wanted students who had not felt comfortable reporting their sexual assault to Hamline to have their experience acknowledged in our data. If we had used a random sample method, we would not have met our goal of increasing visibility of unreported sexual assault incidents.

As a result of the wide promotion of the survey, we achieved a response rate that can allow us to claim an extraordinarily high confidence interval regarding our data. Most academics recommend that in order to achieve a 99% confidence interval in a population of approximately 2000 (our undergraduate population surveyed), researchers should receive approximately 500 responses. Both years, we exceeded that number of responses. In fact, most researchers gather a lot fewer responses and draw far more conclusions based on them. In other words, our survey collected a meaningful and reliable sample, and our data is also generalizable because it parallels known national trends related to sexual violence on college campuses.

In addition, in spite of the article implying that we received a low response rate from students of color, our survey of students of color is well within a normal range of expected diversity, if not above that. Our survey demographics closely mirror Hamline’s general demographic data. In fact, we are proud that we successfully surveyed 22% of our known population of students of color. This is particularly important to note because we value the voices of every Hamline student and have sought to diversify our response rate since we began this work. There is always room for improvement, but we take the perspectives of our students from marginalized communities very seriously.

Unfortunately, due to the numerous errors relating to the way our data was presented in the infographic, it is misleading to readers. The infographic uses a confusing array of data from different years, does not provide exact percentages, or duplicate the language we use to describe our results – for example, in this type of research, the preferred terminology to describe incidents where alcohol is present is “alcohol- facilitated sexual assaults.” This language is specific and strategic, and better captures the research perspective on this issue. We encourage readers who wish to see our data represented in context to visit our website: thecampusclimatesurvey.wordpress.com

We value the work The Oracle is doing to raise campus awareness of this issue. We also value the the trust that Hamline students have placed in us when they provide responses to our survey. We care deeply that the best representation of our data reaches our campus in order to maintain the relationship we’ve built between this research project and the communities it serves, so that we can help make Hamline a better place.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kristin Mapel Bloomberg, Professor of Women’s Studies CLA ’90
Brynna Morgan CLA ‘16
Elena Anderson CWP & CLA ‘16