Research ProposalCampus Safety After Dark:

Student Evaluations of Campus Safety

ADV 340 - 12/08/2009

Elena Berry * Katie Cheek

Cyle Dowling * David Hickey

Michael Miller

Problem Statement

As increased assaults on Michigan State University’s campus tend to occur at night, members of the Michigan State University community have begun to feel less secure on campus after dark. We need to know what makes Michigan State University community members feel unsafe and what factors have contributed to their uneasiness on campus at night. By asking the students what should be done to increase feelings of security we hope to achieve better allocation of resources, thereby improving campus safety and reducing, if not eliminating, campus assaults

Symptoms

• Increase in anxiety• Increase in stress

– Low Grades

• Integrity and reputation of University – Lack of Trust

• Decreased student attendance and participation

Possible Causes • Increased reports of campus assaults

• Lack of lighting on campus– Maintenance

• Absence of security

• Infrequently run buses

Hypothesis: An increase in security will increase feelings of safety.

Research QuestionsWhy are students afraid to be on campus at night?

What emotive relation do students attach to the assaults? Why does the lack of lighting decrease a student’s sense of

security?What factors contribute to students uneasiness on campus?

Do students find the designated routes of travel safe late at night?

Research Objectives

• Measure students sense of security when out on campus at night

• Determine what factors contribute to levels of security

• To discover what variables are attributed to feelings of uneasiness

• Determine what improvements can be made • Measure the emotive consequences of the

increased assaults and how these statistics affect security

Background

• In current years the number of assaults is still a current problem on campus

• 122 burglaries reported in 2007, 142 reported in 2008• 10 aggravated assaults in 2007, 11 in 2008• 18 sexual offenses in 2007, 8 in 2008

Rationale/Background cont.

• Reported Cases – 2007, Two women grabbed form behind

and accosted. – 2009, One student was grabbed outside

of the Library. – Faculty member had a knife pulled on

them outside Berkey

• Student Reaction – protective weapons Awareness of danger = Fear

Literature Review

• Data are recorded by the Department of Postsecondary Education annually– Branch of the US Department of Education

– For the past 3 years MSU has made up 50% of assault cases on MI campuses

• Research examined East Lansing Police Surveys– Serious crime was at a 28 year low

– Surveys showed two things:• EL Police have a fast response time• Residents would like more foot patrols at night

Literature Review cont.

• An article written for Reader's Digest last year yielded some staggering figures from last year

• These numbers are compiled from 6,000 universities in the US– 40,000 burglaries– 3,700 forcible sex offenses– 7,000 aggravated assaults– 48 murders a year

• Main source of crimes were fellow students– students need to call into question who they are

hanging out with

Literature Review cont.

• One article found suggested that the figures released each year by campuses are junk

– Due to universities desires to keep figures like the low, they may be reported low

• Could yield a false sense of security on campuses

• In the wake of incidents like the one at Virginia Tech, schools are beefing up security measures.

– A survey of schools show each added an average of 20.5 security personal after the incident

Literature Review Cont.

• Campus security is a real issue that faces Michigan State University– This year alone there have been multiple reported attacks– One incident in September lead to a knife being drawn on a

campus employee

• Following these incidents, student attitudes changed, and became more cautious

• Our research aims to fill the hole that exists regarding just how safe or unsafe students feel on MSU campus at night– Looking for causes related to possible student insecurities

Data Collection Method

• In-person focus group interviews– expound upon participants answers– analyze the motives behind each answer– gather pertinent verbiage

• Paper surveys– Simple method to measure levels of fear – determine the students overall opinions and

attitudes towards campus safety measures

Data Collection Method cont.

• Focus Groups• Each groups has

between 12-15 participants

• Questions: 15-20• In-depth questioning

• Survey• Distributed during

focus group• Multiple Choice • Ratings• Short Answer

Sampling

Sample Size/Population• Nonrandom sample of

of MSU students and faculty on a volunteer basis

• Begin with four focus groups of 13 – Reach a point of

saturation

Analysis • Survey

– Descriptive analysis

• Focus Group – Themes

Possible Problems Focus Groups • Representativeness of participants • Difficult to interpret • High Cost time factors• Reporter bias

Surveys • Invalid answers

Timeline Estimated Timeframe Week 1: Deve lop res earch object ives Week 2: Literat ure rev iew Week 3: Des ign rese arch protoco l Week 4: Des ign rese arch ins turment/ Rec ruit

interv iewers Week 5: Tra in Interv iewers Week 6: Make an nouc ments for volunteers for

focus gr oup Gather part icipants for focus group and

survey Week 7 - 11 Data Co llect ion: Hold focus group

every 3 -4 days

Timeline cont.

Week 12: Trans cribe record ings Deve lop focus grou p the me Week 13: Measur e survey resu lts Week 14: Trans la te Transcr ipts Rev iew Data Week 15: Do a pre liminary ana lys is Week 16: Complete ana lys is Week 17: For m conc lus ion to re search resu lts Week 18: Prepare rep ort to presen t resu lts

Survey InstrumentsFocus Group Questions Survey Questions

Thank you