Methods
This study uses an online survey (hosted on JISC) that contains closed questions (requiring people to answer on a Likert scale for example) and open questions (that require people to provide a written response). The survey is currently live and being distributed through social media outlets, newsletters, along with emailing lists.
Participants are first asked to disclose some demographic information relating to their: age, ethnic group, gender identity, sexual orientation, and current relationship status. They are then asked to complete the Online Sexual Harassment Scale (Buchanan & Mahoney, 2022) before commenting on possible intervention strategies and their experiences of taking part in the survey. A volunteer and snowball sampling is being implemented and the aim to recruit 300-400 participants. No direct payments or incentives are being offered and full ethical approval for the project has been obtained from Leeds Trinity University and The University of Salford.
The collected data will be analysed using various methods that aim to provide meaning to the data. Using this design allows for differing objectives of the research to be investigated but while remaining complementary to one another. Indeed, the ‘combination of findings from two or more rigorous approaches provides a more comprehensive picture of results’ (Heale & Forbes, 2013, p.98).
References:
Buchanan, N., & Mahoney, A. (2022). Development of a scale measuring online sexual harassment: Examining gender differences and the emotional impact of sexual harassment victimization online. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 27(1), 63-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12197
Heale, R., & Forbes, D. (2013). Understanding triangulation in research. Evidence-Based Nursing, 16(4), 98-98. https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2013-101494