Hypothetically Speaking Group Article Analysis
Title of Article: Getting Inside The House: The Effectiveness of a Rape
Prevention Program for College Fraternity Men
1. What is the research question?
Will a socialization-focused rape prevention program have an effect on
changing men's attitudes and beliefs regarding restrictive sex roles and
rape-supported behavior?
2. Summarize the main points of the literature review in a couple of
sentences.
There is a high incidence of sexual assault and date rape on college
campuses. More research has been conducted on stranger rape, than
acquaintance rape, which is more typical of date rape. Many theories on
rapists fail to account for the influence of the social environment that
encourages men to be aggressive and sexual in nature. There have been
few effective educational rape intervention programs designed for men.
3. List a few examples of current and primary sources from reputable
publications cited in this research to verify that the researchers used
such sources.
Berg, D.R., Lonsway, K.A, & Fitzgerald, L.F. (1999) Rape prevention
education for me: The effectiveness of empathy-induction
techniques. Journal of College Student Development, 40, 219-234.
Foubert, J. (2000). The longitudinal effects of a rape-prevention program
on fraternity men's attitudes, behavioral intent, and behavior. Journal
of American College Health, 48 (4), 158-163.
Heppner, M.J., Humphrey, C.F., Hillenbrand-Gunn, T.L., & DeBord, K.A.
(1995). The differential effects of rape prevention programming on
attitude, behavior, and knowledge. Journal of Counseling
Psychology, 42, 508-518.
4. What is the statement of purpose?
The purpose of the study is to investigate whether a sex role socializationfocused educational program designed to raise awareness about the
connection between restrictive sex roles and rape supportive behavior is
more effective in changing the attitudes and beliefs of college age men
than traditional programs.
5. What is the research hypothesis?
1. Immediately following treatment, men who participate in a rape
prevention program will hold significantly lower rape-supportive attitudes
and be more knowledgeable about distinction between consent and
coercion than men who receive control group treatment.
2. Men with high gender role conflict who participate in the sex-role
socialization-focused treatment will have lower-rape supportive attitudes
and increased knowledge about the distinction between consent and
coercion than men with high gender role conflict in the traditional group.
3. Six weeks following interventions, men who participate in the sex- role
socialization-focused treatment will retain lower rape-supportive attitudes
and will be knowledgeable about the distinction between consent and
coercion than men who receive the more traditional treatment.
4. Six weeks following interventions, men in both treatment groups will
rebound with regard to rape-supportive attitudes, but retain knowledge
gained about the distinction between consent and coercion.
5. Gender role conflict will be significantly related to rape-supportive
attitudes. (p. 200)
6. Is this research basic or applied?
This is applied research
7. Is this research descriptive, relational, or intervention research?
This research is intervention research.
8. Is this research cross-sectional or longitudinal?
This research is cross sectional.
9. Identify the major constructs being studied by the researchers and
provide constitutive definitions for these.
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Gender role conflict-a psychological state arising from the inherently
contradictory and unrealistic messages that are the traditional
standards for masculinity
Rape supportive attitudes-attitudes embedded within society that
support the view that men are entitled to do what they want to with a
woman.
Rape myths-attitudes and beliefs, although false, that are widely
held that justify male sexual aggression against women.
Coercion-to dominant, to restrain, or to control forcibly
Consent-Acceptance or approval of what is planned or done by
another.
Date rape-assault or attempted assault performed by an
acquaintance involving sexual intercourse that is not mutually
agreed upon
10. Identify the explanatory and response variables and provide
operational definitions for these.
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Explanatory Variables
o Treatment group- the group each individual was assigned
 Group 1- Date-prevention program- provides factual
information about acquaintance rape, university policies
about rape, show and discuss video about the long term
effect of acquaintance rape
 Group 2- Socialization- focused program- contemporary
movie and television program clips were used to
illustrate a connection between sex role socialization
and rape. After each clip, the facilitator raised questions
to stimulate discussions about the culture of sexual
assault based on socialization- discussion about
consent/ coercion, communication, and legal
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ramification
 Group 3- control group- group that focused on career
development issues
o Gender-role conflict- score on the Gender Role Conflict ScaleI
Response Variables
Knowledge about the difference between consent and coercionscore on the Rape Myth Acceptance scale and the Attitudes Toward
Women Scale
Rape-supportive attitudes- score on The Comprehension of
Consent/ Coercion Measure
11. What are a few potential extraneous variables?
- previous knowledge of rape awareness
- previous knowledge of socialization
- presenter effectiveness
- SES of students
12. How did the researchers validate the operational form of the
constructs?
- Alpha coefficients were computed for these scales
- Cited the use of these scales/indices in other research
13. What method of observation was used?
- Participants completed a pretest which included completed survey
measures. These measures included the GRCS-!, RMA, ATW, CCC,
SDRS-5)
- Participants completed the intervention which was observed by
trained observers who completed the Counselor Rating Form to
ensure the inter-rater reliability
- participants filled out more surveys at the initial post-test (CRF,
RMA, ATW, CCC, SDRS-5) and then completed additional surveys
at the follow-up posttests (RMA, ATW, SDRS-5)
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Several of the surveys used utilized Likert scales.
14. What level of measurement was used when obtaining the data?
Interval Response Format
15. What are the units of analysis in this study?
Male fraternity members
16. How did the researchers address instrument validity?
This researcher addressed instrument validity for the instruments (GRCS1, RMA, ATW, CCC, SDRS-5) by choosing instruments that had strong
face value as they had been reviewed by experts and extensively studied
for reliability. Additionally, samples of questions and possible responses
were given by the researcher and all tests received high reliability scores.
The researchers instruments were able to show strong criterion of being
able to predict the sexual awareness and attitudes of the sample. The
researcher also used two measures to address experimental bias. They
also improved inter-rater reliability through using trained observers who
utilized the Counselor Rating Form to control for presenter differences
between the treatment groups.
17. How did the researchers address the reliability of the measures?
- Cronbach alpha coefficients were presented for the measures
- Test-retest reliability (ATW, CCC)
- split-half (ATW)
18. What are the major strengths of the construct validation process
used by the researchers? Consider both implementation concerns
(for interventions, treatments, and programs) as well as measurement
concerns.
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used measures that have been validated through multiple studies to
better construct validity
researchers used the Counselor Rating Form to have trained
observers to control for presenter differences helped with the interrater reliability
19. What construct validity issues still exist, if any?
The major construct issues that were present in this study included the fact
that they
- interaction of testing
- instrument-pretest effect
- mono-operation bias
- evaluation apprehension
- guessing at the purpose
20. What is the most likely target population?
Male college students
21. What is the most likely accessible population?
Male fraternity students at a large public midwestern institution
22. What was the intended sample and what was the final sample?
The intended sample was 820 undergraduate male fraternity members.
The final sample was 90 male fraternity members.
23. What is the sample size?
N= 90
24. What method of sampling was used?
Convenience sampling
25. How did the researchers address the proximal similarity of the
sample to the population?
The researchers addressed proximal similarity by describing their sample
population including that information about the location of the university,
size of the university, the fact it involved the Greek system, ethnicity of the
participants. Therefore, readers of this study are able to understand how
similar the sample is to a group of men they are interested in.
26. What are the major strengths of the external validation process
used by the researchers?
- Researchers used multiple measures in the study
- randomized participants
- described the demographics of the participants
27. What external validity issues still exist, if any?
Sample bias - Sample includes mostly white participants (95.6%), so it is
difficult to generalize to other racial groups or to all males because it
focuses solely on fraternity males.
28. What extraneous variables did the researchers mention or
otherwise demonstrate that they were aware of in this study?
The researchers discussed that the extraneous variables being ethnicity,
social desirability, and risk level. They said that diversity within the study
was very minimal, thus the findings could have been affected by the fact
that all the students were of similar ethnicity. The researchers also
believed that social desirability could have affected the research to
determine the participant’s social desirability. Finally, the researchers
believe that the individuals may have benefited from the program because
they were individuals at the low- levels of risk; however, individuals with
higher level of risk of committing rape may have been affected by the
intervention differently.
29. What research design did the researchers use?
The study was a modified factorial design with two focus interventions and
the addition of a pretest and extra post-test.
30. What extraneous variables and threats to internal validity did the
researchers address with either the design or through other means?
Differences between the two groups prior to the study
31. What threats to internal validity still exist, if any?
- selection bias
- diffusion of treatment
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halo effect
testing threat
implementation threat
32. What kind of graphical displays were used?
Frequency distributions, line graph
33. What descriptive statistics were used?
Mean and Standard Deviation
34. What inferential statistics were used?
CP-p value; ANOVA; a series of contrast analyses, f statistic
35. List the statistical hypotheses that were tested.
Alternative Hypotheses
1. Immediately following treatment, men who participate in a rape
prevention program will hold significantly lower rape-supportive attitudes
and be more knowledgable about distinction between consent and
coercion than men who receive control group treatment.
2. Men with high gender role conflict who participate in the sex-role
socialization-focused treatment will have lower-rape supportive attitudes
and increased knowledge about the distinction between consent and
coercion than men with high gender role conflict in the traditional group.
3. Six weeks following interventions, men who participate in the sex- role
socialization-focuesd treatment will retain lower rape-supportive attitudes
and will be knowledgable about the distinction between consent and
coercion than men who receive the more traditional treatment.
4. Six weeks following interventions, men in both treatment groups will
retain lower lower rape-supportive attitudes, but retain knowledge gained
about the distinction between consent and coercion.
5. Gender role conflict will be significantly related to rape-supportive
attitudes.
Null Hypotheses
1. Immediately following treatment, men who participated in the rape
prevention program and sex-role socialization-focused treatment will have
the same knowledge about the difference between consent and coercion
and the same level of rape-supportive attitudes as the control group.
2. Six weeks following intervention, men who participated in the sex-role
socialization focused treatment group will have similar rape-supportive
attitudes and have the same knowledge about the distinction between
consent and coercion than men who receive the control.
3. Six weeks following interventions, men in both treatment groups will
rebound with regard to rape-supportive attitudes and their knowledge
gained about the distinction between consent and coercion.
4. Gender role conflict will have no relation to rape-supportive attitudes.
36. What were the results of each hypothesis test?
- The results of hypothesis 1 were as predicted. The men who
participated in one of the two rape prevention programs indicated a
lower rape myth acceptance and a better understanding of consent
by a p-value of .1% in contrast to the control group immediately
following the treatments. The control group had the highest myth
acceptance rate followed by socialization treatment and then the
traditional. Following the initial posttest with regards to consent and
coercion the greatest change was seen with the traditional treatment
group followed by the socialization-focused group, then the control
group.
- The results of hypothesis 2, which predicted that men with high
gender role conflict who participated in the sex role socializationfocused treatment will have lower rape supportive attitudes and
increased knowledge about the distinction between consent and
coercion than men with high gender role conflict in the traditional
treatment was not supported according to the research. There was
no significant difference in men with high gender role conflicts;
however, there were significant differences for men with low gender
role conflict.
- Hypothesis 3 stated that six weeks following the interventions, men
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who participated in a six role socialization-focused treatment will
retain lower rape supportive attitudes and will be more
knowledgeable about the distinction between consent and coercion
than men who receive the more traditional treatment was unproven
in that no significant difference was found.
The results of hypothesis 4 proved partially supported. There were
significant differences in attitudes toward women mean scores
between the initial posttest and the follow-up posttest for the
socialization-focused treatment group with a p-value of .2%, the
traditional group with a p-value of 2%, and the control group with a p
value of .8%. Each group showed a drop in traditional attitudes at
the initial posttest, but significant increases at the 6-week follow-up
posttest. There was no significant difference in the Rape Myth
Acceptance mean scores between the initial posttest and the followup posttest for all three-treatment groups. There were significant
differences in comprehension of consent and coercion mean scores
between the two posttests for all three-treatment groups.
The results of hypothesis 5, which stated that gender role conflict will
be significantly related to rape-supportive attitudes, showed a
significant relationship. However, this did not hold true with
comprehension of consent and coercion or attitudes toward women.
The significant correlation could be measured with rape myth
acceptance which indicated that men with low gender role conflict
tend to reject rape myths.
37. How did the researchers address threats to conclusion validity?
- used reliable measures that had been verified by other researchers
in other studies
- Chose appropriate graphs and descriptive statistics
- Provided reasoning for using series of contrast analyses compared
to MANOVA
- Set high quality control standards (p <.05 were statistically
significant).
38. What conclusions can be made from the results of this study?
From this study it can be concluded that men who participate in any type
rape prevention program have a lower rape myth acceptance and a better
understanding of consent, men who have can think outside of a traditional
male role and attended the traditional treatment program upon completion
have a better attitude toward women. Regardless of programs men have a
low retention rate and often rebound to a lower rape supportive attitude
and their understanding of consent and coercion.
39. Are the conclusions consistent with the discussion of the study?
If not, identify the inconsistencies.
Yes, the conclusions and discussion recognize the importance of the rape
prevention programs and acknowledge the difference between men who
exhibit high and low gender role conflict.
40. What is the answer to the research question?
Socialization-focused rape prevention programs have an effect in changing
men’s attitudes and beliefs regarding restrictive sex roles and rapesupported behavior.
41. What suggestions for further study did the researchers make?
- utilize follow-up procedures to evaluate the persistence of attitude
changes
- conduct a similar study with more diverse samples of men
- look at the impact of rape prevention programming on men from
various ethnic backgrounds
- additional research to understand whether or not the rebound is
essentially permanent or a swing on the growth pendulum is needed
- a study to determine if the need to control for social desirability has
an impact
- the need to begin to sample from populations that are theoretically at
risk for perpetration of sexual assault and evaluate participants
actual risk level.
- Utilize additional programs such as athletic or college meetings to
control for external validity since all participants were volunteers
42. Briefly summarize the major strengths and weaknesses of the
article.
The strengths of the article include a detailed description of the constructs
and operational definitions of the constructs. Weaknesses include a limited
sample, including mostly white males. The study needs to incorporate
more minorities. Although the use of sex-role socialization-focused
treatments were not found to be significantly different than traditional
programs, the authors recommend student development practitioners to
“consider using contemporary movie clips and sitcoms with familiar
characters to addess the connections between socialization and date
rape.” (p.46). Why advocate using this strategy if it was not proven to be
more effective than traditional rape education programs.
43. Provide an overall assessment of article quality using the
following Likert scale: (a) very weak and of little value, (b) weak, but
makes a limited contribution to the discipline, (c) strong with minor
flaws that limit conclusions, (d) very strong with believable
conclusions. Briefly support your assessment.
C- The researchers did a good job of determining well measured test
to use that represented the constructs well and had been tested
multiple times to be valid and reliable. However, one major problem
was the low external validity the study had. The researchers used a
convenience sample of all fraternity men, mainly white males, at one
college as their sample. Because of the sample they used, there were
extraneous variables that could have affected the results including
the age of the participants, with the average age being 19.6, alcohol
consumption, and peer pressure. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize
these findings to the whole population. Another problem was the
conclusion validity. The response variables that they used (rape myth
acceptance, attitudes towards women, and comprehension of
consent/ coercion are not directly linked to the likelihood of someone
committing rape or sexual assault (p. 210). Finally, the research
does not fully contribute to the discipline. This study found that the
interventions are able to help with decreasing the beliefs and
attitudes associated with rape and sexual assault, but did not take
into account the actual behaviors of the participants; therefore, it is
difficult to assume that behaviors would change as a result of the
intervention.