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Methodology

Inclusion, Search, and Coding Methods are described below.

Inclusion

These are cases involving college/university/museum faculty, administrators, researchers, and similar individuals accused of engaging in sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, retaliation when accused of sexual misconduct, and similar violations, and where:

  1. An institution found a faculty/administrator guilty of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, or similar violations; and/or
  2. An institution fired a faculty/administrator in response to an allegation of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, or similar violations; and/or
  3. There is an admission on the part of the accused faculty/administrator regarding sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, or similar violations.
  4. The accused faculty/administrator resigned, retired, or died before an institution could complete an investigation into sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, or similar violations; and/or 
  5. A faculty/administrator accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, and/or similar violations or an institution settled with their accuser, often with a binding confidentiality agreement and no admissions; and/or
  6. A court made a finding of legal fact that sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, violations of dating policies, violations of campus pornography policies, or similar violations had occurred, with or without legal punishment (criminal) or payment (civil).

 

Search

The search terms: The modifiers are listed first and the search terms second. Note: These search terms were generated after the first 100 or so cases were identified as a protest against the lack of transparency about these cases. Afterwards, the process became an academic research process. Getting the core list of pre-2016 cases took about six months because cases are so well hidden and the search process is cumbersome.

Academia specific modifiers:

  1. “professor and” 
  2. "instructor and” [modified with “university and college” to reduce
  3. “dean and” 
  4. “university or college” and “president and” 
  5. “university or college” and “provost and” 
  6. “university or college” and “administrator and” 
  7. “university or college” and “employee and” 

Google is searched for for 1 and 2 above weekly and sometimes daily - search google for 3-7 above minimum every two months.

Additional modifiers added to academia modifiers above:

  1. “community college” 
  2. “tribal college” 
  3. [the name of each state and territory, e.g. - “Alabama"]

Search terms used with each of the modifiers above:

  • sexual harassment
  • sexual misconduct
  • sexual assault
  • inappropriate relationship
  • peeping
  • voyeur
  • rape
  • kidnap
  • murder

Depending on the number of search hits, other modifiers may be used to narrow the list: “student”, “colleague”. 

Coaches have been included as of Dec. 2019.

Private searches are also used to ensure algorithms aren’t masking cases. LexusNexus was searched (all cases have been identified) and FindLaw is searched about every 2 months.

ONLY cases for which public information is available are included in the database.

 

Coding

A. Resolved/Ongoing: A resolved case is one for which AT LEAST ONE criteria for sexual misconduct has been satisfied and an outcome (see below) is known. A resolved case may still have action pending in terms of institutional sanctioning decisions, ongoing lawsuits or other. An ongoing case is one in which a) no outcome for any of the resolved case criteria has been reached or b) an outcome is not public.

B. All Resolved cases are coded for:

1. Institution

2. Perpetrator name

3. Perpetrator Discipline. Disciplines derived from https://www.bepress.com/reference_guide_dc/disciplines/  include:

  • Architecture 
  • Arts and Humanities 
  • Business 
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Law
  • Life Sciences
  • Medicine and Health Sciences 
  • Physical Sciences and Mathematics 
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Two additional disciplines were added based on cases: Athletics, Other

4. Specific Discipline. This reflects the specific field in which the perpetrator was working, if any.

5. Position. Positions are derived from evidence, including accessible institutional records. Position descriptions have different meaning across institutions and also may not be accurate.

6. Outcome. Outcomes are derived from coding of cases in the database. Outcomes emerged and then were grouped to provide a limited set of outcomes for analysis.

Outcomes include:

  • Fired / Contract Non-renewal / No Longer Employed
  • Resigned
  • Retired
  • Jury / Judge Finding - Civil Case
  • Official Warning / Reprimand 
  • Training / Counseling Required
  • Monetary Settlement / Award
  • Honor Revoked
  • Committed Suicide
  • Committed Murder
  • Suspended / Leave / Restrictions
  • Fine / Salary Reduction
  • Criminal Plea / Conviction
  • No Known Outcome for Respondent
  • Other