Methodological Progress in Sexual Violence Research: Achievements and Challenges

• Published in: Psychology of violence Vol. 14; no. 6; pp. 459 - 466
• Main Author: Krahé, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Educational Publishing Foundation 01-11-2024
• Subjects: Human; Measurement; Methodology; Perpetrators; Sexual Violence; Test Reliability; Test Validity; Victimization; sexual violence; review; methodology; measurement
• ISBN: 9781433898389; 1433898381
• ISSN: 2152-0828; 2152-081X
• DOI: 10.1037/vio0000537

Objective: The study of methodological issues in sexual violence research has made fast progress in recent years. This perspective presents a brief review of studies addressing the measurement of sexual violence perpetration and victimization and identifies both achievements and challenges for future research. Method: Based on a selective overview of recent studies, research on seven aspects of the reliability and validity of instruments to measure sexual violence perpetration and victimization are discussed: (a) refinement of the Sexual Experiences Survey; (b) development of new measures; (c) convergence of measures; (d) acknowledgement of sexual violence; (e) order, framing, and response scale effects; (f) understanding and interpretation of items; and (g) alternatives to self-reports. The final section describes unresolved issues and outlines tasks for future research. Results: This line of research has demonstrated problems and limitations of existing measures and presented strategies to improve the methodology for identifying perpetrators and victims of sexual violence. Conclusions: Challenges for the future include increasing the reliability and validity of measures, examining the underlying psychological processes that may explain differences in prevalence rates as a function of methodological decisions, and paying greater attention to the applicability of existing measures across cultures.