USING SURVEYS TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT - SOME METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Problems and issues associated with using survey methodologies to deve lop estimates of the prevalence of sexual harassment are summarized. P roblems with respect to the definition of sexual harassment in survey research, response sets, the use of retrospective self-report measures , sample selection bias, validity and reliability, and generalizabilit y are addressed. Recommendations are offered in terms of conducting su ch survey research in future efforts to assess sexual harassment, as w ell as establishing relationships between reports of sexual harassment and other relevant variables.