public opinion polling and survey research

In May of 2008, SRG was contracted by ODH to conduct the Health Attitudes Focus Groups as an initial step to carry out the plan of action recommended in the Ohio Sexual Assault Task Force’s 2002 report. This plan involved the development of public awareness campaigns to educate the public about the realities, impact, and prevention of sexual assault and specified that the campaign be directed at the population that could have the greatest impact in reducing incidents of sexual assault: youths, and in particular, 12- to 14-year-old males.

To this end, SRG conducted 20 focus groups in five targeted regions around Ohio. In each region, two focus groups were conducted in an urban area and two were conducted in a small town/rural area. Within each area, one of the focus groups consisted of all boys between the ages of 12 through 14 and the other focus group consisted of both boys and girls in this age range. Material covered in the focus groups included questions pertaining to gender roles and gender role formation, attitudes about healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors, and ideas regarding the development of programs aimed at this age group to promote healthy relationship behaviors.

The SRG team developing the focus group moderator guide and protocols included an area expert with over 500 hours of training in sexual assault and domestic violence issues and a school guidance counselor with over 15 years of experience working with young teens. After successfully conducting the focus groups, SRG analyzed the data and presented ODH with a final report which included not only basic findings but also recommendations for creating outreach programs and approaching this age group on the topic of unhealthy relationships