Marginal material or key data? Understanding community attitudes to a survey about domestic and family violence

Catherine MacPhail, Natalia Hanley and Helen Simpson

Social Science Quarterly, 2022, vol. 103, issue 3, 581-596

Abstract: Objectives This article examined “marginalia”—participants’ unsolicited additions to a survey conducted in regional Australia examining community attitudes to domestic and family violence. Methods Using mixed methods analysis, we examined whether there were any specific demographic or attitudinal characteristics associated with leaving marginalia on our survey. We used NVivo to thematically organize the types and content of marginalia provided by participants. Results We found that leaving marginalia on the survey instrument was not associated with specific demographic or attitudinal characteristics, thus making it challenging to determine the primary motivation for leaving such additions. Thematically, the marginalia were largely concerned with providing further explanation or questioning and correcting. A smaller group focused on communicating attitudes toward and experiences of domestic and family violence. Conclusions A minority of participants leave unrequested information on quantitative surveys. We suggest some further thoughts about the value of such data and how to manage it.

Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13146

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:103:y:2022:i:3:p:581-596

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().