Sexual Assault Research in the Military: Is Oversampling Necessary for Representativeness?

This article focuses on examining response and completion rates of an anonymous survey on sexual assault and alcohol use among active duty U.S. Navy sailors aged 18 to 24, aiming to achieve a representative sample and inform future recruitment strategies. Among 12,031 invited sailors, the overall response rate was 5.1%, with female sailors responding at a significantly higher rate (8.8%) than male sailors (3.0%), despite men comprising the majority of the Navy. Survey completion rates were similar between sexes (approximately 81%), and demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation did not predict completion, though Asian participants showed less survey progression and bisexual participants among noncompleters showed greater progression. The findings suggest that male service members may need to be oversampled in sexual assault and alcohol use research to obtain representative samples, while once enrolled, male and female participants are equally likely to complete such surveys.