fg protocol_jr enlisted and jr officers_02.02.2023

Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
Focus Group Protocol: Junior Enlisted (E1-E4) and Junior Officers (O1-O2)
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INTRODUCTION (to be read aloud to the group) [5 minutes]
Hello, my name is ___________ and I am accompanied by [INTRODUCE OTHERS IN THE ROOM
AND THEIR ROLES]. We are from RAND, a non-profit, nonpartisan research organization
that does public policy research. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. We are
here to learn about soldier and leader perspectives on their experiences with sexual
harassment and gender discrimination in the Army. For more information about the study
and how the findings will be used, please refer to the information sheet. This discussion is
designed to last no longer than 60 minutes.
This discussion is part of a study funded by the Army G-1 to develop a greater
understanding of the factors that contribute to gender discrimination and sexual
harassment, leadership response to these incidents, use of (and barriers to use of) existing
programs and services, gender integration and the general climate and culture in your unit.
The findings from this study are intended to help the Army develop more effective training,
a key component of prevention efforts for gender discrimination and sexual harassment.
CONSENT (to be read aloud to the group)

We will be taking notes during all discussions, but we will not record the name of anyone
present or mentioned in this session. We will not use the names of individuals or units in
any reports. There should be no discussion of open cases or investigations so as to respect
the privacy of individuals involved. It is possible that someone may feel obligated to report
information discussed in the group, that someone may face retaliation for speaking
negatively about a supervisor or others, or that someone discussing challenging situations
may be seen weak or a complaining. It is also possible that someone may become upset
discussing sexual harassment or gender discrimination experiences. To minimize these
risks, please do not include names of individuals or supervisors or provide any information
that could put yourselves in jeopardy.
Participating in this focus group is completely voluntary, and you may choose not to
answer any (or even all) of the questions. You may refuse to participate or discontinue
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise
entitled. If you have questions about your rights as a participant or need to report a
participation-related injury or concern, you can contact RAND's Human Subjects Protection
Committee using the contact information provided to you in the read ahead. [HAND
THEM/REFER TO THE INFORMATION SHEET PROVIDED]
We are each walking into this room with different histories and life experiences. Given the
topic of our discussion today, it is possible that our discussion could bring up difficult
feelings for some of us. Please remember that you can step out of the room [or take breaks]
at any time.
Please do not discuss anyone else’s comments after the group is over. Although we are
asking everyone in the group to keep each other’s answers confidential, we cannot
guarantee that the other participants here will do so. Please do NOT answer any questions
in the discussion that you do not feel comfortable sharing in front of the group. You will
have an opportunity to provide written comments after the group discussion.

Additionally, we also want to emphasize to you that this is not an official channel for
reporting abuse, discrimination, or misconduct. If you would like to talk to someone about
any abuse, discrimination, or misconduct in order to get help or file an official report, you
should contact one of the following directly: someone in your chain of command, a
chaplain, a medical provider, the Equal Opportunity (EO) Counselor, the Sexual Assault
Response Coordinator (SARC), or a Victim Advocate [included on handout]. You should also
consider these resources if you are distressed by anything we discuss today.
Do you have any questions before we begin?

Do you agree to participate in this discussion?
[SHOULD PARTICIPANTS ASK ABOUT SELECTION INTO THE STUDY: We used data from
prior Workplace and Gender Relations Surveys (WGRA) and data from the Defense Equal
Opportunity Climate Survey (DEOCS) to select installations and units (usually at the
battalion level) to include in our study. These installations include those that fell above and
below the overall Army average rate of sexual harassment and units that fell in the top and
bottom quartiles in terms of various climate measures.]
A. Introductions [5 minutes]
[Objective for this section of the protocol: The purpose of this section is to learn about the
backgrounds of the participants in the focus group.]
We’d like to start off by having you introduce yourselves.

1. Let’s go around the room and have each of you tell us about:
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
a. Your MOS (or CMF, career management field)
b. How long you’ve been at this installation or in this unit (and if it this is your
first unit/installation) (When we say “unit” we are generally referring to a
small group of soldiers who work together, probably a squad, though it could
be larger like a platoon or company.)

B. Understanding gender discrimination and sexual harassment [15 minutes]
[Objective for this section: The purpose of this section is to explore unit members’ perceptions
of gender discrimination and sexual harassment and to understand to what extent gender
discrimination and sexual harassment may occur in their unit and more broadly in the
installation and Army.]
To ensure we’re all on the same page, we note that AR 600-20 defines gender
discrimination as “the act, policy, or procedure that arbitrarily denies EO or EEO because
of sex, including gender identity… to an individual or group of individuals.” 1 Please also
refer to the full definition provided on the handout.

2. To what extent do you feel gender discrimination is happening in your unit?
a. (If applicable) For those who have been at other units, how do you think this
compares to your prior unit(s)?
b. Without providing names of individuals or details that could identify
someone involved, what examples of gender discrimination have you seen or
heard about? (If needed, probe for in your unit or installation or in the Army)

AR 600-20 defines sexual harassment as “conduct that involves unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors, and deliberate or repeated offensive comments of a
general nature”. 2 Please also refer to the full definition provided on the handout. [Definition
will also be included on a handout]
3. To what extent do you feel sexual harassment is happening in your unit?
a. (If applicable) For those who have been at other units, how do you think this
compares to your prior unit(s)?
b. Without providing names of individuals or details that could identify
someone involved, what examples of sexual harassment have you seen or
heard about? (If needed, probe for in the Army or in your unit or installation)
C. Discussion of Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Behaviors [30
minutes maximum]

Army Command Policy AR 600-20, 24 July 2020, p. 202:
https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1020451.
2
Army Command Policy AR 600-20, 24 July 2020, p. 208:
https://armypubs.army.mil/ProductMaps/PubForm/Details.aspx?PUB_ID=1020451
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
[Objective for this section: The purpose of this section is to show participants a list of gender
discrimination and sexual harassment behaviors from the UCMJ and to ask them to what
extent these behaviors are occurring, the role and response of leadership, and likeliness of
reporting. Note that the questions are structured so that we do not use the terms gender
discrimination or sexual harassment purposefully in order to understand whether the
responses in this section are different from in Section B.]
We would now like to show you a list of behaviors and then we will ask you a series of
questions about these behaviors to understand how often these behaviors are happening in
your unit and why you think they may be occurring.
[Facilitator shows first set of behaviors—gender discrimination—on handout].
•
•

Mistreated, ignored, excluded, or insulted you because you are a [man][woman]
Said that [men][women] are not as good as [men][women] at your particular job, or
that [men][women] should be prevented from having your job

4. Thinking about these behaviors [gender discrimination behaviors listed above],
which behaviors do you feel are occurring in your unit?
a. Probe for: which of the above behaviors are occurring most frequently
b. Probe for: extent to which these behaviors at happening at this installation,
Army in general

[Facilitator shows list of second set of behaviors—sexual harassment—on handout]

Group A: Sexual Harassment Verbal Actions
• Repeatedly told sexual “jokes” that made you uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Repeatedly made sexual gestures or sexual body movements that made you
uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Repeatedly told you about their sexual activities in a way that made you
uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Repeatedly asked you questions about your sex life or sexual interests that made
you uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Made repeated sexual comments about your appearance or body that made you
uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Embarrassed, angered, or upset you by repeatedly suggesting that you do not act
like a [man][woman] is supposed to

Group B: Sexual Harassment Other Actions
• Made repeated attempts to establish an unwanted romantic or sexual relationship
with you that made you uncomfortable, angry, or upset
• Intentionally touched you in a sexual way when you did not want them to
o Repeatedly touched you in any other way that made you uncomfortable,
angry, or upset
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
•
•
•

Displayed, showed, or sent sexually explicit materials like pictures or videos that
made you uncomfortable, angry, or upset
Took or shared sexually suggestive pictures or videos of you when you did not want
them to that made you uncomfortable, angry, or upset
Sexual Quid Pro Quo Behaviors
o Made you feel as if you would get some workplace benefit in exchange for
doing something sexual
o Made you feel like you would get punished or treated unfairly in the
workplace if you did not do something sexual

5. Thinking about these behaviors [first ask Group A: Sexual Harassment Verbal Actions
and then ask for Group B: Sexual Harassment Other Actions], which behaviors do you
feel are occurring in your unit?
a. Probe for: which of the above behaviors are occurring most frequently
b. Probe for: which of these behaviors are happening in person vs. online
c. Probe for: extent to which these behaviors at happening at this installation,
Army in general

6. [For behaviors that ARE identified in the above questions] Thinking about
[gender discrimination and sexual harassment behaviors participants noted in above
questions—facilitator restates these behaviors], what do you think contribute to
these types of behaviors occurring in your unit?
a. Are there unique factors of your unit that make these behaviors more likely
to occur as opposed to in other units? If so, what are they?
b. How, if at all, does the gender composition of your unit factor into why these
behaviors may be occurring?
c. How, if at all, does rank factor into why these behaviors may be occurring?
d. How, if at all, does working closely with civilians (in addition to active-duty
members) factor into why these behaviors may be occurring?

7. [For behaviors that are identified as NOT happening in the above questions]
Why do you think these behaviors are not occurring in your unit?
a. From your perspective, what are some of the reasons these behaviors are not
occurring?
b. [If applicable] Are there unique factors of your unit that make these
behaviors less likely to occur as opposed to in other units? If so, what are
they?
8. How, if at all, does leadership factor into whether or not these behaviors are
occurring?
a. Let’s start with your immediate supervisor. What do you think your
immediate supervisor (for example, your NCO) is doing, to prevent these
behaviors from occurring?
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
b. How well do you think unit leadership prevents these behaviors from
occurring?
c. What do you think your immediate supervisor (for example, your NCO)
should be doing differently, to more effectively prevent these behaviors from
occurring?
d. If leadership in your unit received a report of any of these behaviors, how do
you think they would handle it?

9. If someone in your unit saw or became aware any of these behaviors, what
would they do? How would they respond?
a. How likely do you think they may be to intervene? Why or why not?
b. How likely do you think they would be to report it? Why or why not?

10. If someone in your unit experienced any of these behaviors themselves, how likely
do you think they would be to report it? Why or why not?

D. Conclusion/Training [5 minutes]
[Objective for this section: The purpose of this section is to understand perspectives on existing
training on sexual harassment and/or gender discrimination including perceptions around
utility, effectiveness, and areas for improvement.]
We’d like to gather your feedback and suggestions on how training around sexual
harassment and gender discrimination can be improved.

11. What information is important to highlight as part of training and preventing gender
discrimination and sexual harassment?
a. What should training look like in terms of the content or information that is
discussed?
12. Lastly, we know that gender discrimination and sexual harassment have been wellknown problems in the Army for many years, and there have been many efforts to
prevent these behaviors from occurring. Why do you think these behaviors are still
happening (i.e., why do you think gender discrimination and sexual harassment are
still a problem in the Army?)
13. Before we close today’s discussion, is there anything else that we did not discuss
that you would like to share?

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. We are very appreciative of your
responses and your time.
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Draft Focus Group Protocol Jr. Enlisted and Jr. Officers
February 2, 2023
If you would like to provide us with additional feedback directly and privately, please feel
free to send us any additional comments at our email which can be found on the
information sheet at [email protected]. This information will not be shared outside the
research team. Research team members will monitor this email and will incorporate your
feedback in our project notes without your name or unit name attached.

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