Peer Interviewing: A Student Health Survey on an Urban Campus

Abstract

To gain information about university students' health concerns and awareness of campus health center services, the author used peer interviewing as a method particularly suited to an urban campus. Sixty volunteers fanned out across campus to interview fellow students in the midst of their normal activities in an effort to reach a broad cross-section of the campus population. The volunteers conducted almost 600 interviews with peers at a sample of campus locations. In addition to reporting the findings from the study, the author describes peer interviewing and factors associated with recruiting volunteers. Periodic peer interviews conducted at multiple locations on campus are proposed as a reasonable way to obtain ongoing health assessment data on an urban campus.

Key Words:

• peer interviews
• student health
• surveys
• urban university