The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 116

LaWanda Ward * David J. Nguyen * David H. K. Nguyen

MeTHODOLOGY
this qualitative study explores how residence
life directors make sense of shifts in residence
life policies based upon changes in state laws
permitting the carrying of firearms in residence halls. this study follows a constructivist
epistemological approach, such that knowledge is constructed through an individual's
(director of residence life) interaction with
policy enactments (people and state policy)
(Creswell, 2013; merriam & tisdell, 2015). in
this section, we describe our participant recruitment and selection, data collection procedures, and analytic approach. We conclude
this section addressing reliability and validity
of data analyses.

tion, training of staff, and oversight of living
spaces with campus-concealed carry procedures. these criteria were important for the
researchers because we understand that "the
criteria you establish for purposeful sampling
directly reflect the purpose of the study and
guide in the identification of information-rich
cases" (p. 97).
Before beginning participant recruitment,
the researchers received institutional review
board (irB) approval. residence life directors
at 15 public universities in five states (e.g., arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, texas, and utah)
that allow campus-concealed carry received
an email to either conduct a skype or phone
interview or complete the interview questions

Participant Recruitment and Selection
the investigators sought a purposive sample
to address study aims (patton, 2015). "purposeful sampling is based on the assumption that
the investigators want to discover, understand,
and gain insight and therefore must select a
sample from which the most can be learned"
(merriam & tisdell, 2015, p. 96). since the
study intends to understand how state policy
is enacted in residence life communities and
programming, we considered participants,
who have been in the position of receiving the
legislation and making sense of how to implement enacted law. We applied three criteria
for selecting participants: a) hold a position
as a residence life director at a public institution with firearm possession policies for on
campus living spaces due to state laws or court
rulings; b) possess at least one year or more
with firearms in the residence halls at their
institutions; and c) leverage involvement and
knowledge of the policy creation, implementa116

Proponents for campus-concealed
carry in residence halls argue that
residence hall rooms are akin to
homes and that students should
have the right to protect themselves;
others argue that public colleges
and universities should be able
to maintain their authority to
prohibit guns on their campuses
and in their residence halls since
institutions "have a recognized
duty in reasonably ensuring a safe
environment for their students,
faculty, staff, and visitors ."

T h e J o u r n a l o f C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t y St u d e n t H o u s i n g
The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3

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