Facing Hazards and Disasters Understanding Human Dimensions (2006) / Chapter Skim
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8 Knowledge Dissemination and Application
8 Knowledge Dissemination and Application
Pages 286-316
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From page 286... ...
8 Knowledge Dissemination and Application A s noted in previous chapters, much has been learned about the core topics of hazards and disaster research. This accumulated body of knowledge can serve as a foundation for science-based decision making by individuals and households, policy makers in the legislative and administrative branches of government, emergency managers at the community and state levels, and various stakeholders in the private sector.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 287 of the research on the knowledge utilization process in this field and the relevant literature on dissemination and utilization that has been produced by social scientists outside the field. This is followed by a discussion of several examples of knowledge diffusion and utilization efforts in hazards and disaster research that are at least anecdotally known to have experienced some degree of success.
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From page 288... ...
288 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS The most extensive study of the utilization of research on natural hazards and disasters was conducted by Robert Yin and his colleagues in the 1980s (Yin and Moore, 1985; Yin and Andranovitch, 1987)
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 289 The above observations are consistent with comments made by practitioners at the committee's two workshops and with findings from studies outside the hazards and disaster field. In addition to the case studies by Yin and his colleagues, several other social science research projects have examined research utilization.
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Fortunately, additional insights can be acquired from research conducted outside the hazards and disaster field. GENERAL INSIGHTS ON KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION Considerable research has been conducted in the social and management sciences generally on what has been variously described as research dissemination, knowledge utilization, research utilization, knowledge transfer, adoption of innovation, and technology transfer.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 291 actively seek knowledge from the research community. Other dissemination research has identified four functional types of dissemination: 1.
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292 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS While no all-encompassing theory or explanation of knowledge utilization has been described and tested, the broader literature includes many insights that can help strengthen the dissemination and application of hazards and disaster findings. Within the varied perspectives about knowledge dissemination and utilization, some combinations of the following four elements are considered in the literature: · the dissemination source -- that is, the agency, organization, or individual responsible for creating the new knowledge or product, and/or for conducting dissemination activities; · the content or message that is disseminated -- that is, the new knowl edge or product itself, as well as any supporting information or materials; · the dissemination medium -- that is, the ways in which the knowl edge or product is described, "packaged," and transmitted; and · the user, or intended user, of the information or product to be disseminated (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1996:12)
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From page 293... ...
KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 293 the likelihood of success, costs, possible side effects, and so forth. The city and county participants in the committee's workshops reinforced this notion of outside consultant involvement to affect change; they commonly used expert consultants to bring the knowl edge generated by researchers to bear on their issues.
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294 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS by their public documents, including those on Web sites. Without systematic assessment data on the efforts and initiatives discussed here, it is not possible to be very precise about how successful many of them have been, which again reflects the great need for more research on knowledge utilization.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 295 TABLE 8.1 Examples of Knowledge Diffusion Efforts Approaches to Knowledge Dissemination Characteristics for Success Spread Choice Exchange Implementation Interpersonal Drabek's State Attorney Boulder, CO contact dissemination General's Floodplain efforts Office Management Planning and Red Cross Texas A&M FEMA's NEHRP conceptual information Hurricane Higher foresight brochures Planning Education Program Outside FEMA's University of Indian Point consultation planning and South Carolina Expert Task on the change mitigation Hazards Force process guides Research Lab User-oriented University of Latin America NWS's Warning transformation Colorado Vulnerability Programs of information Natural Project Hazards Center Individual and Tulsa, organizational Oklahoma championship Floodplain Management Potential user FEMA's EMI FEMA's CSEPP Association of Association involvement Training Bay Area of State Governments Floodplain Managers NOTE: CSEPP = Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program; EMI = Emergency Management Institute; FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; NWS = National Weather Service. INTERPERSONAL CONTACT Spread: Thomas Drabek's Dissemination Efforts Thomas E
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296 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS of dissemination strategies that have brought his work to thousands of emergency management professionals. Many of his previous projects were guided by active advisory committees who performed six key functions: (1)
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 297 mented a catastrophic vulnerability in the tourism industry. His projects underscored the wide gaps between the expectations of business managers and their customers regarding disaster preparedness, behavioral responses, and approaches to mitigation.
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298 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS that required facilities to systematically identify potential accidents and develop the means to prevent the accidents or mitigate their effects (Skinner et al., 1991)
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 299 Choice: Hurricane Planning and Research in Texas Several states actively engage social scientists while developing emergency planning strategies. The State of Texas has been developing hurricane evacuation plans based on social science research carried out by the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center (HRRC)
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From page 300... ...
. Volunteers are solicited for papers on such subjects as competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities that emergency management educators should develop or bring out in their students and philosophical perspectives on the different ways to look at or approach the emergency management position, for example, · the most appropriate organizational placement of emergency man agement responsibilities at the local government level; · lessons learned in disasters; · lessons learned in bureaucratic politics; · success stories, obstacles overcome, and challenges met; and · emergency management public policy issues.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 301 risks to life and property from earthquakes. The four agencies in the program -- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
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302 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS 2000) through its South Carolina Hazards Mapping Interface (a Webbased interactive product)
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 303 tion, implementing emergency communications, and issuing warning messages. USER-ORIENTED TRANSFORMATION OF INFORMATION Spread: Natural Hazards Center The Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center (NHRAIC)
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304 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS together researchers, public and private sector practitioners, agency officials, and students for discussions of research, educational, and policy issues. The workshop program is designed to be less formal than a professional conference and is intentionally organized to span research-practitioner boundaries and to encourage networking and information sharing.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 305 researchers based on an integrated gender-based model. The guide suggests methods to (1)
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306 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS A frequently cited example of the success of this program comes from the experience of Van Wert County, Ohio, which experienced an outbreak of tornadoes in 2002. As part of the program, the county placed a series of warning alert systems in public locations, including retail stores and movie theaters.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 307 bank cleanups became commonplace. Properties highly vulnerable to flooding were bought out or donated in an effort to eliminate structures in flood hazard zones.
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308 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS USER INVOLVEMENT Choice: FEMA's CSEPP Training FEMA's CSEEP develops training for planners and first responders at sites that store dangerous chemical weapons. When a state in the program identifies a training need, FEMA assembles a training development team consisting of a user from local government, a state emergency management representative, a FEMA representative, subject matter experts, a social science disaster research expert, and a production expert.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 309 Implementation: Association of State Floodplain Managers The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) , a member organization representing flood hazards specialists in government, academe, and the private sector, is heavily engaged in the transfer of knowledge to potential users and has the reputation of doing it successfully.
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310 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS people. This system provides warnings in the form of a set of graduated "threat conditions" that increase as the risk of the threat advances.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 311 FIGURE 8.1 Homeland Security Advisory System (available at http://www.dhs.gov/ dhspublic/display? theme=29)
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312 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS aftermath of a devastating wildfire in California. During 13 days in 1970, 16 lives were lost, 700 structures were destroyed and more than a half million acres burned.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 313 DISASTER RESEARCH AND APPLICATION AND HURRICANE KATRINA In 2004, the Natural Hazard Observer, published by the Natural Hazard Center at the University of Colorado, featured a series of articles that examined Disasters Waiting to Happen with the intent of generating a discussion about creative approaches to mitigation. In one of the articles, sociologist Shirley Laska (2004)
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From page 314... ...
314 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS risk populations seeking to manage willful, natural, and technological hazards and disasters. The utilization of social science information on hazards and disasters, when combined with relevant knowledge derived through the efforts of researchers in other disciplines, has the potential to significantly reduce the societal impacts of disasters.
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KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION AND APPLICATION 315 better understand the research utilization process. Given these and other important societal changes, this is an opportune time to revisit the issue of hazards and disaster research utilization after so many years of neglect.
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316 FACING HAZARDS AND DISASTERS Recommendation 8.2: Building on earlier practice, social scientists should conduct research utilization studies involving knowledge on hazards and disasters produced by other research disciplines. In their 1980s studies, Yin and his colleagues (Yin and Moore, 1985; Yin and Andranovitch, 1987)
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