Open AccessPlanning for Spontaneity: The Challenges of Disaster Communication Fieldwork
Author(s) -
J. Suzanne Horsley
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of qualitative methods
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.414
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 1609-4069
DOI - 10.1177/160940691201100301
Subject(s) - crisis communication , participant observation , public relations , qualitative research , emergency management , work (physics) , intersection (aeronautics) , organizational communication , communication studies , disaster response , event (particle physics) , political science , sociology , geography , social science , engineering , cartography , mechanical engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , law
This methodological article explores the intersection of qualitative fieldwork methods in crisis communication and disaster management. While crisis communication is a popular topic of research in the public relations genre, there is relatively no methodological work to serve as a precedent for a participant-observation study of communication during an unfolding disaster event. Likewise, disaster management literature that is based in qualitative fieldwork methods has not examined the communication practices of a disaster response organization. This article explores the various challenges in conducting fieldwork in real-time disaster communication and describes how the researcher overcame those challenges to conduct a participant-observation study of the American Red Cross' communication efforts during the 2009 Red River Valley floods in Fargo, North Dakota, United States