Abstract:

Between its fomiation in 1963 and until 1989, the Disaster Research Center (DRC) conducted more than 450 field studies of conununity crises, the great bulk ofthem involving natural or technological disaster agents.  The majorfocus was on organized behavior whether in fomial organizations or informal and emergent groups, and usually about the social entities involved in the preparedness and response activities in the crisis.  After noting the background context within which the center operated, thispaper summarizes the general methodological approach taken in the work.  It depicts the substantial attention DRC paid to the prefield training that was given to the graduate students who did most of the field work.  Also described are the in-fieldproceduresfollowed, particularly the open-ended type of interviewing conducted, the kinds ofparticipant observations nwde, and the systematic document collecting that was done.  Finally, we note certain postfieldprocedures systematized by the center to measure the quantity and to insure the quality of the data gathered.

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