Abstract
Abstract. Questionnaires are popular and fundamental tools for acquiring information on public knowledge and perception of natural hazards. Questionnaires can provide valuable information to emergency management agencies for developing risk management procedures. Although many natural hazards researchers describe results generated from questionnaires, few explain the techniques used for their development and implementation. Methodological detail should include, as a minimum, response format (open/closed questions), mode of delivery, sampling technique, response rate and access to the questionnaire to allow reproduction of or comparison with similar studies. This article reviews current knowledge and practice for developing and implementing questionnaires. Key features include questionnaire design, delivery mode, sampling techniques and data analysis. In order to illustrate these aspects, a case study examines methods chosen for the development and implementation of questionnaires used to obtain information on knowledge and perception of volcanic hazards in a tourist region in southern Iceland. Face-to-face interviews highlighted certain issues with respect to question structure and sequence. Recommendations are made to overcome these problems before the questionnaires are applied in future research projects. In conclusion, basic steps that should be disclosed in the literature are provided as a checklist to ensure that reliable, replicable and valid results are produced from questionnaire based hazard knowledge and risk perception research.
Highlights
The questionnaire is a well established tool within social science research for acquiring information on participant social characteristics, present and past behaviour, standards of behaviour or attitudes and their beliefs and reasons for action with respect to the topic under investigation (Bulmer, 2004)
Hawkes and Rowe (p. 637, 2008) questioned: “Can we be sure that differences identified in risk perceptions are due to the differences between the people being questioned, or differences in the framing of the questions posed?” In order to overcome this problem, researchers should provide enough detail on important methodological features such as response format, mode of delivery, sampling technique and response rate in peer reviewed research articles
Despite popular use of questionnaires for acquiring social data in relation to natural hazards, the techniques employed for their development and implementation have been a relatively neglected topic within published research articles dealing with hazards, risk and disaster
Summary
The questionnaire is a well established tool within social science research for acquiring information on participant social characteristics, present and past behaviour, standards of behaviour or attitudes and their beliefs and reasons for action with respect to the topic under investigation (Bulmer, 2004). Following a brief discussion on approaches to social science research, consideration is given to the key features in developing questionnaires, choice of the most appropriate mode of delivery, employment of sampling techniques, data analysis and piloting the questionnaire To illustrate these aspects, a case study examines methods chosen for the development and implementation of questionnaires for obtaining information on knowledge and perception of volcanic hazards in a tourist region in southern Iceland. A case study examines methods chosen for the development and implementation of questionnaires for obtaining information on knowledge and perception of volcanic hazards in a tourist region in southern Iceland Key findings from this pilot investigation are presented, followed by a review of the questionnaire’s design and interview process, and concludes with recommendations for future studies. A review of survey research on the human dimension of risk and related methodological issues is presented
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