Using Q-methodology to discover disaster resilience perspectives from local residents

Abstract

Finding ways to increase local community resilience is important, therefore, this study explores how to use individual disaster resilience indicators and provides new ways to quantify them. Specifically, Q-methodology is used as a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative techniques to examine the shared perspectives among the residents in the Dove Springs community of Austin, Texas. To maintain adaptability and eliminate repetition and ambiguity, the initially retrieved set of 95 indicators was reduced down to 45 through two cycles of revision with subject matter experts. A total of 41 respondents were engaged in our study, and they prioritized the indicators based on their understanding of community well-being. Participants also identified their perspective of the two most important and unimportant statements. As a result, four types of perspectives were identified as informing the status of resilience: housing and food security, education and employment, equity, and disaster preparedness. Subsequently, we proposed a weighted quantification strategy to derive a single resilience value within a hierarchy from indicator level through category level. The findings and suggestions from our mixed-method study lay the groundwork for a better quantitative assessment of disaster resilience in a local context that can be beneficial for decision-making.