College of Arts & Humanities
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1611
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item How should forecasters warn about tornadoes? Providing a scientifically validated risk communication toolkit and training to the National Weather Service(2024) Atwell Seate, Anita; Liu, Brooke; Kim, Ji Youn; Lee, SayminEffective risk communication during hazards, like severe weather, has the potential to save lives. As part of a three-year project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we scientifically validated a risk communication toolkit and training for the National Weather Service. Specifically, we designed and completed six experiments with adult samples in the Southeast U.S. Three of these experiments examined how weather risk communicators can use quiet weather periods to build relationships and three of these experiments examined how weather risk communicators can effectively communicate risks during high-impact weather. Here we archive our experimental protocols to facilitate dissemination of scientific knowledge and to assist future research.Item Are you prepared for the next storm? Developing social normsmessages to motivate community members to perform disasterrisk mitigation behaviors(Wiley, 2022-06-14) Lim, JungKyu Rhys; Liu, Brooke Fisher; Atwell Seate, AnitaPreparing for natural disasters and adapting to climate change can save lives. Yet, minimal research has examined how governments can motivate community members to prepare for disasters (e.g., purchasing flood insurance or installing water barriers in homes for floods and hurricanes). Instead, studies have focused on how to communicate actions individuals should take during disasters, rather than before disasters. This study develops messages targeting social norms, which are promising approaches to motivate community members to adopt disaster risk preparedness and mitigation behaviors. Specifically, we developed a variety of messages integrating descriptive norms (i.e., what others do), injunctive norms (i.e., what others believe should be done), and a social norms-based fear appeal, or social disapproval rationale (i.e., a negative social result of [not] taking behaviors). Then, we tested these messages through two between-subject factorial online experiments in flood- and hurricane-prone U.S. states with adult samples (N = 2,286). In experiment 1 (i.e., purchasing flood insurance), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced behavioral intentions. In experiment 2 (i.e., installing water barriers), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters, the injunctive norms message using neighbors, and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced mitigation intentions. However, the descriptive social norms message was not effective in increasing social norms perceptions. We provide some of the first empirical evidence on how organizations’ risk communication can empower community members to prepare and mitigate the impact of disasters.Item How Forecasters Decide to Warn about Tornadoes: Multi-Sited Rapid Ethnography Training Guide(2019) Liu, Brooke; Atwell Seate, AnitaSocial scientists are prolific in their recommendations on how to better warn about tornadoes. However, social scientists rarely work in partnership with operational forecasters, begging the question of how applicable their recommendations are to the “real world.” As part of a two-year project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with the goal of better understanding how forecasters decide to warn about tornadoes, we conducted a multi-sited rapid ethnography (along with telephone interviews and a cross-sectional survey of forecasters and managers). Here we archive our ethnography training guide should other researchers conduct similar research.