Collaborative Research: Community Reactions to Extreme Weather Events

拟议的研究项目通过研究社区对极端天气事件的反应，加深了对集体动员和公民政策的理解。该项目评估这些极端天气事件可能如何影响公众意识、社区行动和公民对气候变化问题的反应。通过对美国最近经历极端天气事件的社区进行系统的比较案例分析，该项目将使人们能够了解在极端天气事件发生后，社区在什么条件下和通过什么机制采取与气候有关的重大行动。通过这项研究，将从两个不同的文献中获得关于可变社区反应问题的见解：关于社会运动的一般文献和来自环境社会学和心理学领域的关于气候变化意识和行动的更专门的学术研究。该项目将采用模糊集定性比较分析和各种数据收集技术，包括从报纸、实地访问和访谈以及社区调查中获得的数据。在实施过程中，私人投资促进计划将同时雇用研究生和本科生。它的跨学科性质，结合了社会学和技术专业知识，将为这些学生提供独特的教学、培训和学习机会。这项研究还具有超出学院范围的重要影响。学者、民间领袖和公众越来越关注极端天气事件的频率和强度。许多现实世界的参与者都渴望了解在意识和行动之间调停的动态过程。通过更多地了解将认识转化为行动的因素和过程，利益攸关方将更好地充当代理人，帮助应对关键挑战。在这方面的进展可以将极端天气事件带来的可教时刻转化为可应用于实际情况的教训。

The proposed research project develops an understanding of collective mobilization and civic policy by examining community responses to extreme weather events. This project assesses how these extreme weather events may impact public awareness, community action, and civic response to issues of climate change. By undertaking a systematic comparative case analysis of communities in the United States which recently experienced extreme weather events, this project will make it possible to understand under what conditions and via what mechanisms communities undertake significant climate-related actions following an extreme weather event. Through this study,insights from two distinct literatures will be brought to bear on the question of variable community response: the general literature on social movements and the more specialized scholarship on climate change awareness and action from the fields of environmental sociology and psychology. The project will employ fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis and a variety of data collection techniques, including data from newspapers, site visits and interviews, and community to surveys. The PIs will employ both graduate and undergraduate students in its implementation. Its interdisciplinary nature, which combines both sociological and technical expertise, will provide a unique opportunity for teaching, training and learning for these students. The research also has important implications beyond the academy. Scholars, civic leaders, and the public are paying increasing attention to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. A host of real world actors are eager to understand the dynamic processes that mediate between awareness and action. By learning more about the factors and processes that convert awareness into action, stakeholders would be in a much better position to serve as agents helping to address critical challenges. Progress on this front can turn the teachable moments that arise with extreme weather events into lessons that can be applied in practical contexts.