Tom Smith National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
Over fifty years of social science research on the topic of public response to information about risk of natural and technological hazards has produced a well-grounded and empirically validated mid-range theory (rooted in the general theory of symbolic interaction or SI) of effective hazards risk communication regarding public disaster preparedness and protective action behavior. Despite the rich understanding that this theory provides, and the elaborate empirical record on which it rests, it requires further validation, expansion, and restructuring both to improve it's applicability to terrorism and to incorporate changes that have occurred in how and from whom the public receives information and what motivates action. The theory needs to be expanded to include additional constructs and/or propositions suggested by other disciplinary sub-specializations or topical research areas. And, finally, the theory needs to be empirically re-structured from linear to non-linear assumptions about how risk is actually communicated in order to accommodate recent societal changes. This project adds a module (20-25 items) on public terrorism preparedness to the General Social Survey (GSS), a regular, ongoing interview survey of U.S households conducted by the National Opinion Research Center annually or biennially since 1972. The survey module would be developed by a multi-disciplinary team and would provide measures of citizen terrorism preparedness and allow for validation and expansion of the fundamental social scientific theory that addresses the root causes for citizen preparedness actions/inactions. This information will enable the policymakers to craft and implement the most effective public education campaigns to foster ever increasing national levels of citizen readiness for future disasters or acts of terrorism.
