19 November 2008
Survey tests preparation for the ‘big one’
18 September 2006
By Ali Bell: Te Waha Nui Online
When it comes to preparing for an emergency or disaster – do you buy beer or canned soup? And do you feel silly doing it?
Questions like these are at the heart of a survey going online on September 9.
The survey is a research project devised by AUT university student Jeremy Meadows, 19, as part of his BA in Psychology and Social Science.
The online survey runs from September 9 for two or three weeks, and concerns the actions people are taking to prepare for the event of a natural or man-made disaster, says Meadows.
“It’s a one-man operation,” says Doctor Cristina Parra, lecturer and research project co-ordinator at the school of social sciences at AUT University.
It’s linked to the recent and ongoing ‘Get ready and Get thru’ campaign by the Government – educating citizens to prepare and be able to survive for three days without initial help from government services.
Even though the survey is not officially sponsored by the Government as part of its campaign, it will be interested in the results, says Dr Parra.
Hopefully it will contribute to the campaign in a positive way by revealing how and why people prepare or not and the way they do, say Meadows and Dr Parra.
The survey questions assess levels of exposure to information, levels of preparedness – if any – and perceived ability to make a difference when disaster strikes.
Being prepared means having emergency and survival kits in the home containing first aid equipment and things like dynamo powered torches, and enough food and water supplies for every household member for three days.
What disasters you are preparing for depends on which community you live in, says Dr Parra. For example Aucklanders need to be concerned with surviving a volcano eruption, and Wellingtonians should worry about earthquakes.
Variables will be measured, such as levels of optimism, perception of risk, education levels, age, gender and religiosity.
Being religious, apparently, makes a difference in how you prepare for a disaster.
“Being religious in itself doesn’t tell us anything. It’s how or what kind of religiousness a person has that can make the difference,” says Dr Parra.
“It’s not representative of the New Zealand people,” says Dr Parra of the online survey, but it will still be interesting.
“It could make the campaign more effective, even though the survey is not sponsored by the Get thru campaign,” says Dr Parra.
And what of Dr Parra’s level of preparedness?
“I have the water. I have some of the food. But I don’t have the camping stove.”
Links:
- Get Thru online survey
- Civil Defence – “Get ready, get thru” campaign
