Research focuses on Katrina's victims

What kinds of information Hurricane Katrina victims needed and how they made decisions before, during and after the deadly storm are the focus of a research team from the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies.

“We’ve known for a long time that people often resist evacuation,” said associate professor Susanna Priest, the college's research director. “This study provides an unprecedented opportunity to explore the reasons why, with respect to communication processes and perceptions of risk. Are the media doing the best job they can? Or are other factors more important?”

The $24,980, four-state study is funded by a USC grant. The team is working with researchers from three other universities.

Journalism school faculty members Kenneth Campbell, Cheryl Harris and Ran Wei, along with library school faculty member Jennifer Arns, helped Priest develop the design.

Journalism school doctoral students Hilary Fussell and Kim Smith, along with faculty member Laura Smith, conducted the first interviews in South Carolina. These served as the pilot study for a larger effort in Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.

With the cooperation of collaborators at Louisiana State University, Tulane University and the University of Alabama, the project has collected depth interviews from about 125 people from different backgrounds in a variety of settings.

The tapes are being transcribed and analyzed for patterns. The researchers are looking for where people got their information, what sources they heeded and what information they needed but lacked.

Campbell and Kim Smith are also involved with a second project exploring the African-American church's role in reconstructing evacuees’ lives.

Both projects are among 18 linked studies on Katrina recovery – social as well as environmental – being funded by USC’s Office of Research and Health Sciences. Results will be presented at a USC symposium in April.