Formative Field Experiments of a NIOSH Alert to Reduce the Risks to Firefighters From Structural Collapse: Applying the Cascade Framework

Abstract

The authors report two field experiments aimed at testing the impact of government safety recommendations. Using a cascade framework from the Communication Matrix (McGuire, 1985, 1989), the study tested effects of reminder cards, message format, argument quality, and mailer types on indicators of reception, processing, and response. Systematic combinations of these variables were mailed to randomly selected firefighting units in the United States. Fire chiefs were contacted by phone to complete a survey within the next month (Experiment 1, N = 2,000, 44% completion; Experiment 2, N = 600; 77% completion). Results showed highest reception rates (∼50%) with one reminder card and the standard government low-graphics format and that greater reception produced stronger intentions. Processing was stronger with the standard government low-graphics format, and processing was correlated with more positive attitudes and intentions. Response indexes were favorable (>4 on -point scale) under all conditions. Outcomes are interpreted within the framework of a communication cascade model.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was planned and implemented while the authors were employed at the Health Communication Research Branch, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The authors would like to thank Kimberly Thomas for her assistance in the graphical design of the messages used in this research.

Notes

¹Prior to designing the final versions of the independent variables, focus group pretesting was completed on all materials. A total of 13 focus groups were completed with 113 volunteer participants recruited by NIOSH personnel at two annual firefighter conventions held in Orlando, Florida, and Louisville, Kentucky. Participants included: 42 fire chiefs, 2 safety officers, 1 industry person, and 68 firefighters. All participants were paid a monetary incentive of $20.00 for participating. Key discussion areas for focus groups were Alert cover type, card design, presentation elements, and recommendations.

²As a protection to human participants, this experiment was not conducted with the “negative” comparison conditions often used in lab experiments. Given that this was a formal, government communication on an important safety issue it would have been unethical to include conditions with low credibility, weak arguments, high distraction, or other manipulations researchers have used to make a stronger contrast between conditions. This approach meant that all comparisons would be between a currently accepted, “best practice” in communication against manipulations that theoretically might improve on “best practice.” Although this approach is required for this research, it has practical implications for the expectations in outcomes. Given the long and heavily scrutinized history of federal government health and safety communication, it is likely that the current “best practice” is probably a high standard of achievement. It would seem, a priori, that improvements are likely to be in the small effects category, probably averaging around correlations of .1 to .2 (Cohen, 1988). Although it would be possible in a lab to create unnatural contrasting conditions between “strong” and “weak” manipulations, thereby increasing the effect size, the applied demands here must put limits on our expectations of effects, because of the ethical, legal, and practical requirements.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (1999). Preventing injuries and deaths of fire fighters due to structural collapse. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Author.