Jumping in and Out of the Dirty Water… Learning from Stories while Doing Social Science

ABSTRACT

The pursuit of knowledge surrounding health-related issues during disasters, emergencies, and crises, can be delicate and challenging. Social scientists use a host of research methods to design and execute studies with the goal of making intellectual contributions. During extended field work following Hurricane Harvey in the Greater Houston area, our team collected data – interviews, observations, and private social media – from citizens, emergency responders, and volunteer rescuers. Yet sometimes the data collected, analyzed, and reported in published findings is only part of the research story. The researchers’ experiences, both in the field as well as their past, can serve as personal-sensemaking devices. Integrating these stories can help scientists build trust and collect meaningful data, well beyond what is anticipated. In this essay, I share such examples, related to dirty water: temporarily health-compromised individuals, and responders doing double duty. Below the surface, there are many more opportunities for health communication to make an impact in times of crisis.

Acknowledgments

I thank the rescuees, volunteer rescuers, and emergency responders of the Hurricane Harvey flooding for participating in this research. I would also like to thank Larry Browning for teaching me the power of narrative, my parents—Eddie and Leslie Keilberg—for being strong in the face of disaster, and Lynn Harter for helping to shape this work. Finally, I would like to thank the team of researchers, Brett W. Robertson, Roth Smith, Jing Li, and Dhiraj Murthy, who collaborated with me on this project.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation [award #1760453] RAPID/The Changing Nature of “Calls” for Help with Hurricane Harvey: 9-1-1 and Social Media. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.