A Potential paradigm for Emergency Management Jessica Jensen North Dakota State University Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Emergency Management ja.jensen@ndsu.edu 701(231)-5762

Inspiration for presentation Ritzer (1979) Integrated Sociological Paradigm Problem he addressed What was included Why it failed Why inspiring Ritzer and Goodman, 2004, p. 487

EM theory Current state of affairs: For example… Lack of As a whole Direction, focus, and clarity Means of synthesis and integration Framework As a whole Rudderless, no walking legs Stunted development For example…

Theoretical issues General theoretical issues confronting the area of study Purview Key concepts Central questions Identification/ownership of existing theory Methods Criteria for the establishment of new knowledge Specifically, Boundaries Central concepts and questions Approach to teaching and research

What can help? The obvious The not-so-obvious but not-so-simple but simpler Not-so-simple…let nature take its course, evolve over long time, take hits/waste time in the meantime Simpler…define em as area of study, create framework, discuss and debate, develop from there Purpose of presentation: Offer defintion of em as area of study Suggest potential framework Discuss how could be used and benefit

Paradigms Key authors and definitions Simply What it is not Philosophical or theoretical framework “Way of seeing the world” What it is not A theory Causal model Everything to all people Key authors and their definitions: Kuhn (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolution—paradigm I to normal science to anomalies to crisis to revolution to paradigm II Ritzer “A paradigm is a fundamental image of the subject matter within a science. It serves to define what should be studied, what questions should be asked, how they should be asked, and what rules should be followed in interpreting the answers obstained. The paradigm is the broadest unit of consensus within a science and serves to differentiate one scientific community (or subcommunity) from another. It subsumes, defines, and interrelates the exemplars, theories, and methods and instruments that exist within it” (p. 7)

Paradigm building Step One: Step Two: Step Three: Step Four: Determine what EM studies and tries to explain Step Two: Determine how to study and explain EM phenomena Step Three: Visualize Step Four: Use, refine and debate, discuss And repeat

What does EM study? Area of study that examines how human beings, organizations, and government create, interact, and cope with hazards, risk, vulnerabilities, and associated events Vis a Vis profession(s) of emergency management EM phenomena Examples of emergency management phenomena: Phases Activities within phases Emergency managers “Learning” after hazard events Technology Etcetera Phases: questions of quality, effectiveness, amount, and/or efficiency in a given location, at a given level, within a certain stakeholder group or specific organization Emergency managers: role, status, professionalization, nature of the job

Second Step: How to study and explain EM phenomena Key concepts Context Macro and micro Objective and subjective Time and space bound Dynamic nature What must be reflected represents ASSUMPTIONS

Third Step: Possible visualization Attention to handout

Potential application in teaching Help students Generally More specifically Key concepts Other factors Change Interdependence Relationships Help faculty Broadly: The way the emergency management world works More specifically: Identify and flesh out key concepts and their relationship to emergency management phenomena Identify relationship of emergency management phenomena to other factors that matter Understand patterns of and influences on change Understand interdependence within emergency management context Understand that relationships are not necessarily linear (i.e., if this, then) Help faculty: Where to begin teaching: key concepts and their characteristics, the relationship of key concepts to one another, the relationship of key concepts to understanding emergency management phenomena Where to take students over time: the rest of the paradigm

Potential application in research Conceptualization Research design Questions related to: Any one aspect Synthesis, integration Dynamism Change over time Effectiveness and efficiency Synthesis, integration: literature review and findings Dynamism: feedback and interrelationships

Analysis Methods: Beyond single case study approach Longitudinal Historical analysis Analysis

Broader implications for discipline Focus A rudder Purpose Development Breadth as opposed to depth Relationship to other disciplines

Next steps Use, refine Debate, discuss Repeat