University of New Mexico Political Science Associate Professor Lonna Atkeson is the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant to study public perception of the government's handling of Hurricane Katrina.
University of New Mexico Political Science Associate Professor Lonna Atkeson is the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant to study public perception of the government's handling of Hurricane Katrina.
Atkeson and colleague Cherie Maestas of Florida State University will assess public opinion data gathered during a national telephone survey of 1,000 individuals.
National news media documented and presented to the public the pain and loss resulting from the natural disaster on the Gulf Coast, the researchers contend. Those hard hitting images, words and contexts resulted in mass quantities of “causal stories” to explain the absence of government assistance in the early days following the hurricane.
The study will look at how consumers attribute blame and how it will shape preferences for future policies, such as funding and autonomy for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the role of government in disaster response as well as policies viewed as punitive toward government officials, victims and minority groups. Researchers will also measure the degree to which respondents believe they were directly or indirectly harmed.
“Our research speaks to the larger question of citizens' views of the capacity and effectiveness of government to deal with crisis,” Atkeson said. “It also contributes to our understanding of how causal framing and blame attribution affect public policy.”
NSF awarded $69,000 for the study, which begins this week. The grant includes an education component for UNM and Florida State graduate students who will develop the survey instrument, manage and analyze data and assist in the development of research papers.
Atkeson and Maestas plan to seek funding next summer to explore how public perception of the tragedy changes over time and the level of public support for policy solutions to disaster.
Contact: Laurie Mellas, (505) 277-5915
Posted by scarr at September 23, 2005 12:09 PM