Challenges After a Catastrophic Event
Read the article attached "Rising to the challenges of a catastrophe: The emergent and prosocial behavior following Hurricane Katrina" write a short paper (approximately 2-3 pages, double spaced) that addresses the following questions (please use the same structure, organization, and subheadings in your paper): The subheadings are Research Question, Background Information, Methodology, Results, Conclusion.
Reference (APA style):
Citation (APA style):
1. What is the Research Question? What interesting and/or important sociological issue is this study trying to solve?
2. What type of Background Information is provided (this will usually appear in the Introduction or Literature Review)? You can simply list the major topics that are discussed as part of the background for this study.
3. What is the research Methodology? How were the data collected? If appropriate, include a description of the subjects, location/setting, procedures, and a description of any instruments (such as a questionnaire) that were used. Also, discuss any potential limitations to this study (there are generally two types of limitations: some related to the validity of the study (that is, are the researchers able to collect accurate data? Are they measuring what they need to in order to answer the research question? Are there any threats to the accuracy of the study?) and some are related to the ability of the research to be generalized to other settings (that is, if the study was conducted in New York City, are the results likely to be applicable to Los Angeles? Denver? Fresno?).
4. What are the most important findings/Results?
5. What are the most important Conclusions? What did the authors learn?
Journal Article Week 3
Author's Name
The Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Instructor Name
Assignment Due Date
Research Question
The research by Rodriguez, Trainor, and Quarantelli (2006) aims to examine emergent behaviors following catastrophic events, specifically focusing on the post-Hurricane Katrina period. The fundamental sociological question concerning how "looting" in emergencies should be classified. Is it primarily antisocial and illegal, or can it also have prosocial survival-driven undertones? This study emphasizes how crucial it is to contextualize behavior, particularly when the distinction between unlawful behavior and critical survival behavior is blurred, and the necessity to redefine emergent behaviors in disaster response. It questions the conventional bias that assumes all emergent behavior is automatically advantageous.
Background Information
The excerpt covers various essential topics in the background information. The first part of the article explores the difficulties in describing and analyzing emergent behaviors, particularly in post-disaster situations. The legal ramifications of the term "looting" are examined, drawing attention to the fact that the phrase describes a behavior that arises in response to a crisis but is not the same as burglary (Frailing & Harper, 2020). It also focuses on antisocial behavior in St. Croix during Hurricane Hugo, highlighting looting patterns and local responses. Subsequently, it emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of how disasters are often handled in the United States and Western Europe. In order to understand emergent behaviors in extreme situations, this foundation gives readers a contextual lens.
Limitations and Research Methodology
The research indicates the employ of a qualitative methodology. Firsthand stories were used in the data gathering, and respondent narratives were frequently used to evaluate post-Hurricane Katrina behaviors. This approach is consistent with the study's aim to investigate emergent behaviors that arise during disasters. The DRC team members indicated in the passage most likely interacted with respondents to collect detailed, comprehensive data.
However, th...