Researching Crisis and Security Management
Remember for the EXAM
Think about the decision on which research methods to apply and why, explain methods.
General question and guest speakers’ question (do something similar that they did, similar
methodology). Explain WHY you choose a specific approach. DEATAILS. Try to describe
the method clearly always. What is relevant versus what is interesting. Focus on what is
relevant for the research.
5 questions and 2 bonus questions.
Exam: Leiden university needs a particular research, it can be the literature review, research
question, analyze one section of the paper, I want you to show me that you can master going
about doing a research but not on what the two steps are to write an analysis e.g. Could be for
example write an abstract, or what methodology you would apply and why etc. Final exam
will be open book.
Help him conduct a research or make a decision for a research
Think about the research, methodology, challenges, etc.
Think about the following things when listening to the guest speakers:
- Lack of accessible data a complex data collection (problem in finding interviewees,
participants, experts)
- The process to design the research
- The passion
All different approaches used by different researchers:
o Scoping literature review; “preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of
available research literature.” Aims to identify nature and extent of research evidence
(usually including ongoing research). Use when there is a lack of literature available.
o Experiment research: compare two different approaches, when you want to provide a
new approach or something new in your research work better, you should be able to
show numbers that your approach is better to use than previous ones.
o Based on a questionnaire: a series of written questions a participant answers is the
main instrument for collecting data in survey research to collect individual data about
one or more specific topics.
o Content analysis; is a research tool used to determine the presence of certain words,
themes, or concepts within some given qualitative data.
o Interview: an interview is a conversation for gathering information. A research
interview involves an interviewer, who coordinates the process of the conversation
and asks questions, and an interviewee, who responds to those questions The Delphi
technique is a well-established approach to answering a research question through the
identification of a consensus view across subject experts. It allows for reflection
among participants, who can nuance and reconsider their opinion based on the
anonymised opinions of others.
o Critical analysis,
o Delphi study, mix method, quantitative and qualitative research
o Operational research: Operations research (OR) is an analytical method of problem-
solving and decision-making that is useful in the management of organizations. In
operations research, problems are broken down into basic components and then
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, solved in defined steps by mathematical analysis. test a hypothesis, propose a
methodology, provide evidence-based approaches.
o The behaviour design approach: Behavioural Design (BD) is a systematic approach
for applying behavioural insights to solve design challenges that centre on human
behaviour. We humans are rational animals. We are the creatures of habit. We run in
an auto pilot mode, instinctively rather than rationally. Step 1; understanding,
understand the behaviour of users through e.g., videotapes. Step 2, Modelling &
stimulating, Step 3, Analyzing & designing. Step 4, Implementing and comparing.
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,Lecture 1, Introduction
This course offers an overview of different kinds of research that are possible in the field of
crisis and security management (CSM) and analyzes issues, dilemmas and challenges that can
be encountered when researching such topics.
- Identify problems and opportunities regarding researching CSM Present and criticize
different research designs.
- Reproduce the most current research methods
- Design a research in CSM
Grading:
1. Submit three essays (max 300 words) to give an argued opinion on that
statement/dilemma/paper
2. Submit three essays (max 300 words) to give an argued opinion on that
statement/dilemma/paper the first essay is for practice one essay is randomly selected and
graded originality, content, scientific base and writing style
3. Submit group presentation (max 5 minutes) to read a research paper and analyze the
research method used (what, how, why) in week 6 and 7, a conference will take place
design/visual aspect, clarity, explanation, and scientific base (+1)
4. A series of open-ended questions/tasks to select, describe, and discuss researching
methodologies explored during the course the final exam will take place on ANS
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, Lecture 2, sometimes the world needs a crisis
Readings
Milasinovic, S. & Kesetovic, Z. (2008) Crisis and crisis management – a contribution to a
conceptual & terminological delimitation, Megatrend Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 167-186.
Crisis and crisis management are relatively new concepts in Serbia, both in theory and in
practice. This work is an attempt at a contribution to a conceptual and terminological
delimitation in this field.
Crisis: In ancient Greece the word crisis (κριςις) meant “judgment” or “decision,” i.e. the
decisive moment that determines the further positive or negative development of a thing or a
situation. The essence of crisis is that one must decide, but that no decision has yet been
made
An emergency situation is still not a crisis, although it makes extraordinary
demands upon the traditional structures. What matters here is that the institu- tional
components of the system set up to battle hazardous situations are able to meet these
extraordinary demands with the aid of already established mechanisms. Thus, the distinction
between the concepts of crisis and emergency situation is relatively precise and logical. The
key distinctive elements are the clarity of the nature, character and dimensions of the events
that exist in the case of an emergency situation but not in the case of a crisis. Differently from
a crisis, an emergency situation is mainly solved by routine operative procedures within the
framework of an organization’s existing capacities. A second distinction is the sufficiency
(availability) of resources for solving an emergency situation, as distinct from a crisis.
The word catastrophe comes from the Greek word katastrefo (καταστρεφο), which means to
turn, spin, tip over. It is most often used in the sense of disaster, breakdown, sudden great
calamity with very serious consequences in terms of human lives and material damage. In
order to demonstrate this, we shall present attempts at defining and con- templating
catastrophe distinctly and independently from the concept of crisis. Just as in the case of
crisis, there is no universal definition of catastrophe, since it is also dependent on the
discipline within which it is being used. On the general level, the concept of catastrophe can
be approached from four main angles:
according to source, or original root (natural or technological),
according to consequences (degree of loss and damage, intensity and length of time),
according to course of events (interventions of different actors, response, organization
and community capacities),
according to degree of risk involved.
Thus, a catastrophic event such as a devastating earthquake is not a catastrophe if it occurs on
uninhabited Aleutian islands, but if it hits a densely populated city center – it is.
A classic definition of catastrophe with which Quarantelli dealt the most revolves around four
key elements:
description of source,
physical damage,
social disruption and
negative evaluation.
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