• Methodology, Objectivity and Cultural Specificity in Multimethod Disaster Studies: Insights from the 2017 Bihar Floods Study, Eila Romo-Murphy, Alankrita Anand
• Causal modelling of knowing how to prepare: A concept for a ‘strategic Bayesian operations room’ exercise, Tapio Reinekoski, Marko Ahvenainen, Nina Janasik, Annukka Lehikoinen
• How to get a feel for the (unknown) real? – Emergency exercises and the production of synthetic experience, Markus Jenki, Sabine Blum, Nils Ellebrecht

Panel description

The increasing and constantly evolving wickedness of extraordinary events requires sophisticated methodologies, agile and nuanced enough to adapt to a shifting societal context. What is more, the interdisciplinary character of crises, emergencies, and disasters, not to mention the teams researching them calls for methodological pluralism. In this panel, we take a pragmatic methodological approach. Pragmatism addresses the “so what” and the “what does it matter” of research and “…unstiffens all our theories, limbers them up and sets each one at work” (James, 1907/2014, p. 63). It offers the bridge from theory to practice and considers the practical implications on the ones who are being researched. Encompassing elements from positivism and constructivism, it allows for the usage of both qualitative and quantitative methods, depending on the kind of data collected. In this panel, we welcome papers addressing methodological issues in disaster, crisis, and emergency management research, regardless the orientation of the method itself or the data collected. We especially welcome innovative research designs such as experimental, interpretative or narrative, in addition to mixed methods and survey research.

James, W. (1907/2014). Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking Retrieved from https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/j/james/william/pragmatism/index.html