Integrating qualitative methodologies into risk assessment: Insights from South Durban

Abstract

In the field of risk management, there is growing recognition thattraditional tools of analysis may, be limited in their ability to arriveat a textured understanding of risk as it is actually experienced by,communities. This paper begins with the premise that risk is socially,constructed by, lay people, as well as by, scientists, and that thisrecognition has important implications for the development of riskmanagement approaches. Technical risk assessments can be complemented byqualitative methodologies that are designed to reveal lay or localknowledge of risk. Such research tools were employed in working withrespondents from residential communities in the highly industrialisedSouth Durban Basin in KwaZulu-Natal. Here, as in other urban industrialcontexts, risk is constructed by residents through their own experienceand histories, their understanding of science, and their response totechnical management tools. The qualitative approach adopted in thisresearch provided new insight into residents' responses to chronic andacute risk, drew attention to a widening gap between people's actualexperiences and the claims of science and risk management experts andexposed currently, hidden, everyday, risk narratives that are notdirectly related to the dominant environmental hazards connected withindustry; but which significantly impact people's living environments.