Research Applications in the Classroom

Abstract

If disaster research is helping to spawn a new discipline as some suggest (Mileti, 1999; Phillips, 2005), then its work remains incomplete. For a new discipline to emerge, take shape, and become recognized as a substantive field of knowledge, research must infuse the writings and materials used in the classroom. The presumed benefits of doing so include legitimacy and acceptance within the academy (Phillips, 2005); professionalization that generates promotions, higher salaries, and social prestige (Neal, 1993); and more effective emergency management practice. As one practitioner illustrates, “Decision makers must rely on sound conceptual understanding of the community, established research findings, and data that have to be collected with systematic methods” (Rossman, 1993, p. 132).