Critical Time, Space, and Decision-Making Agent Considerations in Human-Centered Interdisciplinary Hurricane-Related...

Area of Science:

• Disaster Science and Management
• Interdisciplinary Research
• Human-Centered Approaches

Background:

• Human-centered approaches are vital in hazard and disaster research due to the central role of people and communities.
• The built environment, designed for human needs, underscores the importance of human factors in disaster contexts.
• Identifying the decision-making agent is a critical element within human-centered disaster research frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the necessity of aligning decision-making agents, temporal scales, and spatial scales in interdisciplinary hurricane research.
• To examine discrepancies in decision-making agents, spatial scales, and data collection frequencies across sociobehavioral science, transportation engineering, power systems engineering, and decision support systems.
• To emphasize the importance of resolving these interdisciplinary differences for successful protective action research in disaster contexts.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis and discussion of decision-making agents, temporal, and spatial scales in interdisciplinary disaster research.
• Comparative examination of approaches used in sociobehavioral science, transportation engineering, power systems engineering, and decision support systems.
• Illustration of discrepancies through the lens of hurricane evacuation and immediate aftermath research.

Main Results:

• Disciplinary differences in decision-making agents persist, ranging from individuals to governmental agencies.
• Spatial scales in research have largely converged to the local level, with some system-specific extensions.
• Significant discrepancies exist in data collection frequencies, varying from single events (surveys) to continuous monitoring (sensors).

Conclusions:

• Alignment of decision-making agents, time, and space is essential for effective interdisciplinary collaboration in disaster research.
• Addressing the identified discrepancies is critical for advancing research on protective actions during and after disasters like hurricanes.
• Successful interdisciplinary teams require a unified approach to temporal and spatial scales and the definition of decision-making agents.