Adler, AstridCatrin Edgeley

Title:
Understanding household experiences with wildfire in northern Arizona: What can open-ended survey comments tell us?

Abstract:
While numerous existing social science studies collect survey data on household experiences with wildfire events, the majority of these efforts focus on quantitative analyses of data. Many of the survey instruments used in existing studies include open-ended questions, yet they are rarely analyzed or included in peer-reviewed literature. As a result, it is unclear whether researchers are overlooking missed opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of participant experiences that can advance scientific understandings further.
The research presented here explores open-ended survey responses collected in 2019 and 2020 after four events in northern Arizona: the Schultz (2010), Goodwin (2017), Tinder (2018), and Museum (2019) Fires. A total of 607 open-ended survey comments are analyzed from these four fires, using qualitative data analysis software NVivo. Iterative rounds of qualitative coding were performed, beginning with open topic coding, before advancing to descriptive and thematic codes to identify differences and similarities in participant comments across fires. We find that qualitative survey data provides important depth and context to quantitative efforts, explaining attitudes and responses to fire management, communication, and forestry in each location. Many responses included recommendations from respondents, indicating that residents in impacted areas may benefit from the creation of local opportunities for inclusion in decision-making about fire mitigation and management moving forward. We conclude with recommendations for other scientists interested in conducting analyses of qualitative survey data.

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