New Smyrna Beach Evacuate

Research Methodology of the Thesis / Report

Will The Residents of New Smyrna Beach Evacuate?

The steps the researcher plans to accomplish for the study is a literature review and a resident survey. The first step is to conduct a literature review which includes internet searches and library references. The researcher plans to get the majority of information on past evacuation plans that went well and plans that resulted in unsatisfactory results. Another concern that will be identified is who and why residents did not evacuate. The literature review will provide current evacuation plans for New Smyrna Beach and other coastal towns, comparing methods of evacuation.
The literature search will include a review of plans, research journals, and reports found through internet and personal meetings with officials. These meetings will be with emergency planners on information about preplanned evacuation routes, notifications, warning alerts, command structure, policies and any other procedures already put in place. The purpose of the meetings will be to gather any documented information they can release. Information will be gathered in other Atlantic and Gulf coast cities that are

comparable to New Smyrna Beach or have had to use their evacuation plan in the past. This information will be compared and contrasted for each area to see what has been successful in past evacuations. Another issue will be how to disperse all this information to all of the area residents. The researcher expects to use the results of the research to identify current needs and topics that could be researched for future evacuations.
The research project will hopefully determine that if there were a major hurricane predicted to make landfall in the New Smyrna Beach area, are the residents willing to evacuate?

Do the residents have a plan? What preparations do the residents have in place if any? To find out if the majority of New Smyrna Beach residents are prepared for an evacuation the researcher will request fifty or more residents to participate in a survey. The researcher will visit the local beach and ask residents if they have time to participate in the study. Only residents of New Smyrna Beach will be part or the study as vacationers or tourists will not apply. Hopefully the researcher will have no problem with people assisting in the study at this location because they will not be in a hurry to be

somewhere.
The study is justified by documenting firsthand what residents answer. The residents participating in the survey will be non-biased and of all ages and races. The data will most likely be collected at one time being a cross-sectional survey. Results will be categorized and analyzed by the researcher based on the answers. Having fifty to one hundred surveys done this will give a good representation of the general public and residents of New Smyrna Beach.

Sample survey:
Age:
Male/Female:
How long have you lived in New Smyrna Beach:
Have you been through a major hurricane?
Do you have a plan if a hurricane will hit?
Would you evacuate if told to do so:
Why or why not:
Do you have savings for the cost of evacuation?
Where would you go?
Do you know what plan the city/county has?
What are you concerns during this evacuation?

The other part of the research method will be interviewing county and city government to see what type of evacuation plans are already established.