Social media and community disaster resilience: a process based study of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Management School
Abstract
The proposed project is both interdisciplinary (Business Management and Media and Communication Studies) and
collaborative (South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the project partner). It focuses on the role of social media strategy in
promoting community disaster resilience. It will investigate online interactions between SYFR and the communities it
serves by examining its social media strategy (e.g. choice of social media channels, and benchmarking of current and
best communication practices) and implementation (e.g. message content and citizen engagement). The context taken for
examining these interactions will be those oriented around community resilience building. Community resilience is an area
of increasing interest for policy makers and public sector practitioners but is fragmented, in both theory and practice, and
is lacking in rigorous evaluation. This research will address those needs.
collaborative (South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the project partner). It focuses on the role of social media strategy in
promoting community disaster resilience. It will investigate online interactions between SYFR and the communities it
serves by examining its social media strategy (e.g. choice of social media channels, and benchmarking of current and
best communication practices) and implementation (e.g. message content and citizen engagement). The context taken for
examining these interactions will be those oriented around community resilience building. Community resilience is an area
of increasing interest for policy makers and public sector practitioners but is fragmented, in both theory and practice, and
is lacking in rigorous evaluation. This research will address those needs.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Martina McGuinness (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Alexandra Ricketts (Student) |
| Description | South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service |
| Organisation | South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I am currently engaging in an internship with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) service as part of my data collection. This internship involves me working with the communications team to support their campaigns, and to also develop need areas of work for them. It is also enabling me to better understand how SYFR develop their communication strategies, and to develop my knowledge of the institutional context in which they are situated. I am using a Participatory Action Research framework for my research, which means that the project is in constant development and agreement with SYFR. This internship enables us to work closely together to ensure that the research outcomes are beneficial to all of the project's stakeholders. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SYFR are contributing by engaging with the research process and supporting the development of the project. |
| Impact | This PhD is a collaborative award and has been designed and developed in close partnership with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service. The outputs so far have been related to the development and scope of the project, including invitations to events such as the FirePro conference. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Annual Review Meeting 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This PhD is using a Participatory Action Research framework, which involves working closely with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. As part of the PAR framework we hold an annual progress review to discuss the project's direction and progress over the past year. At this meeting (11th January 2019 at SYFR's Headquarters) we discussed progress made from the start of the award, including discussion of the learning and progress throughout the year of study for the Masters degree. This meeting also discussed the direction of the project, focusing on the logistics of the internship and future data collection |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Annual Review Meeting 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This PhD is using a Participatory Action Research framework, which involves working closely with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. As part of the PAR framework we hold an annual progress review to discuss the project's direction and progress over the past year. At this meeting (30th January 2020 at SYFR's Headquarters) we discussed progress made since the meeting last year (2019), including a discussion of the confirmation review and data collected so far. This meeting also included a discussion of the data collection, including a potential change in scope to include flooding as well as fire campaigning. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | FirePro Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I attended the FirePro conference on the 13th-14th November 2019 in Birmingham. The FirePro conference is an annual meeting of Fire and Rescue communication teams in England. The two days were comprised of talks from different Fire and Rescue organisations, discussing different aspects of communications, and also networking events. From these sessions, I developed my understanding of Fire and Rescue organisations and the institutional landscape. I was also able to talk to a variety of practitioners about my research, to better understand how other organisations were/are using social media. This also enabled me to make connections for future research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |