Studying Rare Events Through Qualitative Case Studies

Harding, David J.; Fox, Cybelle; Mehta, Jal

doi:10.1177/0049124102031002003

Cited by 120 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although I consider my findings to be generalizable to some extent, the contribution of this study is limited in the way typical of explorative research (Harding et al, 2002). First, I did not gather any ethnographic data during the outbreak, which might have explained how reducing and inducing uncertainty relate to one another (e.g., in the case of hospitals).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Finally, restrictions concerning data access as well as ethical and juridical issues further limit the insights gained and information available for analysis. Although this restriction applies to crisis or disaster research in general (Harding et al, 2002), it held particularly true for this study given that lawsuits regarding the EHEC outbreak and norovirus cases are ongoing at the time of writing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an ex post reconstruction of organizational practices using primarily archival data provided an understanding of how actors reduced and induced uncertainty over time (Harding, Fox, & Mehta, 2002).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Practising Uncertainty in the Face of Large-Scale Disease Outbreaks

Müller‐Seitz

2013

Journal of Management Inquiry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In contrast to calculable risks, uncertainty-understood here as the unexpected and non-calculable-is under-researched despite its societal and organizational relevance and omnipresence. Against this backdrop, the present study investigates how organizations practise uncertainty in the face of the numerous large-scale outbreaks of disease in Germany between 2000 and 2012. I position this study in the body of knowledge on disasters and crises, normal accident theory, and high-reliability organizations, and propose a practising uncertainty perspective that focuses on how to deal with unexpected external events and/or their latent dangers. I identify two overarching forms of practice, namely, reducing (i.e., coping with unforeseen incidents) and inducing (i.e., championing an overarching cause) uncertainty. I show that actors use both these forms of practice, which constitute the basis of the framework introduced herein, intentionally or unintentionally depending on the differing and sometimes conflicting objectives of the organizations involved.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Practising Uncertainty in the Face of Large-Scale Disease Outbreaks

Müller‐Seitz

2013

Journal of Management Inquiry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While the prevalence of homicide among school-age children occurring at school is relatively low (<1%, Harding, Fox, & Mehta, 2002;Kachur et al, 1996), there is an increased effort to identify and refer potentially problematic students for mental health counseling (Mulvey & Cauffman, 2001). Faculty and staff indicated that faculty should be alert to student behavior and provide referrals and support for students in need.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Survey of Perceptions of the Virginia Tech Tragedy

Fallahi

Austad

Fallon

et al. 2009

Journal of School Violence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recent shootings at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) shocked the nation and brought violence on college campuses to the forefront of the nation's attention. We surveyed college students and faculty/staff three weeks after the incident about their perceptions of the Virginia Tech shooting, subsequent media exposure, and school violence in general. We found that students agreed with faculty/staff that mental illness and a lack of friendship were likely causal factors in the shootings. Students believed that social support, friendship, good mental health, and parenting were important factors in preventing subsequent incidents. We also found that media exposure and time spent discussing the incident with family and friends were associated with increased psychiatric symptoms. Gender differences were observed in the domains of fearing for personal safety, perceptions of increased parental concern, the role of violent media, and the need for gun control.

show abstract

“…Columbine High School shooting). Historically, one of the largest obstacles in studying this type of school shootings is the case definition problem (Harding, Fox, and Mehta, 2002).…”

Section: Rampage School Shootingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Connection between Media and Scholarly Reports on Rampage School Shootings

Mongan¹

2017

JSSPI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mass shootings at primary and secondary schools command an immense amount of media coverage, due to their rarity and lethality. As these tragic events unfold citizens frequently demand answers, and the mediawho is frequently the entity framing the circumstances surrounding these events -are tasked with providing responses to those questions. It is at this juncture that sensationalized information, or simply misinformation, can impact the internalization of perceptions regarding these rare occurrences. Subsequent externalizations from that sensationalized or faulty information -especially policy aimed at prevention -then has the potential to be impacted by that information.This study aimed to examine the factors that mainstream news articles and scholarly journal articles attribute to impacting the occurrence of rampage school shootings. This was done through a content analysis of eight of the most circulated print newspapers and newsmagazines, as well as the entire population of peer reviewed journal articles that discussed the phenomenon. Triangulation of the findings uncovered that there were differences in the factors the two types of sources discussed, as well as in how similar factors were discussed. Implications for these differences were then discussed through analyzing enacted policies that are intended to prevent these tragedies from occurring.

show abstract

Studying Rare Events Through Qualitative Case Studies

Cited by 120 publications

References 45 publications

Practising Uncertainty in the Face of Large-Scale Disease Outbreaks

Practising Uncertainty in the Face of Large-Scale Disease Outbreaks

A Survey of Perceptions of the Virginia Tech Tragedy

The Connection between Media and Scholarly Reports on Rampage School Shootings

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About