Perceptions about Social Science Research and Key Issues: A Survey of Warning Coordination Meteorologists

Following on NOAA’s increased interest in incorporating social science research to further the NWS mission, a survey was conducted to gauge perceptions of the forecast offices about this increased interest. Warning Coordination Meteorologists (WCMs) at NWS forecast offices across the United States were surveyed to determine whether employees think this emphasis has been about right, too much, or not enough. Survey respondents were also asked about the importance of several research themes to the local NWS offices. This included several open-ended questions about research priorities. WCMs were also asked to rate their knowledge about prominent topics involving social science, and state their opinions about potential problem issues such as false alarms, hype, and message consistency. Sixty-one WCMs replied to the survey. Most were favorable toward social science and many had worked with a social scientist. WCMs rated research themes highest that focused on how to communicate a message effectively and why individuals do not take action during a warning. Similarly, prominent themes reflected in the open-ended responses included how to make messages more effective, and how to get people to respond in some way upon receiving warning messages. In a follow-up to the 2017 AMS presentation, this presentation will emphasize analysis of results from the open-ended questions.