How do “numbers” construct social reality in disaster-stricken areas?: a case of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan, China

Seiji Kondo (), Katsuya Yamori, Tomohide Atsumi and Isamu Suzuki

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2012, vol. 62, issue 1, 81 pages

Abstract: This article focuses on the dynamics of using numbers to construct an image of social reality in disaster areas. Numbers are neither objective nor value-neutral but are rather generated, transmitted and shared with social signification. In other words, numbers can be thought of as simply socially constructed information. Statistics and other numbers usually work in positive ways. However, it is also possible that using numbers in the media can lead to unintended messages that could produce negative consequences. We conducted field studies in disaster-stricken areas of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China and compared findings to the case of the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan in order to examine how numbers—in terms of the amount of donations, the timeline of reconstruction projects and casualty figures—construct social reality and cause a variety of social dysfunctions. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Keywords: Social reality; Reality-stakeholder; Social dysfunction; Number; Earthquake; Disaster reporting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-011-0038-8

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