nuclearwar

A frequent criticism of survey research is its failure to place findings in a meaningful framework. The mere gathering of facts has very limited value except for descriptive purposes. Unrelated facts cannot give answers to the questions that need to be answered by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-- namely, what OCD must do to obtain the acceptance of Its ideas and programs. There is a need for analytical models and concepts to help order research results so that change agents, such as civil defense personnel, can make use of them. Both the operating change agent and the policy makers need analytical frameworks to help guide their decision-mking. Such a need for analytical models (in the area of public policy decisions) has been recently expressed by a Department of Defense official.a Both policy-makers and operators desire to understand more clearly them factors related the adoption of new civil defense ideas and the acceptance of civil defense programs. They are also interested in the inter-relationships among factors and how these inter-relationships affect the acceptance of new ideas and programs. There are three general objectives of the research presented in this report: (1) to develop an analytical fr~ame of reference which can be used for planning, implementing, and evaluating civil defense programs which have as their primary objective the obtaining of the adoption of new ideas, Innovations, or programs by individuals in specified target audiences; (2) to determine the extent to which a sample of people has adopted the Idea of using public fallout shelters If there is a nuclear attack; (3) to determine the relationship between selected demographic, knowledge, attitude, and information variables and the adoption of the idea of using public fallout shelters if there is a nuclear attack. Chapter I attempts to place the specific research atudy presented In this report In the general context of civil defense actlviles. In Chapter 2 a conceptual framework for analyzing how people accept now Ideas and programs is presented. The conceptual framework is that of , opting new Ideas. aAdam Yarmolinsky. Confessions of a non-user. Public Opinion quarterly, Volume XXVII, No. 4, Winter 1963. Pages 543-54d, especially page 548. ii Of special relevance is the adoption model applied to individual decisionmaking. In Chapter 3 the adoption model conceptualized in Chapter 2 is applied to the civil defense innovation of using public fallout shelters if there is a nuclear attack. In it the methodology used to determine an individual's adoption stage with respect to the idea of using public fallout shelters is described. (Readers who are responsible for implementing other civil defense ;dtcs ,b irivctks may want to attemDt to aDolv the adoption model to their ideas or innovations to gain insights into how the adoption model may be operationalized for different civil defense situations.) Chapter 4 is a general introduction to the research data and findings presented in this report. In Chapter 5 the study findings pertaining to an individual 's stage of adoption, rate of adoption, and adoption period are presented. The relationships between four categorie- of factors (demographic, knowledge, attitudinal, and sources of information) ind an individual's adoption of an innovation (using a public fallout shelter if there is a nuclear attack) are discussed in Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9. !n Chapter 6 the relationships of twelve demoaraDhic variables and adoption are discussed. The relationships of thirteen knowledQe variables and adoption are analyzed in Chapter 7. The relationships of thirty-five attitudes and adoption are presented in Chapter 8. In Chapter 9 the relationship of source of information and adoption is discussed. These substantive data and find'ngs may be used by OCD when planning, implementing, or evaluating activities related to the fallout shelter marking and stocking program. Also, the substantive data and findings may provide insights into adoption behavior relat.J to civil ddfense which can be taken into account when planning other current and contemplated civil defense programs. Chapter 10 is a brief summary of the report.The authors wish to acknowledge the research contribution of Elmer Schwieder in supervising the collection of data for this study, and that of Karla Allen in supervising the coding and data analysis necessary for this report. Special appreciation is expressed toMr. Ralph Garrett of the Office of Civil Defense for many helpful suggestions and continuing interest and administration liaison during the course of this project.>