Research study in simulated apartment environment

Throughout 2020, a structured observational research study was carried out in RCR Simulation Lab as part of a project investigating risk communication. The lab was turned into an apartment for the study, in which 33 participants experienced a simulated longer-term crisis.

A large room with black floor and ceiling. The room looks like an apartment with partitions, furniture, and projections on the walls. Two people are standing at the kitchen table. There are lots of technical equipment in the ceiling.

The observational study was part of the project “From communication to action in the heterogeneous society: Understanding and putting risk communication into practice”.

When research participants entered the door to the simulation room in pairs, they walked into a simulated three-room apartment with a bag of groceries and the instruction “make yourselves feel at home”. In the living room the TV was on, and within a short while a news ticker on the TV informed viewers of a large power outage in the area. Shortly afterwards the power cut to the apartment and a concerned new neighbour knocked on the door. In the following 30 minutes, time was moved forward in steps, so that several days pass inside the simulation and it becomes apparent that a large-scale crisis has occurred.

The purpose for the study was to try to study how people have understood and incorporated risk communication, before it becomes apparent that a crisis has occurred. Participants were interviewed before and after the simulation, and their reactions and comments throughout the simulation were recorded. Data in this study is still being analysed at the present moment, but in due course results will be available from the RCR website.