Illustrative Projects:
Research
Define needs and project scopes; design, test, and apply research methods; perform problem-focused and knowledge-advancing research; and publish, disseminate, and present the results via multiple venues to widely varied audiences.

The Future of Social Science Disaster Research
Mr. Olson served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Disaster Research in the Social Sciences: Future Challenges and Opportunities. He collaborated with other members in writing portions of several chapters for the forthcoming book titled tentatively as Hazards and Disaster Research, Social Science, and Public Policy.

Policy Histories of California Earthquake Safety Legislation
ROA received a National Science Foundation grant to study and report on the evolution of and legislative processes associated with the enactment of several statewide earthquake safety laws. The project begins with enactment of the “Field Act” (published as an article in Earthquake Spectra) and the “Riley Act” soon after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and ends with the 2001-02 legislative session.

Knowledge and Technology Transfer Plan
ROA served as a consultant to the Mid-America Earthquake Center to develop a long-range plan and strategies to support the multi-university center’s efforts to reach potential users so they will take advantage of the knowledge and technologies the center is developing to reduce earthquake risk. The report is titled Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Earthquake Engineering: Consequence-Based Engineering (CBE) Implementation Opportunities and Challenges (September 2005).

Damaged Buildings Policy Study, Oakland, California
Working with Florida International University researchers, Robert Olson Associates collected and analyzed documentary and personal interview data about how this large northern California city dealt with the problems of damaged commercial buildings following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The resulting book, Some Buildings Just Can’t Dance: Politics, Life Safety, and Disaster (1999), is intended to help other cities understand the problems involved in deciding what to do about earthquake damaged private buildings in economically depressed areas.•

Hospital Evacuation Study, 1994 Northridge Earthquake
With a grant from the National Science Foundation, a Robert Olson Associates team that included medical personnel and social scientists completed a study of the processes and problems associated with evacuating several earthquake damaged hospitals in the Los Angeles area. The study, Tough Decisions: Hospital Evacuation in the Northridge Earthquake (1998), identified the importance of emergency planning, adequate authority, the importance of rapid damage assessment, and the need for inter-hospital emergency coordination.

Benefit-Cost Models for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings and
Hazard Mitigation Project Applications
ROA designed for FEMA a personal computer-based model for evaluating the benefits and costs associated with decisions to strengthen earthquake hazardous private buildings. Two versions of the model were developed, one for buildings of a single structural class, and the second for multiple classes of buildings. ROA continued this work by preparing a version for application to federally owned buildings. ROA also developed models for floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, to support the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Knowledge Transfer and Application in Earthquake Hazard Mitigation
With financial support from the Kajima Corporation of Japan through the California Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREe), ROA personnel prepared a report on research applications processes. This study examined typical models for the transfer of knowledge into practice and defined the major steps in the building design and construction process where appropriate types of new knowledge could be used more effectively.

Survey Research, Earthquake Early Warning System
ROA completed a survey to determine the receptivity of small to moderate size businesses to an Early Warning System that would provide short advance notice of seismic activity. ROA designed and administered a survey questionnaire; selected a random sample of businesses; conducted interviews; analyzed the data; and prepared a report for the California Geological Survey.

Earthquake Prediction Impact Assessment, Lima-Callao Area of Peru
ROA designed a methodology and conducted field research on the impacts of an earthquake prediction on the insurance and construction sectors of the Peruvian economy. The assessment was part of a larger science policy study. ROA's work involved the development of survey instruments, collection of often sensitive business data, extensive interviews with executives in Peruvian companies, and the analysis of the resulting information. The main work was published as The Politics of Earthquake Prediction (1989).

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