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This timely Handbook is based on the principle that disasters are social constructions and focuses on social science disaster research. It provides an interdisciplinary approach to disasters with theoretical, methodological, and practical applications.

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This timely Handbook is based on the principle that disasters are social constructions and focuses on social science disaster research. It provides an interdisciplinary approach to disasters with theoretical, methodological, and practical applications. Attention is given to conceptual issues dealing with the concept "disaster" and to methodological issues relating to research on disasters. These include Geographic Information Systems as a useful research tool and its implications for future research. This seminal work is the first interdisciplinary collection of disaster research as it stands now while outlining how the field will continue to grow.

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"This book constitutes an important contribution to the field of disaster studies and is especially valuable for scholars, researchers, and those designing curricula in the field of emergency and disaster management ... . It represents a critical addition for academic libraries and disaster collections with articles that will be heavily sought by students of disaster studies and would also make an excellent classroom textbook for students across a range of disciples and in the field of emergency management." (Laura Olson, recoverydiva.com, June, 2018)

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Havidán Rodríguez is the President of the University at Albany of the State University of New York (SUNY). However, most of his work for this Handbook took place in his previous role as Founding Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and a tenured professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. He also served as director of the Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware. He was the principal investigator for the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program: Training the Next Generation of Disaster Researchers, funded by NSF. Dr. Rodríguez is the co-editor (with Quarantelli and Dynes) of the Handbook of Disaster Research (2006).

Joseph E. Trainor is an Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware (UD). He is the current director of the UD Disaster Science and Management Degree Programs and is a Core Faculty member at the Disaster Research Center (DRC).

William Donner is Associate Professor of Sociology and Disaster Studies M.A. Director at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Research interests include hazard warnings, epidemiology, demography, and statistical applications in disaster research.

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