David Lazer Reports on Marathon Bombing Communication Study

Over the past few months, IQSS Affiliate David Lazer has been examining how people communicated in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. Lazer, Associate Professor of Public Policy in the Kennedy School of Government and director of the Program on Networked Governance, has conducted a crowd-sourced study in which volunteers download an Android mobile app survey. As volunteers had done in a similar survey regarding Hurricane Sandy, Boston Marathon survey participants answered questions about their experience after last April's bombing, with a focus on their cell phone activity at the time. Through such surveys, Lazer and his team can study how people respond in the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, and other large-scale emergencies.

Though the study is still ongoing, Lazer has recently published a report on its findings so far with coauthors Ryan Kennedy and Drew Margolin. Among the findings of particular interest, he explains in a post on the Complexity and Social Networks Blog, is that television is still the dominant medium through which respondents learned of the emergency, though it was also the primary source of false information. People who were closer to the emergency were also more likely to gather information about it via texts or phone calls, while those further away were more likely to use Facebook or e-mail.

If you were affected by the Boston Marathon bombing and own an Android device, you can still participate in David Lazer's study by taking the 10-minute mobile survey. The survey app is free to download in the Android Play store, and more information about the study can be found at the team's volunteer site. For each person who volunteers, the research team will donate $3 to the One Fund.