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usual until they received an evacuation message (R. Ólafsson, personal communica-
tion, 2006). The mock eruption began at 10:55 local time (LT) and the fi rst evacuation
message was communicated to residents at 10:59 LT. Residents then had 30 min to
complete the instructions on the hazard sign (Figure 2) before evacuating their homes
to their designated center.
To improve the effectiveness of residents' compliance with warning and evacua-
tion messages it is important that emergency management offi cials understand how
the public interpret their situation in relation to volcanic hazards and their potential
response during a crisis (Bird and Dominey-Howes, 2006, 2008; Dominey-Howes
and Minos-Minopoulos, 2004; Gregg et al., 2004; Haynes et al., 2008; Paton et al.,
2008; Ronan et al., 2000). Therefore, this study (1) investigates resident's knowledge
and perception of Katla, jökulhlaup hazard and their views of the evacuation plan and
exercise, and (2) reports the fi ndings to help the ICP improve mitigation strategies.
To achieve this, fi eld observations were made during the evacuation exercise, semi-
structured interviews with key emergency management offi cials were held after the
evacuation exercise, and questionnaire survey interviews were conducted with local
residents. The rationale for using this sequential mixed methods approach is to better
understand the evacuation procedure from both a management and public perspective
and to develop and implement a questionnaire survey interview to further explore
participant views and knowledge. Before addressing the aim of our research we will
describe the methods used to conduct the analysis.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A mixed methods approach, drawing from both qualitative and quantitative data col-
lection practices was used to obtain public perception data. We were invited to observe
the evacuation exercise from within the emergency headquarters (EH) in Hella in ad-
dition to monitoring the proceedings at the EC in Hvolsvöllur and Hella. Following
the exercise, we conducted semi-structured interviews with emergency management
officials and face-to-face questionnaire survey interviews with local residents living
within the hazard zone. Public perception research based solely on data generated
from questionnaire surveys is unable to capture the complexity of a hazard in a societal
context whereas a mixed-methods approach, employing both qualitative and quantita-
tive techniques, provides the researcher with the opportunity to acquire a variety of in-
formation on the same topic allowing for a more accurate interpretation of the issues at
hand (Haynes et al., 2007; Horlick-Jones et al., 2003). In this section, we describe the
methods employed for field observations and interviews followed by those adopted to
construct and deliver the questionnaire survey.
Observing the Evacuation Exercise
Located within the main EH, we (Bird and Gisladottir) observed and documented the
development and management of the evacuation exercise. We were at the EH during
the most critical stages of the eruption scenario. As the eruption developed we visited
the EC in Hella and Hvolsvöllur to observe the emergency management proceedings
of the Red Cross and to witness how the public behaved and responded to the evacu-
ation. Some informal discussions were held with evacuees and Red Cross personnel
