In the Spring of 2019, members of Climate Ready Hamilton (CRH) met with Dr. Gregory Hooks, of McMaster’s Sociology Department to discuss a collaboration between one of his graduate classes and our work in the Hamilton community. The result was a collaboration between Sociology 701 (McMaster University) and several community partners, including Environment Hamilton, Climate Ready Hamilton, the City of Hamilton, and Good Shepherd Seniors Programs. In the fall of 2019, Dr. Hook’s provided CRH with a sample survey that we could disseminate throughout the community and an accompanying report.
From the report, “Our goal was to develop a survey that (1) solicits information about challenges and coping strategies during periods of extreme heat and that (2) can be completed independently by Hamilton residents. Overall, our survey questions focus on how Hamiltonians feel about heatwaves, how they attempt to cope with hot weather, how they carry on with their social and daily activities, whether they live alone or have others on whom they can rely on in an emergency, their most convenient means of transportation, how they hear about weather warnings and whether they take these warnings seriously.”
Dr. Hooks and his class provided CRH with a useful and engaging tool that can help us better understand the real experiences of those affected by climate change, and in turn, help us better understand how to support our community. We look forward to using this survey and future collaborations with Dr. Hooks' support.
From the report, “Our goal was to develop a survey that (1) solicits information about challenges and coping strategies during periods of extreme heat and that (2) can be completed independently by Hamilton residents. Overall, our survey questions focus on how Hamiltonians feel about heatwaves, how they attempt to cope with hot weather, how they carry on with their social and daily activities, whether they live alone or have others on whom they can rely on in an emergency, their most convenient means of transportation, how they hear about weather warnings and whether they take these warnings seriously.”
Dr. Hooks and his class provided CRH with a useful and engaging tool that can help us better understand the real experiences of those affected by climate change, and in turn, help us better understand how to support our community. We look forward to using this survey and future collaborations with Dr. Hooks' support.
