The Hagersville Tire Fire: Interpreting Risk through a Qualitative Research Design

This article outlines a research design used to study the effects of the Hagersville (Ontario, Canada) tire fire on the surrounding community. This was an "event driven" qualitative study that used open-ended interviews; given the nature of the fire and the surrounding community, this approach was deemed more appropriate than using a large-scale research instrument. Individuals and families in the community were anxious about their health due …