A theoretical approach to the design of a survey instrument in post-disaster reconstruction: defining indicators for a human-based study in rural built-environment

Reconstruction projects built in the post-disaster period have become ever more visible over the past three decades. Research studies completed in this context generally aim to evaluate the finished projects through the viewpoints of either dwellers or implementing actors. Each study deals with a different type of disaster, occurring in a specific context; thus, their target beneficiary group and project focus are varied as well. Due to such differentiations, each researcher aims to put their specific criteria and indicators, or to follow a previous study in same context, to examine the phenomenon and to evaluate it at the end. This study focuses upon the post-earthquake permanent housing projects built by the state in the last two decades in rural eastern Turkey, and the target participant group is the rural dwellers in these settlements. Questionnaire survey is the main data collection tool for this study, and in this paper the theoretical approach to the preparation of the questionnaire is explained in detail. This approach covers selecting and categorizing the indicators, and extending their reasons by examining previous studies done either in Turkey or other countries.