Mixed Research Design (Quantitative and Qualitative)
A qualitative-quantitative hybrid method targeting businesses in Seattle and Tempe.
Point-of-interest
Using Google Place API query, Yelp scrub, and public/private data acquisition to identify food businesses within the study area.
Qualitative studies
Interviewing local food businesses in the vicinity of the University of Washington, developing survey questions, and distributing the survey instruments in mid-March.
Disruption Scenario Analysis
Business decisions are simulated using a constrained profit-maximizing problem. Four types of resilience tactics were proposed, and their performances (i.e. increased profit compared to no tactic scenario) varies as the disruption becomes more severe.
Future working directions
Incorporating risk assessment in decision making, uncertainty in the environment, as well as multi-stage optimization.
Create tools
Thrust 2 aims to develop a web-based, interactive strategy recommendation tool that is customized for different types of food businesses.
Highlights from the interview
“Our business temporarily closed down during COVID-19, and since we reopened, we only serve takeouts…And we are okay with that change.”
“(Government) Grants were hard to get, and the local businesses should stand together in difficult times”
” Our businesses quickly ran out of a major ingredient and had to permanently close the business. Now I work at another location, we worry more about neighborhood safety than everything else.”
What to expect next?
A visualization of the business’s trajectory under different disruptions.
Food accessibility map indicating people’s options to receive food services in the neighborhood under disruptive events.
Team Members
Thrust 2 is led by the University of Washington, Seatttle.
Chaoyue Zhao
Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of Washington
Cynthia Chen
Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Washington
Grace Jia
Research Assistant, University of Washington
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