A systematic collection of information in a crisis situation, as well on the national as on the international crisis management arena, is considered to be an advantageous method to enhance experience in the crisis management area. To render this information collection effective, a method by which the course of events in crisis situations can be systematically recorded and classified, is required. For this purpose an inventory is developed which enables systematic classification, interpretation and analysis of information in crisis situations comprising e g severe infrastructural disruptions and disruptions of computer systems, nuclear accidents, dangerous goods´ accidents, floods, migration flow, epidemics and terrorism. The inventory is designed as a diagnostic questionnaire with complementary guidelines for observation in crisis situations by which certain factors of decisive importance in crisis management can be studies at two different levels of responsibility. These key factors are to be found in the areas of operative and strategic crisis management, coordination/cominuffication, information processing and media handling. The inventory in its actual form is in the shape of an all-round pool of questions and guidelines and is designated to be applied in most kinds of extraordinary events in society irrespective of their onset. The inventory is thought to be used by observers when studying crisis management structures during the different phases of an event. Depending on the selected object of study, the observer can choose from the inventory the total or a limited number of questions to be put to representatives at different crisis management response levels. By a selection of questions and guidelines, the impact of the total range of key factors, or of a separate key factor on crisis management and crisis response structures can be studied.