This document summarizes a research paper that examines whether it is more beneficial for an individual to obtain a college degree or seek employment in the petroleum industry involving hydraulic fracking. The paper uses an interdisciplinary approach drawing on mass communications and general business. Some findings show how media framing can influence perspectives on this issue. The results demonstrate the many factors an individual must consider in making this complex decision, such as financial impacts, job opportunities, safety risks, and environmental effects.
Assessing the costs of public higher education in the commonwealth of virgini...Robert M. Davis, MPA
Part 5 in a series of whitepaper research examining the costs of public higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One plausible rationale for the rising costs of higher education at Virginia’s public state supported four year institutions is the result of asymmetrical flows of information between providers and consumers regarding mandatory non-educational fees.
importance of higher education essay. Importance of Education Essay Example Topics and Well Written Essays .... 004 Essay Example Why Is College Important On Importance Of Education .... Admission essay. 33 Argumentative Essay Topics for Middle School JournalBuddies.com .... Education in Developing the Human Society Essay Example Topics and .... Essays on Education Importance, Value, Meaning amp; Purpose in Life. Short Essay On Importance Of Education Essay writing examples, Essay .... Introduction of education essay. Inclusive education essay 300 Words .... Essay on Online Education Advantages and Disadvantages of Online .... Admission Essay: Short essay on education. Staggering Importance Of Education Essay Thatsnotus. Topic essay about education. Essay Topics About Education: The 15 .... DOC ESSAY ON IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION Rohidas Bhokse - Academia.edu. Impressive Essay On Education Thatsnotus. Elementary education Essay Example Topics and Well Written Essays .... 008 Essay Example Importance Of Education Thatsnotus. Pin on School Stuff. Essay writing about education - College Homework Help and Online Tutoring.. Education on essay - Writing an Academic Term Paper Is a Trifle!. essay examples: importance of education essay. Small essay on education. Small Essay On The Education. 2022-10-21. An Essay on Education - Analysis of Education System in India. What we .... The Importance Of Education Essay Topics - Essay About Importance Of .... Essay on Education Writing Help. FREE 16 Argumentative Writing Samples amp; Templates in PDF MS Word. Essay On Education Ilustrasi. Importance Education Schools Essay - homeworkdesk.x.fc2.com. Essay on importance of education in english Importance of education essay. Essay on good education is the only path to success / cheap assignment .... College Essay Examples - 9 in PDF Examples. Essay for education - College Homework Help and Online Tutoring.. Essay on education - Write My Custom Paper.. The Importance of Education - Essay - Studienett.no. ️ International education essay. Short Essay on the Importance of ... Topic About Education Essay Topic About Education Essay
Argumentative Essay On Mass Media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Adverti...Sara Roberts
Benefits of mass media argumentative essay samples - 430 Words - NerdySeal. Argumentative Essay On Media Telegraph. Mass Media Impact Essay Mass Media Advertising. Scholarship essay: Mass media essay. argumentative essay social media. Argumentative Essay On Telegraph. Media Essay News Mass Media. 004 Argumentative Essay On Mass Media Topics For Criminal Ju Justice .... Business paper: Essay on mass media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Advertising. How To Write An Argumentative Essay Quickly - Albert Author. Journalism and Mass media Essay Example Topics and Well Written .... The Role of Mass Media in the World of Politics - PHDessay.com. The Six Function of Mass Media in Society Essay Example GraduateWay. The Dual Nature of Social Media Free Essay Example. 011 Expository Essay About Social Media Sociological Imagination .... Amazing Social Media Argumentative Essay Thatsnotus. ᐅ Essays On Mass Media Free Argumentative, Persuasive, Descriptive .... Mass Media Essay; For all class students 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 Ontaheen. Disadvantages of media essay. Essay on Media. 2022-10-09. Mass Media and Popular Culture Essay Example GraduateWay. An Example of Argumentative Essay Social Media Popular Culture .... How To Write An Argumentative Essay On Social Media.pdf DocDroid. Mass media today essay writer. Argumentative Essay Examples - PDF. The Development and Influence of Mass Media - PHDessay.com. Short essay on importance of mass media. Media Analysis Essay. essays on mass media. Mass media pte essay. Mass media essay pte. 2019-02-22. essay on mass media - Brainly.in. Media analysis essay COM155 - Culture to Cultures - Curtin Thinkswap. SOLUTION: Argumentative essay of The first mass - Studypool Argumentative Essay On Mass Media Argumentative Essay On Mass Media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Advertising
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Communication Issues in an Environmental Crisis.pdfABLoveria
Discusses the impact of Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill upon water, land and air animals, coastal communities and the ecosystem, the life and livelihood of the people living along the coast and neighboring localities. The paper uses the IMRAD framework in presenting and discussing the communication issues involved, the handling of the issues by Deepwater Horizon, the strategies used to manage the communication crisis, and other significant matters. Recommendations are presented to handle and manage similar environmental and communication issues.
Changing the game: Communication and Sustainability in the Mining IndustryBrunswick Group
Brunswick is pleased to announce the publication of “Changing the game: communication and sustainability in the mining industry” a publication co-authored by the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), the International Council on Mining and Metals and Brunswick’s Energy and Resources team.
Corporate reputation is an intangible asset amounting to up to 70% of an organisation’s market capitalisation. Recent evolutions in the business environment and social communications have made stakeholder engagement an essential part of the strategy of responsible and successful organisations in order to maintain this capital. But research shows that most engagement efforts in multinational or multi-services companies are kept in silos and uncoordinated across business units or departments.
This document describes some of the engagement guidelines provided by the AA1000 and GRI assurance standards and how following these guidelines with an appropriate collaborative, full circle platform can help:
* identify important stakeholders and groups ;
* map them and their opinions on the organisation’s strategic issues ;
* engage them appropriately and monitor impacts.
in a natural continuous improvement cycle to help respond to short term events in the context of a long term communication and corporate reputation management strategy.
It also describes engagement in the context of crisis management and social media to show how detecting earlier warning signals both enhances the organisation’s ability to contain the crisis and lowers the cost at which this is done.
Climate change perceptions and perceived risk in the
United States has become increasingly partisan, with increased
belief in and support for climate change and regulation among
democrats, but decreased belief and support among
republicans. These divergences are partly attributable to
increasingly partisan news outlet viewership and coverage. We
inhabited a game theory model to recognize optimal climate
change communication strategy through news media outlets.
Actor strategies included whether to converse with pro- and/or
anti-climate change new outlets, and to emphasize regulation,
renewable energy, whether climate change is real, man-made,
and/or causes harm to the United States Payoffs consisted of
change in public opinion for each of the candidate topics
actors can chose to emphasize. Solutions to games where
players have a continuous choice about how much to pollute,
games where players make decisions about treaty
participation, and games where players make decisions about
treaty ratification, are examined. The implications of linking
cooperation on climate change with cooperation on other
issues, such as trade, are examined. Cooperative and noncooperative approaches to coalition formation are investigated
in order to examine the behavior of coalitions cooperating on
climate change. One approach to accomplish assistance is to
design a game, known as an apparatus, whose equilibrium
corresponds to an optimal outcome.
Assessing the costs of public higher education in the commonwealth of virgini...Robert M. Davis, MPA
Part 5 in a series of whitepaper research examining the costs of public higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One plausible rationale for the rising costs of higher education at Virginia’s public state supported four year institutions is the result of asymmetrical flows of information between providers and consumers regarding mandatory non-educational fees.
importance of higher education essay. Importance of Education Essay Example Topics and Well Written Essays .... 004 Essay Example Why Is College Important On Importance Of Education .... Admission essay. 33 Argumentative Essay Topics for Middle School JournalBuddies.com .... Education in Developing the Human Society Essay Example Topics and .... Essays on Education Importance, Value, Meaning amp; Purpose in Life. Short Essay On Importance Of Education Essay writing examples, Essay .... Introduction of education essay. Inclusive education essay 300 Words .... Essay on Online Education Advantages and Disadvantages of Online .... Admission Essay: Short essay on education. Staggering Importance Of Education Essay Thatsnotus. Topic essay about education. Essay Topics About Education: The 15 .... DOC ESSAY ON IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION Rohidas Bhokse - Academia.edu. Impressive Essay On Education Thatsnotus. Elementary education Essay Example Topics and Well Written Essays .... 008 Essay Example Importance Of Education Thatsnotus. Pin on School Stuff. Essay writing about education - College Homework Help and Online Tutoring.. Education on essay - Writing an Academic Term Paper Is a Trifle!. essay examples: importance of education essay. Small essay on education. Small Essay On The Education. 2022-10-21. An Essay on Education - Analysis of Education System in India. What we .... The Importance Of Education Essay Topics - Essay About Importance Of .... Essay on Education Writing Help. FREE 16 Argumentative Writing Samples amp; Templates in PDF MS Word. Essay On Education Ilustrasi. Importance Education Schools Essay - homeworkdesk.x.fc2.com. Essay on importance of education in english Importance of education essay. Essay on good education is the only path to success / cheap assignment .... College Essay Examples - 9 in PDF Examples. Essay for education - College Homework Help and Online Tutoring.. Essay on education - Write My Custom Paper.. The Importance of Education - Essay - Studienett.no. ️ International education essay. Short Essay on the Importance of ... Topic About Education Essay Topic About Education Essay
Argumentative Essay On Mass Media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Adverti...Sara Roberts
Benefits of mass media argumentative essay samples - 430 Words - NerdySeal. Argumentative Essay On Media Telegraph. Mass Media Impact Essay Mass Media Advertising. Scholarship essay: Mass media essay. argumentative essay social media. Argumentative Essay On Telegraph. Media Essay News Mass Media. 004 Argumentative Essay On Mass Media Topics For Criminal Ju Justice .... Business paper: Essay on mass media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Advertising. How To Write An Argumentative Essay Quickly - Albert Author. Journalism and Mass media Essay Example Topics and Well Written .... The Role of Mass Media in the World of Politics - PHDessay.com. The Six Function of Mass Media in Society Essay Example GraduateWay. The Dual Nature of Social Media Free Essay Example. 011 Expository Essay About Social Media Sociological Imagination .... Amazing Social Media Argumentative Essay Thatsnotus. ᐅ Essays On Mass Media Free Argumentative, Persuasive, Descriptive .... Mass Media Essay; For all class students 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 Ontaheen. Disadvantages of media essay. Essay on Media. 2022-10-09. Mass Media and Popular Culture Essay Example GraduateWay. An Example of Argumentative Essay Social Media Popular Culture .... How To Write An Argumentative Essay On Social Media.pdf DocDroid. Mass media today essay writer. Argumentative Essay Examples - PDF. The Development and Influence of Mass Media - PHDessay.com. Short essay on importance of mass media. Media Analysis Essay. essays on mass media. Mass media pte essay. Mass media essay pte. 2019-02-22. essay on mass media - Brainly.in. Media analysis essay COM155 - Culture to Cultures - Curtin Thinkswap. SOLUTION: Argumentative essay of The first mass - Studypool Argumentative Essay On Mass Media Argumentative Essay On Mass Media. ESSAY 6 - THE MEDIA 1 Mass Media Advertising
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Communication Issues in an Environmental Crisis.pdfABLoveria
Discusses the impact of Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill upon water, land and air animals, coastal communities and the ecosystem, the life and livelihood of the people living along the coast and neighboring localities. The paper uses the IMRAD framework in presenting and discussing the communication issues involved, the handling of the issues by Deepwater Horizon, the strategies used to manage the communication crisis, and other significant matters. Recommendations are presented to handle and manage similar environmental and communication issues.
Changing the game: Communication and Sustainability in the Mining IndustryBrunswick Group
Brunswick is pleased to announce the publication of “Changing the game: communication and sustainability in the mining industry” a publication co-authored by the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group), the International Council on Mining and Metals and Brunswick’s Energy and Resources team.
Corporate reputation is an intangible asset amounting to up to 70% of an organisation’s market capitalisation. Recent evolutions in the business environment and social communications have made stakeholder engagement an essential part of the strategy of responsible and successful organisations in order to maintain this capital. But research shows that most engagement efforts in multinational or multi-services companies are kept in silos and uncoordinated across business units or departments.
This document describes some of the engagement guidelines provided by the AA1000 and GRI assurance standards and how following these guidelines with an appropriate collaborative, full circle platform can help:
* identify important stakeholders and groups ;
* map them and their opinions on the organisation’s strategic issues ;
* engage them appropriately and monitor impacts.
in a natural continuous improvement cycle to help respond to short term events in the context of a long term communication and corporate reputation management strategy.
It also describes engagement in the context of crisis management and social media to show how detecting earlier warning signals both enhances the organisation’s ability to contain the crisis and lowers the cost at which this is done.
Climate change perceptions and perceived risk in the
United States has become increasingly partisan, with increased
belief in and support for climate change and regulation among
democrats, but decreased belief and support among
republicans. These divergences are partly attributable to
increasingly partisan news outlet viewership and coverage. We
inhabited a game theory model to recognize optimal climate
change communication strategy through news media outlets.
Actor strategies included whether to converse with pro- and/or
anti-climate change new outlets, and to emphasize regulation,
renewable energy, whether climate change is real, man-made,
and/or causes harm to the United States Payoffs consisted of
change in public opinion for each of the candidate topics
actors can chose to emphasize. Solutions to games where
players have a continuous choice about how much to pollute,
games where players make decisions about treaty
participation, and games where players make decisions about
treaty ratification, are examined. The implications of linking
cooperation on climate change with cooperation on other
issues, such as trade, are examined. Cooperative and noncooperative approaches to coalition formation are investigated
in order to examine the behavior of coalitions cooperating on
climate change. One approach to accomplish assistance is to
design a game, known as an apparatus, whose equilibrium
corresponds to an optimal outcome.
1. Running Head: A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 1
A Degree or No Degree? That is the Question.
Salgado, Maggie
INTS 3300.001
Dr. Gail Bentley
Texas Tech University
2. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 2
Abstract
This paper reviews possible reasons that may affect an individual’s choice of earning a
college degree or entering in the oil industry’s workforce of hydraulic fracking. The research
method is a content analysis of articles from the disciplines of mass communications and general
business. Some of the finds demonstrate how the media use framing to potential persuade
individuals to choose one side or the other of this complex issue. The results show just how
many factors an individual needs to concern before making a final decision about either join the
hydraulic fracking workforce or earning a college degree.
3. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 3
As the use of hydraulic fracking increases with the growth of the oil industry, so does the
concern of what effect this industry has on the communities and families that surround these
fracking sites. An even greater concern is the effect the job opportunities this industry provides
to a person as compare to a college degree. Using Repko’s (2012) interdisciplinary research
process (IRP) (p. 69) and the disciplines of mass communication and general business, this paper
examines whether or not is it beneficial for a person to obtain a college degree or to seek
employment into the petroleum industry.
STEP 1: State the Focus of the Paper
With the recent activity fluctuation of the petroleum industry and its use of hydraulic
fracturing to extract natural gas, there are concerns of how the oil industry has affected the local
community and the families that live there. Living in an area that is so close to the Permian
Basin, a potential boom or bust in the oil field could have many significant changes to the city of
Lubbock and surrounding areas in West Texas. A growing concern is the postsecondary
education of the individuals that make up these communities. One issue that is complex is
whether it is beneficial for an individual to seek employment into the petroleum industry before
obtaining a higher education at a university or college.
STEP 2: Justify Using Interdisciplinary Approach
The impact of hydraulic fracturing on families and communities is a very complex issue
that can be viewed from many different perspectives. If a problem cannot be solved or explained
using only one discipline, then by Repko’s (2012) standards it warrants the use of an
interdisciplinary approach to research probable outcomes to the question (p. 84). The issue of an
individual obtaining an educational degree higher than a high school diploma, or GED, is a
matter that is too complex to be addressed using only one discipline. For this topic, the
4. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 4
disciplines that will be used to explore this issue further are mass communications and general
business.
STEP 3: Identify Relevant Disciplines
The next step in Repko’s (2012) IRP is identifying disciplines that are possibly relevant
to providing a better understanding to this complex question (p. 143). Some relevant disciplines,
which could offer a better insight into this intricate problem, are education, psychology,
sociology, mass communications and general business. The discipline of education could help
explain the curriculum and how well prepare an individual is for college after high school.
Psychology would provide an insight into a person’s thought process and how their mental health
effects their decision. Sociology would explore the cultural environment of an individual and
see how the societal norms weigh in their judgement as well.
However, the most relevant disciplines to this complex problem are those of mass
communication and general business. The discipline of mass communication helps to explore
more about societal issues from the media perspective. General business investigates the
financial influences that the hydraulic fracking has on a community, which can effect an
individual’s choice.
STEP 4: Conduct a Literature Search
Repko (2012) states that a few reasons for conducting a literature search are to discover
what scholarly knowledge has been produced by the different disciplines and identify factors that
have contributed to the development of the problem over time (p. 168-169). In the discipline of
mass communication, Boudet, Clarke, Bugden, Maibach, Roser-Renouf & Leiserowitz, (2014)
provide many socio-demographic characteristics, such as the proximity someone’s home is to a
fracking site, have impact on an individual’s decision of supporting or opposing hydraulic
5. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 5
fracturing. Jones, Hiller & Comfort (2013) demonstrate how petroleum companies use public
and media relations to continue to promote the benefits of fracking and to address the concerns
of the opposition in order the benefit everyone that is involved. Deveau, (2014) on the other
hand, demonstrates how a community may come together to fight the oil industry to prevent
fracking in their community.
Using a subdiscipline of general business, economics, Siegel (2014) shows how a
community profited financially due to increase numbers of fracking sites and how some
community members reacted to the increased activity. Osmundsen, Aven, & Vinnem (2008) use
the oil industry as a model to explain how modern incentive theory is used to explain measures,
like obtaining insurance and creating safety measures, in an attempt to prevent dangerous
circumstances from occurring on a frack site. Jones, Hillier & Comfort (2015) discuss the
financial benefits that fracking will have in the United Kingdom, such increased tax revenues,
creation of jobs, investment opportunities, and the country’s ability to become independent from
foreign oil.
Step 5: Develop Adequacy in Each Relevant Discipline
In order for an interdisciplinarian to analyze the problem and evaluate each insight,
adequacy must first be develop in each of the relevant disciplines: mass communications and
general business (Repko, 2012, p. 193). Communications is defined as the art of transmitting
information, ideas and attitudes from one person to another (Dean, 2012, p. 3). In the field of
mass communications, the means by which a message is broadcast could be through many
different media outlets, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines or social media sites
such as Facebook or Twitter.
6. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 6
It is important not to underestimate how the media frames an issue and its effect on a
community’s point of view. Shen, Ahern, & Baker, (2014) define framing as the process the
media uses to emphasize certain details or issues while deliberately leaving out other details (p.
99). In the research within this discipline, the recurring research methods used was case studies
and content analyses. The focus of these sources were mainly about the positive or negative light
that a certain medium use and the effect it had on the public’s viewpoints of hydraulic fracking.
In the discipline of general business, the basic economic concept of supply-and-demand
was a recurring underlining element. Fitzgerald (2013) provides a basic example of the supply-
and-demand concept by explaining how the “growth in reserves and production [have a]
dramatic price effect in the natural gas market” (p.1349). He states, “Flooding the market with
natural gas has [decrease] natural gas prices from earlier levels” (p. 1350). In other words, when
the supply of oil is low, the price of gas for a customer is higher; if the supply of oil was high,
the price for gas for the customer is lower than before. This effects how much the oil industry is
able to pay their employees because of how much revenue the industry makes at a given time.
STEP 6: Analyzing the Problem and Evaluating Insights
The Discipline of Mass Communication
Within the discipline of mass communications, the study by Boudet el at., (2014), reports on
a content analysis of surveys given to a sample group. Boudet et al., (2014) present an interesting
case, based on some of the surveys, that an individual’s viewpoint could be affected by factors,
such as how close an individual’s home is located to a fracking site and other socio-demographic
characteristics in an attempt to explain the support or oppositions given by the local community
to the process of hydraulic fracturing. As Shen et al., (2014) indicates with the definition of
framing, the media can use the findings from Boudet et al., (2014) and used a narrative, or tell a
7. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 7
story to the people (Shen et al., 2014, p 99), as a framing device to persuade an individual to one
side or the other of this issue.
With Jones, Hillier, & Comfort (2013), an insight from the subdiscipline of mass
communications via public relations is used. The focus Jones et al., (2013), makes is how the
United Kingdom’s government is pushing to become one of Europe’s top energy producers. The
United Kingdom’s government hopes to establish this by emphasizing all the good aspects that
hydraulic fracking can have on its country such as creating jobs and becoming less dependent on
imported gas. A positive perception like this could persuade an individual to believe that
obtaining a job at a fracking site is much more beneficial than the two or four years they may
spend earning an associate or bachelor’s degree. However, like in the U.S., the United
Kingdom’s oil industry is running into obstacles through environmental groups and local
communities that state the short-term gains of increased employment and revenues do not out
weight the long-term environment effects fracking will have on their resources. With the
possibility of more petroleum companies coming closer to the Lubbock area, Jones et al., (2013)
provides an example of how using public and media relations to promote the benefits of fracking
could be alluring to an individual and persuade them to lend support and join the hydraulic
fracking workforce.
Another subdiscipline of mass communications is advertising. Deveau’s (2014)
demonstrations how a New Brunswick community advertised nine steps for citizens to take in
order to counter the oil fields influence their community and prevent hydraulic fracturing. The
method used here could be described as experimental as these citizens applied these steps and
promoted their views with their campaigns of how the oil industry have negatively affecting
other communities and what the outcome for their community might be. This article is from the
8. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 8
viewpoint of an anti-shale-gas author and provides an example of how a community and its
citizens, through different forms of communications, can be persuaded towards a negative
opinion of hydraulic fracturing, thus adding to the complexity of an individual’s choice of
entering the industry workforce.
The Discipline of General Business
In the subdiscipline of general business, economics, Siegel (2014) describes the financial
benefits of hydraulic fracking to communities in the Marcellus shale region in New York and
Pennsylvania. Siegel (2012) explains that before the hydraulic fracking industry, “in 2002, the
average personal income [for this area] was about $25,470.” However, in 2008, when it was
discovered that the Marcellus shale “contained …up to 489 trillion cubic feet of natural gas,” this
trigger a major oil boom (p. 258- 259). In Pennsylvania, between 2007 and 2011, “shale gas
contributed roughly 7 billion dollars to [the state’s] economy” (Siegel, 2014, p. 259). This
information indicates how financially beneficial the hydraulic fracking industry was to that
community.
Jones, Hillier & Comfort (2015) also provide another example, using the United
Kingdom, of the financial benefits fracking will have to the country. As in Pennsylvania and
New York, “there is an estimated 23.3 to 64.4 trillion [square meters] of shale gas in and around
the Bowland Basin in the north of England” (p. 58). The Institute of Directors predicts that shale-
extraction would provide over 70,000 jobs in high unemployment regions and increased tax
revenues, investment opportunities, and the country’s ability to become independent from
foreign oil (p.58).
With so much talk about job creations, an individual contemplating a career in this
industry must research how much their yearly income will be regardless if they have a college
9. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 9
degree or not. According to Hargreaves (2012) in 2011, an oil rig workers made about $99,175.
The need for a postsecondary education was not necessary because most “companies themselves
generally provide in-depth training programs” (p. 1). With this high income, it is easy to see
where college for some individuals may not be a high priority. But for those individuals that
obtain a college degree in Petroleum Engineering, the annual income ranges from $147,520 to
$230,230, as stated by the U.S Bureau of Labor of 2014.
But as the study by Osmundsen, Aven, & Vinnem (2008), the potential for a major
accident or injury at a fracking site is something to take into account. Osmundesn, Aven &
Vinnem (2008) use the oil industry as an example of how modern incentive theory is used to
explain the economic incentives, like obtaining insurance and creating safety measures, to
prevent dangerous circumstances from occurring on a frack site. As Osmundesn, Aven &
Vinnem (2008) point out
Safety performance evaluation is often based on recording the near miss accidents or the
number of injuries. This is problematic, as there is not always any clear causality between
such measures and safety efforts (p. 138).
Although most oil companies have a safety guidelines and insurance as precautionary measures,
it does not always guarantee that no one will get hurt on a drilling site. This is just one of the
many other factors an individual must take into account when deciding about going to college or
working the oil field.
STEP 7: Identifying conflicts between insights
The major conflict of assumption from the literature was how useful hydraulic fracking
really was to a community. This value-laden assumption was an underlining issue in each of the
disciplines used to examine the complex problem. Using a sub-discipline of business; Jones el
10. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 10
at., (2015) highlights some of the economic advantages for hydraulic fracking, such as the
increase in tax revenues and job creations, for a community. But in the sub-disciplines of mass
communication (public relations and advertising), there are arguments for both the advantages
and disadvantages that fracking has on a community. Jones el at., (2013) shows how petroleum
companies are using public and media relations to validate how hydraulic fracking is valuable to
a community, again by highlighting the economic advantages of job growth and increase tax
revenues. The opposition in this article is still arguing the case that these economic advantages
will not our weight the negative environmental long-term effects, such as pollution and health
hazards, damage to landscapes, and the increase demand for water, that fracking will have on
their community’s resources.
STEP 8: Finding Common Ground
Of the four techniques Repko (2012) mentions for creating common ground, the
technique of transformation seems to be the best choice for the issue of seeking employment into
the fracking industry or attending a college or a university (p. 343). As Repko (2012) points out,
the advantage of taking this technique is that it does not force an individual to reject or accept
either of the viewpoints examined. Rather it allows interdisciplinarians to view each
assumptions or concepts from an unbiased lens, giving the reader more freedom to understand
and decided the better choice of the issue presented (p. 343). As defined by Repko (2012), this
technique of transformation is used for two conflicting oppositions or, in this case, viewpoints.
The views/assumptions of each opposition are place at the end of the spectrum of the problem at
hand; this is called “the degree of rationality”. Using this method, it is possible to study how
“the degree of rationality” will effect certain circumstances (Repko, 2012, p. 343). Siegel (2014)
provided an example from the literature in an attempt of transformation.
11. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 11
For an individual that is still contemplating forgoing or obtaining a college degree, when
it comes to the discussion of hydraulic fracking, there seem to be only two sides: pro-fracking
and anti-fracking. Siegel (2014) mentions how the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo,
propose a compromise in the counties of New York that are located in the Marcellus shale area.
Cuomo’s compromise was that fracking would only occur in the Southern Tier counties of
Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga, where there was no aquifers that could
potential be polluted and the 100 towns that passed bans on fracking would not be frack in (p.
260). Cuomo’s compromise is an excellent example of trying to create a middle ground to the
issue of fracking. Unfortunately, anti-fracking supporters still said no and were unwilling to
compromise. (p. 260)
STEP 9: Construct a More Comprehensive Understanding
With a better understanding from the discipline of general business, via the subdiscipline
of economics, and mass communication, via public relations and advertising, it is time to begin
to integrate these two disciplines in a way that provides a better understanding of the complex
issue. Media is something that effects everyone differently and can persuade us to believe
something that is not necessarily true. While principles of economics, such as the concept of
supply and demand, are based on a more factual outcome. Just as Deveau, (2014) uses the media
to paint a money hungry oil industry, this lens used to view hydraulic fracking is loaded with
bias and does not reveal every truth about the industry. Just as there may be other factors that
play a role in a person’s decision to enter into the hydraulic fracking workforce or into a
university or college. An individual may pursue a career in the oil industry because they need a
way to fund a college education, are undecided about which area of the industry they would like
12. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 12
to work in, or would like to gain experience in this field. They is more than just one reason as to
why someone would choose to earn or forgo a college education.
STEP 10: Reflect On, Test and Communicate the Understanding
There is a need for more research into this issue of whether it is beneficial for an
individual to seek employment into the oil field before earning a college degree. What was so
difficult about researching this topic was finding any sources that focus or mentioned any effects
hydraulic fracking had on any of the universities or colleges in fracking communities. A study in
the Permian Basin on the schools in their community, such as Midland College or the University
of Texas of the Permian Basin, could help show how the oil industry effects their numbers of
enrollment and shine more light on other factors that have an effect an individual’s reasoning for
earning or forgoing a college degree.
13. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 13
References
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14. A DEGREE OR NO DEGREE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. 14
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Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/10/news/economy/oil_workers/