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.

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
Repko. A. F. (2012). Interdisciplinary Research Process and Theory (2nd ed.). Los
Angeles: Sage.
Boudet, H., Clarke, C., Bugden, D., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., & Leiserowitz, A.,
(2014). “Fracking” controversy and communication: Using national survey data to
understand public perceptions of hydraulic fracturing. Energy Policy, 65, 57-67.
doi.10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.017
Jones, P., Hillier, D., & Comfort, D. (2013). Fracking and public relations: Rehearsing
the arguments and making the case. Journal of Public Affairs, 13(4), 384-390.
doi.10.1002/pa.1490
Deveau, J. L. (2014). How to Fight Fracking. Alternatives Journal, 40(1), 28-34.
Shen, F., Ahem, L., & Baker, M. (2014). Stories that count: Influence of news narratives
on issue attitudes. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(1), 98-117.
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Siegel, F. (2014). The Poverty of Environmentalism. Society, 51(3), 258-261
Osmundsen, P., Aven, T., & Vinnem, J. E. (2008). Safety, economic incentives and
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Jones, P., Hillier, D., & Comfort, D. (2015). Contested perspectives on fracking in the
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Fitzgerald, T. (2013). Frackonomics: Some economics of hydraulic fracturing. Case
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Dean, B. (2012). Mass Communications: Texas Tech Style. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.
United States Department of Labor. (2014, May). Occupational Employment Statics and
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