INTS PAPER FINAL FINAL

Texs Tech University

The Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing Through Communication and Personal Finance

Clayton Daniels

INTS 3300-001

Dr. Gail Bentley

Texas Tech University

1


Abstract

The new energy extraction process of hydraulic fracturing has provided an influx of jobs

and has created many boom towns across the United States. This has caused significant

economic changes in those towns. Media has played a substantial role in hydraulic fracturing as

well because of its influence on people’s attitudes towards the subject. The main role of media in

hydraulic fracturing has been to broadcast stories that are framed around the negative

consequences, in particular, the environmental risks. The influence from the media has negative

effects on the people in the community’s attitude towards hydraulic fracturing and can cause

their financial health harm versus them realizing the financial benefits of a boom town economy.

The interdisciplinary research process was utilized to derive insight into the complex focus

question of how media can affect people’s attitudes in a hydraulic fracturing, boom town

community and how that will affect their financial health. The literature used is peer reviewed

and from scholarly journals. To better understand this concept more research can be conducted in

the field of financial planning on how media directly affects people financial decisions. In the

case of media sources affecting financial decisions of people in a hydraulic fracturing, boom

town community it can alter their attitude and therefore skew their financial decisions.

2


This research paper utilizes the interdisciplinary research process to synthesize insight

about a complex problem. Synthesizing literature from the two disciplines of communication

studies and personal financial planning a comprehensive understanding of how media affects

people’s attitudes in the community and how that affects their financial health can be achieved.

Step 1: State the Focus Question

The question of how hydraulic fracturing affects communities has been a long-standing

question of scholars ever since the process’ implementation as an energy extraction technique.

There is an abundance of information that is being communicated by media sources to the public

about hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as oil fracking. The manner in which media

sources choose to communicate fracking information through the theory of framing will have a

large impact on the viewers and their attitude towards the subject (Shen, Ahern, & Baker, 2014).

According to Chaffee (1996), Americans actively search for information through media sources.

Therefore, the media will have an impact on the knowledge of the citizens in the community and

their attitudes on fracking.

Furthermore, hydraulic fracturing has created resource dependent towns, or

“boomtowns,” as the result of a large increase in employment opportunities (Sovacool, 2014).

Lawrie, Tonts, & Plummer (2012) found that in boomtowns there are several different economic

aspects that are affected, including higher leasing costs, and an increase of price in the housing

market. The price of natural gas or energy will lower with the increase of natural gas extraction

through fracking as well (Sovacool, 2014). These economic changes will affect people in the

community based on their attitude toward fracking and how the individual decides to plan for

economic changes financially.

3


In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of how hydraulic fracturing will affect

people in the community it can be stated in the form of a focus question: How will media affect

the attitudes and views of people in a hydraulic fracturing boomtown community, and in turn

how will their views affect their financial health? One may implement the use of the

interdisciplinary research process to derive a broader understanding of hydraulic fracturing and

its effects on the communities at the hub of the action.

Step 2: Justify Using an Interdisciplinary Approach

Hydraulic fracturing has many different facets and, therefore, has a broad range of

ramifications. One may deduce that the stated focus question is complex and requires using the

interdisciplinary research process. According to Repko (2012) one may justify using an

interdisciplinary research process with four pieces of criteria, and this study is justified by three

of the criteria. First: The problem or question is complex. The focus question stated is complex

and must be examined through multiple lenses to form a comprehensive understanding. Second:

The focus question meets the criteria for the interdisciplinary research process because there are

important insights and theories of the problem that are offered by two or more disciplines. To

develop an understanding of how media will affect the attitudes of people in the community the

theory of framing must be utilized from the perspective of Communication Studies. To have

knowledge of how the attitudes of the people in the community will affect their financial health,

insight must be drawn from Personal Financial Planning. Third: It is apparent that

Communication Studies or Personal Financial Planning alone cannot address the problem

comprehensively.

4


Step 3: Identify Relevant Disciplines

The scope of the focus question is vast and encompasses insights from a number of

different disciplines. “Disciplines are academic communities that exhibit a disciplinary

perspective which involves preferences regarding phenomenon to study and theories and

methods to use, shared terminology called concepts, and epistemological and ethical and

ideological outlooks” (Repko, 2012, p. 94). This step will identify potentially relevant disciplines

and how they are linked to the problem, and then narrow the focus down to two disciplines that

will be most relevant to offering insight to the focus question stated.

Economics offers relevant perspective to the focus question. Economics examines the

financial changes that are taking place in the community. It also gives understanding to how an

influx of resources in the area will affect the market and prices. Although economics provides

relevant insight into how prices will fluctuate between certain markets, economics cannot give

one a comprehensive understanding of how problems related to fracking will affect the financial

health of people in fracking communities.

Psychology is relevant to the focus question by providing insight into how the attitudes

and views of people in a fracking community are formed and how these views may affect

everyday life. Psychology offers theories to explain how the mind works and affects it will have

on people and their decisions. Although Psychology is relevant, it does not provide full

knowledge of the way people’s attitudes in the community will affect their financial health.

The most relevant disciplines to the focus question, that offer insight and theories, and

that provide a scholarly understanding, are Communication Studies and Personal Financial

Planning. These two disciplines will be utilized when examining the focus question.

Communication Studies offers perspective to what information is being communicated to the

5


people in the oil fracking community and how the different forms of communication will have an

effect on different individuals. It is important to have insight into how information streams will

affect the people of the community, more so than the information itself. Communication Studies

offers theories and insight that suggests the way in which information is presented is just as

important as the content that is being presented, which will be crucial to understanding the true

value of the information the people in the community are being subjected to. Personal Financial

Planning will give direct insight into how the attitudes and values of the people in the community

will affect their financial decisions and financial health. Personal Financial Planning is an

interdisciplinary field in itself, because it offers insight into how the psychological state of a

person will affect their financial decisions, and at the same time offers insight into how financial

decisions will affect the individual’s financial health through examination of numbers and

financial ratios. Utilizing scholarly research from Communication Studies and Personal Financial

Planning will produce a comprehensive understanding of how media will affect the attitudes of

people in a hydraulic fracturing boomtown, and how attitudes toward fracking will affect the

individual’s financial health.

Step 4: Conduct a Literature Search

The literature search for this particular focus question is difficult because Personal

Financial Planning is an emerging discipline as well as an Interdisciplinary field. Therefore,

literature that will develop the Personal Financial Planning perspective will come out of

scholarly journals found in different disciplines such as Economics, Finance, and Psychology.

According to Schafft (2013), people in the community of a boomtown can experience benefits

through leasing. The influx of jobs and workers in the area creates a huge need for housing and

lodging—causing a rise in home and apartment prices. A study that was based on resource

6


dependent communities, that are boomtowns, shows a rise in rental price as well as housing.

These benefits can be realized by individuals who lease or sale property in the area. Another

economic benefit that can be experienced by the people of the community is job opportunities

and lower natural gas prices (Sovacool, 2014).

The majority of literature that strengthens the Communication Studies perspective will

come directly from scholarly journals found in the Communication Studies discipline, although

some of the theories that are utilized in Communication Studies can be found more specifically

defined in the discipline of media and communication. Regardless of what discipline the

literature is associated with it will be used to develop a stronger insight of Communication

Studies. Media sources use framing to portray stories and information from a certain perspective.

There is substantial evidence of media sources using framing when conducting news coverage

about the topic of hydraulic fracturing. Furthermore, there is a trend in the media of framing

hydraulic fracturing around risks, versus the benefits, with environmental risk being a

reoccurring theme (Mercado & Herranz, 2014). Framing plays a significant role in changing the

attitudes of the media source’s viewers on hydraulic fracturing. The attitudes of the people

towards hydraulic fracturing can be changed through framing—by word choice alone. People are

more likely to be supportive of the energy extraction process of hydraulic fracturing if it is

referred to as “shale gas development” as opposed to “fracking.” This suggests that the term

fracking has a negative connotation behind it (Clarke, Hart, Schuldt, Evensen, Boudet, Jacquet,

& Stedman, 2015). There are different ways to communicate information and this is an important

aspect of framing. Framing in informational versus narrative, and negative consequences versus

benefits has a substantial effect on the viewer’s attitudes and feelings toward the topic. Narrative

news focusing on the negative consequences of a topic evokes the most empathetic and

7


supportive responses (Shen, Ahern, & Baker, 2014). Some forms of media sources or news will

have an effect on the majority of Americans. Americans actively search for information from the

media through the newspaper and news broadcasted on the television (Chaffee, & Frank, 1996).

Using these perspectives and existing knowledge we will be able to address the problem.

Step 5: Developing Adequacy

The interdisciplinary research process requires that adequacy in the disciplines be

achieved. According to Repko (2012), the fewer the disciplines the more depth is necessary to

synthesize them and answer the complex problem. To accomplish sufficient adequacy in the two

disciplines that best serve to answer the focus question, there needs to be a comprehensive

understanding of their major theories, key concepts, and research methods.

Communication Studies views the problem through the lens of how human

communication takes place, how the information is being transmitted from one person to

another, and how that specific form of communication will be processed by the receiver. There

are a number of theories within Communication Studies that help us understand this interaction

and its effects. Media sources will use framing, a persuasive technique, to evoke empathy from

their viewers (Shen, Ahern, & Baker, 2014). Framing occurs when one side of the story is

exaggerated, using different communication techniques, in order to have a certain impact on the

attitudes of the receiver. An example would be using word choice, narratives, or fear appeal.

Another theory that plays a substantial role in communication, and more specifically the media,

is confirmation bias. This is a phenomenon where people tend to listen to sources of media that

confirm what they currently believe, rather than a source that challenges it. The same problem

that is presented within confirmation bias is also present within framing, because not all of the

8


information is always being communicated, and misinformation is also being communicated

within the content of the message.

A sub-discipline of Communication Studies that will play a significant role in answering

our focus question is persuasion. Persuasion is a sub-discipline of Communication Studies

because it is not a discipline, theory, or phenomenon in itself, but it encompasses many

communication theories and phenomenon that support its perspective. Persuasion is an

applicable tool of Communication Studies because it plays a prime role in the delivery of

information and the affect is has on the receiver who is processing the information. These

concepts, among others from the discipline of Communication Studies, will play a key role in

understanding how the attitudes and views of the people in the hydraulic fracturing—boomtown

—community will be affected by media sources. With this understanding, one may synthesize

our knowledge of Communication Studies and Personal Financial Planning to derive conclusions

about how their financial health will be affected.

Personal Financial Planning will play a crucial role in understanding the focus question.

“Personal finance is the study of personal and family resources considered important in

achieving financial success; it involves how people spend, save, protect, and invest their

financial resources” (Garman & Forgue, 2012, p. 4). By examining people’s values and

perspectives on money an understanding of how this will affect their financial decisions can be

achieved. Looking at a number of economic and financial changes due to a boomtown economy,

one may predict how people will react based off of their attitude and values. Personal Financial

Planning utilizes numbers and financial ratios to understand someone’s financial health, and with

counseling identifies their values and uses them to create financial goals. Personal Financial

9


Planning uses quantitative and qualitative research to derive understanding of personal finance.

Both of the two disciplines will be used to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the problem.

Step 6: Analyze the Problem and Evaluate Each Insight or Theory

The purpose of Step 6 is to “view the problem through the lens of each relevant

discipline, comparing their perspectives and determining their strengths and limitations, and then

evaluate each disciplines insights into the problem and reveal their strengths and limitations”

(Repko, 2012, p. 224).

The perspectives from Communication Studies are being utilized to examine the focus

question. This will derive understanding of how information on hydraulic fracturing is being

processed by people in the community. Understanding how the information is being transmitted

is crucial to answering the question of how the information is being received and processed and

the affects that it has on the attitudes and views of people. The strength of using Communication

Studies is in how it deals with the communication of information and the effects it has on

individuals, which will give understanding to the attitudes of the people in the community. The

weakness of using Communication Studies is that it lacks certain psychological factors that could

influence the people’s attitude and views in the community. Another weakness of

Communication Studies is cultural differences. Although it does address culture in many of the

topics of communication, some of the topics of Communication Studies are exclusive to

American culture. Aside from the two afore mentioned setbacks Communication Studies will be

the most helpful to derive a comprehensive understanding of the focus question.

The most influential theory from Communication Studies related to the media

transmitting information about hydraulic fracturing is framing. In almost every case of the media

reporting about hydraulic fracturing framing was involved. The majority of news reports about

10


hydraulic fracturing involve framing it in line with negative consequences. Of these negative

consequences environmental risk was a trend found in news reports with the topic of hydraulic

fracturing (Mercado & Herranz, 2014). In the largest examined case of hydraulic fracturing in

the United States, the Marcellus shale region, there are specific instances of framing and the

affects it had on people’s decisions to make policy (Smith & Ferguson, 2013). There is

substantial evidence one may see that the media sources utilizes framing when disusing

hydraulic fracturing.

The next question we need answered through the perspective of Communication Studies

is: What affect does framing have on the people’s attitudes in the boomtown community, if any,

and is it substantial? Framing has different ways of working to communicate a message. One of

the simpler factors in framing that causes a huge effect on the attitudes of the receiver is word

choice—because of word connotation. According to Clarke, Hart, Shuldt, Evensen, Boudet,

Jacquet, and Stedman (2015), people are more likely to support the energy extraction process of

hydraulic fracturing if it is referred to as “shale gas development,” as opposed to “fracking.”

Another way that framing takes effect in transmitting information about hydraulic fracturing is

through the style in which the information is transmitted. The findings of Shen, Ahern, and

Baker (2014), support that if the information is being presented through narrative there is a

stronger affect than if it is presented in an informational form, also whether it is presented with

the benefits versus the consequences has substantial affect on an individual’s perception of and

attitude toward hydraulic fracturing. Information that is being framed in a narrative form, with

negative consequences, draws the greatest emotional response. This means that the majority of

the information being transmitted by media sources, which is being framed within the negative

consequences of hydraulic fracturing, is going to have a substantial impact on the people in the

11


boomtown community. The impact of the negative consequences will have a greater influence on

the people in the community than the benefits. This is an important conclusion that helps bring

understanding to our focus question. One may synthesize this information and the discipline of

Personal Financial Planning to understand the financial decisions the people in the community

could be making.

Using the perspective of Personal Financial Planning is crucial to understanding the

aspect of our focus question that deals with the financial decisions of the people in the boomtown

community and the affect it will have on their financial health. Using the discipline of Personal

Financial Planning has its benefits. It is an interdisciplinary field which gives us access to a large

number of perspectives and literature from other disciplines. Utilizing this discipline is crucial to

understanding a person’s values and financial goals, and work financial ratios, which will

explain their financial health.

There are several economic changes in a hydraulic fracturing boomtown economy that

will have effect on the people’s financial wellbeing. In order for these economic changes to

affect the people in the community, they will have to directly relate to their budgeted expenses or

income. According to Sovacool (2014), in areas of shale gas development, the price of natural

gas is significantly cheaper. Some areas are far more dependent on energy from natural gas than

others. For instance, in North America, they have long winters and if you have a gas heater, as

opposed to an electric heater, then you could substantially benefit from the lower cost of natural

gas. Another factor is whether you make use of a gas or electric water heater.

The creation of high paying jobs is another economic factor that will play a role into

answering our focus question. Depending on the persons career they may or may not be able to

12


benefit directly from the increase in job opportunities. Any manual laborer in the area could

possibly take advantage of better wages through a job in the oil field.

Another economic change that will have an effect on people in the town is the rise in

leasing costs and housing prices (Schafft, 2013). This is a common economic change in

hydraulic fracturing boomtowns and it can have a positive or negative effect depending on if you

are a land owner or not. The rise in housing costs will hurt the financial health of renters only.

Especially the renters that are not able to incur the benefits of new job opportunities with

increases wages. On the other side it will benefit land owners especially ones that are looking to

put their house on the market.

Step 7: Identify Conflict Between Insights and Their Sources

When taking an interdisciplinary approach, which is warrant by the complex

problem, conflict can arise within your discipline and literature. These conflicts are often a

product of the different perspective that each discipline take. According to Repko (2012) it is

necessary to identify these conflicts because they interfere with establishing common ground

which is critical to integration. When using Communication Studies to better understand a

complex problem it can be difficult because the vastness of theories. In order to avoid this

conflict the focus question only considers communication through media sources and news

outlets. This will void a number of theories and situations where interpersonal and other types of

communication could affect their values. For instance, Standpoint Theory, concerns the authority

generated by people knowledge and the affect that has to shape people opinions (Craig, 1999).

This could obstruct how media will affect the family’s views by taking in account the

misinformation that could be passed off as knowledge and in turn affect their opinion of the

13


matter. This conflict was avoided as much as possible by narrowing the focus of my literature

search and finding theories that are only relevant to media and news outlets, such as framing.

Some basic assumptions of Personal Financial Planning and Communication Studies

come into conflict. Personal Financial Planning uses counseling in order to examine the client or

family’s values because they assume that values are what will determine their decision (Garman

& Forgue, 2012), . Communication Studies presents a theory that will reject this idea. Cognitive

dissonance supports the idea that you can hold two or more contradictory beliefs and in order to

ease the discomfort this creates you justify it (Craig, 1999). If we applied this theory to a

financial planning situation then we could say that even though the family holds their child’s

education high in terms of value they could still chose to spend their money on something else

they value that would contradict the idea of saving for college. For instance they could be really

bad cooks and so they value eating out every night. They justify this by saying that they need to

feed their children good food even though they cannot budget to do so and at the same time save

for their child’s college fund.

Another place conflict often arises is within the literature. The literature search brought to

light other conflicts. One of the conflicts in the literature was using different terms for the same

meaning. Each article used a different term when talking about hydraulic fracturing. The terms

used in its place were fracking, shale gas development, and natural gas extraction.

Step 8: Creating Common Ground

According to Repko (2012) there are four techniques to creating common ground, a

critical step in integration. The conflict that is identified within my literature can be remedied

using the technique of redefinition to create common ground. Therefore fracking, shale gas

14


development, and natural gas extraction are terms that all mean the same thing, hydraulic

fracturing.

In order to create common ground between disciplinary insights the technique of

organization will be utilized (Repko 2012). Organization will map out the insights of each

discipline and show how they interact, overlap and conflict with each other. Personal Financial

Planning uses mathematics and financial ratios to understand someone’s financial health. This

does not interact with communication in any way. Communication is a social science that cannot

be explained using numerical values. However communication interacts with Personal Financial

Planning as it does many other disciplines. A sub discipline of Personal Financial Planning is

counseling. Counseling involves many aspects of communication and more specifically

interpersonal communication. Personal Financial Planning could not exist without the strong

relationship with communication.

Step 9: Construct a More Comprehensive Understanding

The perspectives utilized to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the focus

problem are synthesized in Step 9. According to Chaffe (1996), people in the community will

actively search for information on hydraulic fracturing through media sources. Media sources

will use framing to portray the negative consequences particularly the environmental risk of

hydraulic fracturing versus the benefits (Mercado & Herranz, 2014). This will cause the people

in the community to side more strongly with negative aspects of hydraulic fracturing even if they

are exposed to the benefits because negative consequences cause a stronger reaction to stories

than the benefits (Shen, Ahern, & Baker, 2014). Furthermore the term fracking is often used by

media sources which has a negative connation for viewers and is substantially less likely to

15


acquire support for hydraulic fracturing than the term shale gas development (Clarke, Hart,

Schuldt, Evensen, Boudet, Jacquet, & Stedman, 2015).

At the same time Sovacool (2014) supports that the hydraulic fracturing boomtown can

exhibit economic benefits such as the creation of jobs. This benefit cannot be realized if the

people the community do not support the process of hydraulic fracturing. Also, the price of

natural gas in these communities will significantly decrease. These benefits will be realized by

people in the communities that are in the North and experience the long winters because their gas

bill will encompass the majority of their energy needs. The benefits can also be realized by

people in the community that run businesses that use a large amount of natural gas (Sovacool,

2014).

According to Lawrie, Tonts, & Plummer (2011), rental costs in the community of a

boomtown will go up a long side with the pricing on the housing market. This can tarnish the

financial health of renters in the community if they are not realizing the benefits of higher wages

or lower energy costs due to the boomtown economy. However, homeowners who are looking to

put their house on the market and land lords will benefit from the boomtown economy. Schafft

(2013) supports that there are financial benefits through leasing property in a hydraulic fracturing

boomtown economy. These benefits also cannot be realized if the land lord refuses to support

hydraulic fracturing and refuses to allow new renters who are moving for business. In

conclusion, people in the community that will be influenced by media sources and not support

hydraulic fracturing because of it will not be able to realize the full financial benefits of a

boomtown economy and their financial health can in turn suffer, particularly renters versus land

owners. The homeowners and land lords in the community that support hydraulic fracturing will

have a greater chance of taking advantage of the benefits and profiting to improve their financial

16


health. Renters who support hydraulic fracturing and realize the benefits can minimize their loss

due to rent prices rising.

Step 10: Communicating the Results

The interdisciplinary research process has brought insight to our complex problem: How

will media affect the attitudes and views of people in a hydraulic fracturing boomtown

community and in turn how that will affect their financial health? The literature and existing

knowledge on hydraulic fracturing supports that the media will frame news stories about

hydraulic fracturing around the negative consequences, highlighting the environmental risks

which will evoke the strongest response from their viewers. These feelings will hinder people’s

ability to make educated financial decisions and has the potential to harm their financial health.

If media sources are not recognized by people in the community they have a better chance of

profiting from the boom town economy or minimizing their losses due to certain economic

changes.

This study’s validity has the opportunity to be strengthened as the emerging discipline of

personal financial planning grows. More research in the field of personal financial planning

would be useful when developing the interdisciplinary research process for this question. After

seeing the effects of media on attitudes and in turn financial decisions more research is welcome

in this topic of discussion. This would help explain further how media directly affects people

financial decisions positively and negatively. The knowledge derived from the interdisciplinary

process is applicable to certified financial planners knowing that media sources can affect their

client’s attitudes and financial goals and decisions.

17


References

Clarke, C. E., Hart, P. S., Schuldt, J. P., Evensen, D. T., Boudet, H. S., Jacquet, J. B., &

Stedman, R. C. (2015). Public opinion on energy development: The interplay of issue

framing, top-of-mind associations, and political ideology. Energy Policy, 81131-140.

Craig, R. T. (1999), Communication Theory as a Field. Communication Theory, 9: 119–161.

Garman, T., & Forgue, R. (2012). Personal Finance (11th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.

Margonell, L. (2013). The energy debate we aren’t having. Pacific Standard, 6, 30-34.

Mercado, M., Álvarez, À., & Herranz, J. M. (2014). The fracking debate in the media: The role

of citizen platforms as sources of information. Essachess, 7(1), 45-62.

Popkin, J. H., Duke, J. M., Borchers, A. M., & Ilvento, T. (2013). Social costs from proximity to

hydraulic fracturing in New York State. Energy Policy, 6262-69.

Schafft, K. L. (2013). The Relationship between Marcellus Shale Gas Development in

Pennsylvania and Local Perceptions of Risk and Opportunity The Relationship between

Marcellus Shale Gas Development in Pennsylvania and Local Perceptions of Risk and

Opportunity. Rural Sociology, 78(2), 143-166.

Shen, F., Ahern, L., & Baker, M. (2014). Stories that Count: Influence of News Narratives on

Issue Attitudes. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(1), 98-117.

Smith, M. F., & Feguson, D. P. (2013). Fracking democracy: issue management and locus of

policy and decions making in the Marcellus shale gas drilling debate. Public Relations

Review. 34 (9), 377-386.

Sovacool, B. K. (2014). Cornucopia or curse? Reviewing the costs and benefits of shale gas

hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Renewable And Sustainable Energy Reviews, 37249-264.

18

Documents

INTS PAPER FINAL FINAL