Instrument Development for Measuring Social and Cultural Frames in Environmental Conflicts
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF) Decision-Making and Valuation for Environmental Policy Program (DMVEP)
This project focused on how stakeholders frame or interpret the myriad of elements that comprise a protracted conflict. In particular, the study examines patterns of framing across four types of categories—identity, characterization, conflict management, and power—for eight different stakeholder groups. Drawing from 156 interviews in four different types of environmental conflicts, the researchers sought to determine the framing profiles for different stakeholder groups, the themes that typify these profiles, and the similarities and differences across groups. Stakeholder groups consist of business and industry, farmers, citizen activists, elected officials, government agencies, environmentalists, media, and neutrals/mediators. The inter-university project joined researchers from Pennsylvania State and Ohio State Universities to examine data from two natural resources sites, one toxins cleanup site, and one watershed dispute.
Texas A&M University research team members included Dr. Linda L. Putnam and Boris H. Brummans (communication).
