MA Thesis T.Mccormack
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MASTERARBEIT Titel der Masterarbeit THE MAKING OF SOCIO-TECHNICAL DISASTERS A Comparative Analysis of the Piper Alpha and Deepwater Horizon Disasters Verfasser Timothy McCormack, BA angestrebter akademischer Grad Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 066 906 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Masterstudium Science-Technology-Society Betreuerin: Univ. Prof. Dr. Ulrike Felt Dedicated to my Father Patrick McCormack ‘Shoulders Back, Chest Out’ Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my family, and friends for their constant support throughout the two years. Above all, I would like to thank my mother, not just for her help during this thesis which was wholeheartedly appreciated, but also for being there throughout my life whenever I have needed her. She is indeed a woman of strength and strong character, some day I hope I can return the favour. I would also like to single out Gillian, Claire and Janette for their dedication to proofreading this paper, and for their many words of advice and encouragement. A special thanks to Gillian as she assisted in this endeavour, while also having her own hectic schedule which cumulated in the publishing of her first book. I would now like to take the opportunity to congratulate her on it and to say how proud I am of her. I wish to express my extreme gratitude to my supervisor Professor Ulrike Felt for her constant support, advice, guidance and general good disposition throughout, and in a more general sense for giving me the opportunity to view, and question the world in which we live in new and interesting ways. Special thanks go to the staff at the STS department at the University of Vienna; many restless thoughts were put at ease thanks to their considerate and conscientious efforts. Sincere appreciation goes to Susi Herta for her constant presence by my side as we made our way through the libraries of Vienna. The paper could not have been completed without the support of Christopher O’Shaughnessy, who reminded me at the right moments, that there was still life outside of the confines of my academic work. I offer my sincere gratitude to Elise Panizza, Hannes Herta, Van Ford, and the many others for their sunny dispositions and for putting up with the various manifestations of my grumpiness along the way. Finally, and very much not least, I would like very much to thank my girlfriend Daniela, for her constant and tireless efforts in assisting me in completing this paper. Without her unflinching desire for me to succeed I don’t believe this paper would have become a reality. Her remarkable mix of patience and ability to see through my excuses was a potent tonic which gave me the fortitude to complete this research. Timothy McCormack, Wien, 2014. i Table of Contents List of Illustrations .............................................................................. v List of Abbreviations ....................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ................................................................................. 1 2. Oil Platforms .................................................................................. 12 2.1 Terminology ............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Oil Platform as a Technology ................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Oil Platforms as Components of Large Technical Systems ....................................................... 18 2.4 Historical Development of Oil Platforms ................................................................................. 21 3. Disasters ......................................................................................... 28 3.1 Disasters as a Concept ............................................................................................................. 28 3.2 The Evolution of Disaster Classification ................................................................................... 31 3.3 Importance of Studying Disasters ............................................................................................ 36 4. Piper Alpha and Deepwater Horizon ...................................... 39 4.1 Piper Alpha .............................................................................................................................. 40 4.2 Deep Horizon ........................................................................................................................... 42 5. STS and Disasters ......................................................................... 46 5.1 STS and Disasters an Overview ................................................................................................ 46 5.2 Different Directions in STS Research ........................................................................................ 50 5.2.1 STS- Disasters- Communication ........................................................................................... 51 5.2.2 STS- Disasters-Responsibility ............................................................................................... 53 5.2.3 STS- Disasters - The Aftermath ............................................................................................ 55 5.2.4 STS- Disasters - Expertise..................................................................................................... 57 ii 6. Theoretical Approach .................................................................. 59 6.1 Media Framing ......................................................................................................................... 59 6.1.1 The Premise of Framing ........................................................................................................ 60 6.1.2 Framing and the Media’s Construction of Reality .................................................................. 61 6.2 Hypothesis and Research Questions ........................................................................................ 64 6.2.1 Coverage and Framing ........................................................................................................ 65 6.2.2 Normal and Abnormal ........................................................................................................ 67 6.2.3 Elite Sources ....................................................................................................................... 70 7. Methodology .................................................................................. 73 7.1 Media Selection ....................................................................................................................... 73 7.2 Sampling .................................................................................................................................. 74 7.3 Data Structuring....................................................................................................................... 75 7.4 Overall Coverage ..................................................................................................................... 76 7.5 Qualitative Content Analysis of Frames ................................................................................... 76 7.6 Quantitative Content Analysis of Sources ................................................................................ 78 8. Analysis ........................................................................................... 80 8.1 Analysis of the NYT Articles on the Piper Alpha disaster.......................................................... 81 8.1.1 The NYT Coverage of the Piper Alpha Disaster ..................................................................... 81 8.1.2 The NYT framing of the Piper Alpha Disaster ....................................................................... 82 8.1.3 The cause(s) of the disaster as framed by the NYT ............................................................... 84 8.1.4 The source(s) used by the NYT in constructing the framing .................................................. 86 8.2 Analysis of the Guardian’s articles on the Piper Alpha disaster ............................................... 87 8.2.1 The Guardian’s coverage of the Piper Alpha disaster ........................................................... 87 8.2.2 The Guardian’s framing of the Piper Alpha Disaster ............................................................ 88 8.2.3 The cause(s) of the disaster as framed by the Guardian ....................................................... 92 8.2.4 The source(s) used by the Guardian in constructing the framing .......................................... 94 8.3 Analysis of the NYT articles on the Deepwater Horizon disaster ............................................. 95 8.3.1 The NYT coverage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.......................................................... 95 8.3.2 The NYT framing of the Deepwater Horizon disaster ........................................................... 96 8.3.3 The cause(s) of the disaster as framed by the NYT ............................................................. 100 iii 8.3.4 The source(s) used by the NYT in constructing the framing ................................................ 101 8.4 Analysis of the Guardian’s Articles on the Deepwater Horizon disaster ................................ 103 8.4.1 The Guardian’s coverage of the Deepwater Horizon disaster ............................................