summer
2004
'risk perception
in the alberta oil and gas industry'
Shelby
Mitchell
Perception of Personal and Environmental Health Risks
Relating to the Oil and Gas Industry in Alberta
As part of the degree requirements for a Master of
Arts in Anthropology at the University of Alberta,
this project examines people's perceptions of the human
and environmental health risks of the oil and gas industry
in Alberta. Since anthropological literature suggests
that belief has a significant role to play in human
health, it is pertinent to study, from a social science
perspective, what people think is happening to them.
This approach is distinct from epidemiological studies
in that individual experience and subjective states
of health are examined for cultural and social coherence.
I will undertake participant-observation and interview
based research between May and September 2004 in Fort
McMurray. This region is widely posited as the resource
frontier in Alberta and is profoundly influenced by
hydrocarbon extraction. The region presents as the
most appropriate place in which to study the perceived
effects of the oil and gas industry. Participants will
be selected through personal contacts made in Fort
McMurray.
Every effort will be made to ensure that the study does
not harm the participants, and approval has been granted
by the Human Research Ethics Advisory Group at the University
of Alberta.
