11,996 The Communication Initiative, The Drum Beat – 667 – Putting the Audience at the Centre of Research

• Research that informs – Findings from research on radio broadcasts of Our Tukul (Our House) in South Sudan suggested incorporating the message «that women breastfeed for two cropping cycles – equivalent to the recommended six months» as a way to communicate the recommendation in a locally understandable way.
• Research that poses questions – For Climate Asia [please see selected summaries, below], «data taken from surveys, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and community assessments is being shared in a custom-built online data portal….»
• Research to evaluate – In Sierra Leone, the radio talk show Fo Rod (Crossroads) and the debate programme Tok Bot Salone (Talk About Sierra Leone) reach 37% of adults in areas where they are broadcast; «96% of regular listeners thought the programme is a useful tool for citizens to air their concerns about how the country is run.»
• Research to provide evidence – An evaluation of the Nepali political debate programme Sajha Sawal (Common Questions) surveyed 4,000 audience members and interviewed partner radio station staff and public figures. Using statistical regression and controlling for differences between exposed and unexposed audiences, research yielded evidence that listening to Sajha Sawal is associated with higher levels of political participation, knowledge, and efficacy. See below.

[Jan 2013]

• Opportunities:
  • In media-scarce environments, limited broadcast range allows researchers to compare people with and without access to the media under investigation. Making use of the common practice of listening to the radio in groups can create similar conditions.
  • Testing unverified assumptions about how media affects democracy and governance can provoke greater reflection about programme goals and theories of change.
• Challenges:
  • Often, media assistance programmes are meant to reach national broadcasters; however, these types of programmes are more challenging to evaluate through field experiments. Interventions that involve a large number of «units», such as individual journalists or media outlets, are more amenable to field experiments.
  • Programme objectives and activities typically evolve over time. While flexibility can lead to responsive development interventions, it can make it difficult to design an experiment.

[Mar 2014]

• «Audience involvement may have contributed to people feeling they had more of a stake in the process and a responsibility to fulfil their role in elections.
• Sema Kenya gained credibility because people discussed the issues that affected them directly – information was seen to be reliable because it was ‘coming from people’s mouths’.
• People noted that very diverse live audiences (in age, gender and ethnicity) were brought together in constructive dialogue, which can support peace and inclusion.
• The programme increased awareness of an individual’s right to question and may have increased their confidence to question those in power.»

[Mar 2014]

• See also this blog: A new Nigeria begins with me – From blogger Abosede Olowoyeye: «Our research team was trying to find out why the Nigerian authorities appear to lack accountability and also why people don’t question their leaders and administrations…» [Feb 2014]

• A fresh approach to communicating climate change – From blogger Sonia Whitehead: «Our [Climate Asia] research showed that social support is crucial – people who feel isolated and don’t make decisions as a community are not taking as much action. Therefore there is an opportunity to increase engagement with climate change and encourage action now by framing communication around community participation. It is also vital to root communications in peoples values.» [Sep 2013]
• UN Climate Talks: changing the conversation about climate change – From blogger Delia Lloyd, who recently participated in a panel at a United Nations (UN) conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany: «I emphasised how important it is to build an evidence base around these threats to food, water and energy security and suggested how media and communication can be usefully deployed to help communities build resilience to them.» [June 2014]

• Can we improve women’s health without improving their status – From blogger Laura Smethurst: «We were there [Odisha, India] to explore the reasons why many young women are not able to carry out the recommended health practices during pregnancy, such as attending enough antenatal appointments, or delivering their baby at a health facility…» [May 2014]
• Proving the impact of media on behaviour change – From bloggers Kavita Abraham Dowsing and Leonie Hoijtink, who reflect on mid-term results from a randomised control trial (RCT) to investigate media impact, undertaken by Development Media International: «Could these results from their trial in Burkina Faso begin to answer the questions of attribution which trouble the impact evaluation of health communications while resonating through the halls of our donors? Our team couldn’t wait to jump into the detail of the data and explore the initial results…» [June 2014]