Methodological Reflections on Researching Communication and Social Change

Type Book Section - Take the Pill, Discuss the Issues and Act: Using RCTs, PAR and FGDs to Evaluate a Media Entrepreneurship Programme in Tanzania
Title Methodological Reflections on Researching Communication and Social Change
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2016
Page numbers 183-206
Publisher Springer International Publishing
URL https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-40466-0_10
Abstract
Media initiatives are widely used to educate and engage youth within the field of communication for behaviour and social change, but often the challenge is to find the right approach to evaluate their effectiveness. This chapter sets out to discuss and compare three different applied research approaches employed in the evaluations of the effectiveness of the reality television entrepreneurship competition in Tanzania—Ruka Juu. It sheds light on how the main approaches, randomized control trials and participatory action research, differ in nature, and how both yield better results when accompanied by focus group discussions. Through a pluralistic research approach, outcomes as well as depths and nuances of the issues at stake are captured.

Related studies

»