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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY AND STUDY DESIGN

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter gives an overview of the research design adopted for

the study and the methodology including sampling, pre-broadcast survey,

construction of research instruments, the field investigation process and will

also discuss in detail the perspectives from which the study design has been

chosen for this particular SFW initiative. In today’s knowledge-driven

society, the woman is faced with a myriad challenges. She has to empower

herself to survive in today’s fast changing environment. Everyday scientific

knowledge gives her a sense of awareness and equips her to make the right

choices and take control of her life. At home, a science sense, teaches her the

value of nutritive cooking, the economics of judicious fuel usage, how to

maintain a microbe free living space and how to discriminate superstition

from traditional knowledge. For a developing nation like India, a particular

focus on women is the need as women’s education is a significant indicator of

development and can help bridge economic and education divides through

informal education through campus community radio. The Government of

India’s guidelines for operating campus community radio clearly stipulate that

programmes aired should necessarily focus on education, health,

environment, social awareness and rural development and hence this

communication experiment encompasses aspects related to health and

environment and themes relevant to these including nutrition, home gadgetry

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and food processing chosen based on group discussions and personal

interactions held with the women during the baseline study.

The programme of Everyday Science Awareness specifically

addresses women in the context of the initial year long engagement at Anna

FM with the community soon after it was set up when it evolved naturally and

spontaneously into a predominantly women-centric initiative both at the

media student volunteer and community participant levels. When Anna FM

first ventured to reach out to the community towards participatory practices in

programming, the live interactive phone-out talk shows outside their homes

were the first ice breakers. Interestingly, the Anna FM media student team

that displayed natural interest in community radio was predominantly female

students. And the few male students who accompanied were more interested

in handling the technical aspects of the live broadcast than the actual

interaction the community.

When women students attempted to reach out to the community, it

was comfortable for the women in the community, to respond to the

interactions and participate in the live shows. This is a reflection of their

conservative socio-cultural background where women interacting with

women are perceived to be more acceptable than the other way round. Men

from the community were generally out at work or even if around, would

remain in the background and encourage their women folk and children to

participate. As the socio economic and educational profile reveals the

women from the two slums included in the study were predominantly

housewives. During the weekly live shows in the first year of Anna FM’s

inception, the women folk who actively participated and looked forward to

these shows week after week expressed a keen desire to put to use the plenty

of leisure time at their disposal in a productive way so as to enhance their

strengths, improve upon their self worth and thereby contribute more to the

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well being of their families and society. A sincere longing to understand

better health and nutrition options, co-operate for a cleaner environment and

sustainable living within the limited resources available was palpable in each

of the group discussions that preceded the live talk shows and the informal

interpersonal communication that followed.

The personal rapport, concern, genuine kindness, care, respect and

affection that this researcher and the team of women media students

demonstrated, expressed and established with the women folk was crucial in

sparking an ideal experiment in the implementation of a participatory

development communication initiative focusing on inculcating everyday

science awareness in them. When camaraderie was established after more

than a year of such weekly live shows, women felt that a participatory

community radio initiative in inculcating such everyday science awareness

would contribute to help realize their innate potential at grasping knowledge

and translating it to positive behavior change. A proposal for funding such an

initiative received approval from the National Council for Science and

Technology Communication (NCSTC) belonging to the Government of

India’s Department for Science and Technology (DST), thus marking the

genesis of Campus Community Radio’s first ever participatory experiment in

India.

In this context and sensitive to the aspirations of the women folk

from Kannnigapuram and Kotturpuram in Anna FM’s listening zone, to be

engaged in a constructive activity for community development, as expressed

often during the live interactive phone-in interactive talk shows on Anna FM,

a proposal was made for a participatory CCR initiative to empower

marginalised women by inculcating awareness on practical everyday science

awareness in the broad areas of Health, Environment and Nutrition with the

concurrence of the community. Accepting the proposal, The National Council

for Science and Technology Communications (NCSTC), New Delhi coming

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under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of

India (GOI), awarded a year long project in April 2005 aimed at inculcating

Everyday Scientific Awareness among marginalised women through Anna

FM, India’s First Campus Community Radio with nominated advisory

members (Appendix 3).

Being marginalized refers to being separated from the rest of the

society, forced to occupy the fringes and edges and not to be at the centre of

things. In this context, ‘marginalised’ means women who do not have enough

opportunities for free and easy access to participation and benefiting from

media. Such women in India may not have opportunities to express

themselves through the media but if provided with the right exposure,

opportunities and relevant training, are willing to participate and empower

themselves and their community. The ‘Science for Women’ (SFW) project

was proposed, to explore the potential of CR in participatory science

communication, under the coordination of this researcher, guided at every

stage by project advisory members and content experts, right from conception

and community mapping to feed forward research, pre-broadcast prototype

research, methodology, implementation, participatory efforts, volunteer

coordination from among media students and the community, feed back

research, impact evaluation, mid course correction, everyday challenges and

attempt at understanding the role of such efforts in catalyzing positive social

change.

The project is part of Anna FM, the campus community radio

station at Anna University and is housed at the university’s Educational

Multimedia Research Centre. The students of media sciences department at

the university and the community in the listening zone of Anna FM form the

essential part of the everyday life of the station and this includes planning,

programming, administration and transmission of broadcasts. For the media

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students Anna FM is both a learning opportunity to understand and have

hands-on experience in doing community radio in addition to exploring its

role in development communication, both as part of their academic media

curriculum and also to shape their personalities as future broadcasters

sensitive to community needs and aspirations and not be swayed by the

sensational nature of media as is portrayed in the plethora of radio channels

dotting the spectrum today.

The relationship between students and the subjects explored is that

of participant action researchers interacting, guiding, training and

empowering the respondents with knowledge to understand community radio

and help utilize its potential in enhancing the quality of their lives. From mere

participants in phone-in interactive radio shows, the intervention of media

science students under the coordination of this researcher, has contributed to

the beginning of a new generation of potential women community radio

broadcasters from amongst the community, well versed with producing their

own programmes that includes all aspects viz. planning, scripting,

interviewing – both studio based and field based.

Anna FM is India’s first campus community and a rare privilege for

the media science students of Anna University to have a live hands-on facility

to learn, experience and understand doing community radio and through it

enhance their role in becoming responsible citizens sensitive to the needs and

aspirations of people in their community. Personally interacting with the

women to explain the concept of community radio and how it can empower

them in decision making both for themselves and for their community with a

deep sense of belonging, students get a firsthand account of their living

conditions, the everyday challenges they encounter, their unfulfilled

aspirations and how best to empower them to benefit from participatory

community radio. More than mere classroom learning this exposure to field

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based experience at Anna FM, as part of their media curriculum has

contributed in great measure to the students’ understanding of development

communication and how sharing of resources at an institution of learning with

the community both in terms of hardware and software can be a remarkable

testimony to what an educational institution can aspire for, more than the

imparting of academic knowledge.

Beyond the divides of education, money and social structure that

are an intrinsic part of a heterogenous society that’s predominantly prevalent

in India, the students’ rich experience at being an active participant in Anna

FM, feeling at one with the women respondents in the Kotturpuram and

Kannigapuram communities in the Anna FM listening zone and holding hands

with them through each of the stages of baseline study, pretest stages, group

discussions, feed forward and feedback studies, on-air and off-air activities,

qualitative and quantitative evaluation and programme production have

culminated in a rare mutual empowerment of both the media students in the

role participant action researchers and the women respondents from the

community who have emerged into a new generation of community radio

broadcasters. And as a cascading effect these ripples of a positive sense of

belonging to community radio have the rare power of a multiplier effect with

limitless potential when supported with a continuous flow of inputs until self-

sufficiency is achieved.

‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’ is the vernacular title of the SFW project

meaning, ‘Know your power!’ in the Tamil language. Developed at the local

level, with support from willing partners, the broadcasts are designed with the

women living in resource-poor settings to use and profit from practical

scientific knowledge on Health, Nutrition, Home Gadgetry, Effective Fuel

Utilization, Environment and Food Processing in their everyday life. This was

envisaged through the broadcast of a participatory science radio serial in

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magazine format on a different topic everyday for 365 days, with a central

theme running through each month (Table 3.1) supplemented with outreach

activities relevant to the broadcast themes.

Table 3.1 SFW monthly broadcast chart

Month Theme No. of Episodes

July 2005 Health 31

August 2005 Nutrition 31

September 05 Home gadgetry 30

October 2005 Effective fuel utilisation 31

November 2005 Environment 30

December 2005 Disaster management 31

January 2006 Health 31

February 2006 Food processing 28

March 2006 Demystifying myths 31

April 2006 Computer basics 30

May 2006 Method of science 31

June 2006 Environment 30

TOTAL 365

Prior to this, after briefing the 314 respondents in the Anna FM

listening zones at two slum tenements, namely, Kannigapuram and

Kotturpuram about the project and taking their formal consent, an extensive

community mapping and baseline study (Appendix 5) was conducted, during

May-June 2005 by this researcher with a team of media student volunteers

(Appendix 4). To understand their characteristics, needs and constraints the

baseline study included an exhaustive demographic, socio-economic, picture

and health profile of all the respondents and their media preference with

respect to FM Radio.

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An Experimental Design being apt for the present study, the

314 respondents were randomly assigned to the Experimental and Control

Groups divided in equal measure. While 157 respondents assigned to the

Experimental Group participated in the SFW project, listening regularly to the

broadcasts and involving themselves in all the outreach activities through the

entire project period of one year, the rest of the 157 respondents assigned to

the Control Group did not participate in the project and its outreach activities.

To ensure that the participating respondents in the Experimental Group had

exclusive access to FM Radio sets, each of them were provided with portable

FM Radio receivers of good quality to facilitate problem free listening, while

attending to their household chores (Figure A8.7).

As part of the 365 episode CR science serial, programs were

produced in magazine format (Table 3.2), for a duration of 15 minutes each in

Tamil, comprising expert interviews, vox pops, skits, songs and jingles for

broadcast from July 2005 to June 2006, four times everyday on Anna FM,

twice during the morning transmission at 9am and 10 am and twice during the

evening transmission at 6pm and 8 pm, as per the broadcast time preferences

spelt out by the participating women respondents during the baseline study.

From Health, Nutrition, Home Gadgetry, Fuel Utilization, Environment and

Disaster Management to Food Processing, Information Technology and

Science behind Myths and Superstitions, different broadcast themes were

adopted for each month of the SFW project, interspersed with outreach

activities to further engage the community into a participatory effort. The

project advisory members drawn from diverse disciplines offered their expert

suggestions at quarterly Advisory Committee meetings for midcourse

corrections. With continuous monitoring and evaluation, the role of the radio

serial and related outreach activities in inculcating everyday science

awareness among the women participants was carefully studied, and wherever

necessary, the project design was periodically restructured to maximize the

potential of the participatory exercise. Volunteers from the Media Sciences

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Department at Anna University studying Masters in Electronic Media came

together as 7 teams of 4 students each to produce ‘Sakthi Arivayadi’ programs

each day of the week jointly with the participating respondents.

Table 3.2 SFW radio magazine format

Timeline Model SFW Radio Magazine on Anaemia

00’ 00” Station Identity/Opening Title/Title Song/Music

01’ 00” Baseline information on present anaemia awareness levels

02’ 00” Vox Pop on anaemia, symptoms, causes, cure and precautions

03’ 30” Community Service Announcement on anaemia - Jingle

04’ 00” Stock characters in a lighter vein with facts on anaemia

05’ 30” Anchor interacts with subject expert on anaemia

07’ 30” Stock characters investigate blood count with lab expert

09’ 00” Anchor interacts with dietician on iron rich food

11’ 00” Stock characters chat up with respondents for recap of content

12’ 00” Amazing facts on iron / quiz on anaemia

13’ 00” Community Service Announcement on anaemia - Jingle

13’ 30” Next day’s highlights

14’ 00” Closing Title/Title Song/Signing off/Station Identity

Content experts were invited over or recorded as phone-in

interviews and media volunteers facilitated their interaction directly with the

experts in the form of interviews and group discussions and actively

participated in debates, chat shows, quiz programs, game shows and skits.

Compact Discs and Cassettes containing all the episodes broadcast were made

available to participating respondents on request to reinforce content listened

to while on air or to catch up on missed episodes. Weekly live phone-in

interactive shows were broadcast every Friday evening from the community

to gauge the levels of understanding of the science awareness content

broadcast that week and receive suggestions for prompt restructuring of the

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following episodes. Community skits produced by the participating

respondents with support from media student volunteers based on the

knowledge gained through listening to the week’s broadcasts were aired every

Tuesday.

This added to the regular survey schedule based pre and post-test

studies (Appendix 6) conducted during the beginning and end of each month

to measure any change in everyday science awareness on the theme adopted

for the month. In addition informal personal interactions with the women folk

either at the studio or the community and telephone contacts served as

additional tools to gauge the reach of the participatory initiative. Participatory

outreach activities related to the broadcast themes were also part of project,

namely Health screening camp, Environment awareness camp, Practical

Training in Computer Basics, Community Radio Broadcast Skills Workshop

and Earth Day Debate. The SFW project’s collaborating organizations for

facilitating content support, resource persons, training workshops, field based

thematic awareness campaigns and external project evaluation included The

Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, (TNPCB), The Economic Research

Group, Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) Chennai, The Government

Hospital, Saidapet, The Centre for Empowerment of Women (CEW) Anna

University, The Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMMRC), Anna

University, Department of Media Sciences (DMS), Anna University and

Indicom Software.

The outcomes of the Project include: Three Hundred and Sixty Five

episodes of ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’ radio magazine programs of 15 minutes

duration each, Picture profile of respondents in their lifestyle settings,

Photographs of Focus Group Discussions, live phone-in interactive radio

shows, community skit productions, training programs and workshops, Six

10 minute video films showcasing the progress of the project throughout the

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year, scripted and narrated by this researcher, Mid-Review Project Report

published in NCSTC Newsletter, Feb 2006, Booklet on Computer Basics in

Tamil designed for the Workshop on Computer Basics as an outreach activity

and the Working Paper by this researcher published by First World Congress

on Communication for Development,(WCCD), Rome, Italy, October 2006,

titled “Lessons, Challenges and the Way Forward” by The Communication

Initiative (CI), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United

Nations (UN) and the World Bank. The method of analysis of the change

observed among the participating respondents effected by SFW are

Community Mapping and Baseline Study, Pre and Post-Test studies before

and after the SFW broadcasts, feedback through participation in weekly live

shows by the participating respondents, Weekly production of community

skits relevant to the project themes by the participating respondents and

regular informal personal interactions with the participating respondents

either at the studio or the community. The actual utility and scope of SFW lies

in its contribution to women empowerment through everyday science

awareness inculcated through effective implementation of the all aspects of

the project design including monitoring and evaluation.

3.2 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN PERSPECTIVES

Suited to the purpose of hypothesis testing research, in which the

independent variable is manipulated to study the effects of the intervention in

inculcating awareness levels among participating women respondents, the

experimental design has been adopted to test the validity of the hypothesis

stated in Chapter 2. In the experiment design used for SFW, the principles of

replication and randomization as enumerated by Fisher (1960) are followed to

ensure increased reliability, reduced bias and protection against the

extraneous factors. In adherence to the principle of replication the experiment

is applied repeatedly six times in the SFW project. Among several

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experimental designs, the formal completely randomized design has been

used for SFW in adherence to the principle of randomization. In the SFW

experiment design, which is a two group simple randomized design, the

population is first defined and then a sample selected randomly and then

randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. In other words, in the

simple randomized design, the elements constituting the sample are randomly

drawn from the same population and randomly assigned to the experimental

and control groups.

The merit of this design is that it is simple and randomizes the

differences among the sample items. But the limitation of it is that the

individual differences among those conducting the treatments are not

eliminated and as a result the experiment may not depict a correct picture.

Keeping this in mind and considering the long experimental study design

involving administration of a series of survey schedules for the pre and post

test studies, media student volunteers were given thorough orientation training

programs continuously for correct understanding, interpretation, translation

and administration of the schedules in the regional language Tamil. And in

the case of SFW such individual differences among those conducting the

treatments do not arise as it is the same SFW broadcasts that all participating

respondents are exposed to through the everyday broadcasts on campus

community radio station Anna FM throughout the project. The off air

outreach activities are also common for all the participating respondents. As

per the design in Table 3.3, the experiment involves two groups of people,

assigned randomly to the experiment and control group. The treatment effect

is determined by subtracting the change in the dependent variable in the

control group from the change in the dependent variable in the experiment

group. This design has been chosen as it is a superior one that avoids

extraneous variation resulting both from the passage of time and from non-

comparability of experiment and control groups.

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Studies point to experiment design with control as an apt choice

to measure effects of education in inculcating knowledge and promoting

behavior change: through a national breast-feeding radio campaign for

women (McDivitt and Ayman 1991), in the Sierra Leone radio campaign on

food processing techniques (Coldevin 1990), and in the study of Khan (2000)

on increasing awareness on indigenous knowledge among women though

Radio Drama Mishal in Pakistan. As the PREAL (Project in Radio Education

for Adult Literacy) experiment design with control study revealed (Agrawal

1993), women learners did gain from the adult literacy programs on radio and

while usefulness of radio was indicated, radio’s contribution could not be

fully realized as appropriate project management techniques were not in

place. Storey et al (1997) reported increased awareness and knowledge on

reproductive health after the radio campaign as compared to before; Sood et al

(2004), through an experiment design with control study, argued that

exposure to radio programs was positively related to enhanced knowledge

levels and Jallov (2005) explored that stations created desired development

and social change within the community as compared to those determined by

original baseline research. As van Vuuren (2007) suggests participatory

research design appears as an attractive option in the study of community

media as it demystifies the research process. And as she cautions, one needs

to carefully assess an organisation’s capacity in planning each stage of the

experiment with necessary infrastructural, content and financial support from

partners and catalysts both from within and outside the campus.

Table 3.3 Experimental design with control (Kothari 2004)

Time Period I Time Period II

Experimental Group Before Treatment (X) After Treatment (Y)

Control Group Before Treatment (A) Without Treatment (Z)

Treatment Effect = (Y-X) – (Z-A)

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Accordingly, the experiment group comprised 157 participating

respondents in the ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi – Science for Women’ (SFW) project

and were sensitized and encouraged to regularly listen to the SFW broadcasts

on Anna FM, participate in the live phone-in feedback shows and related

outreach activities apart from producing their own programs after receiving

adequate training for the same. The control group comprised 157 non-

participating respondents in the SFW project and was not be a part of any of

its interventions. A pretest was done with survey schedules to measure both

the Experimental and Control groups in terms of six dependent variables

namely, i) Health ii) Nutrition iii) Home Gadgetry iv) Environment v)

Effective Fuel Utilization and vi) Food Processing for an identical time period

before the treatment. A post test was done with the same survey schedules to

see if there was a significant difference between the experimental and control

groups relative to the six variables introduced for an identical time period

after the introduction of the treatment.

3.3 IDENTIFICATION / DEFINING THE UNIVERSE

The Universe in this study comprises all female listeners above the

age of fifteen in the Anna FM coverage zone extending to a radius of about

5 - 8 Kms. The sampling units for this study were limited to two slum

tenements, Kannigapuram (38 streets) and Kotturpuram (R and H Blocks), in

the Anna FM coverage zone, as the women folk there were already introduced

to Anna FM and its programs through a weekly live phone in chat show on air

for over a year prior to the project launch in mid 2005 and showed interest

and enthusiasm in participatory development efforts aimed at helping reach

out to themselves. This project design needed total community volunteer

participation for a year long period to facilitate not just listening to SFW

programs but also participate in them, contribute to restructuring based on

weekly live phone-in interactions with content experts, involve in thematic

outreach activities and also produce their own radio features independently as

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teams after adequate community broadcast training and hence the choice of

sampling units.

3.4 SAMPLES OF STUDY

A simple random sample of 314 women from the two slum

tenements of Kannigapuram and Kotturpuram were chosen for the study and

were appoached at their homes. In Kannigapuram, there are 38 streets and the

sample for study is representative of each of them. Similarly, in Kotturpuram,

the sample for study is representative of both R and H blocks in equal

measure. An exhaustive demographic profile of the sample includes a detailed

educational profile, economic profile, health profile and media profile.

Majority of the people that inhabit the slum tenements belong the

low income category and are single income families belonging to the labour

class working in factories and industries and some as daily wage earners.

Almost 40 percent of the sample includes illiterates and primary school

dropouts while a little over 40 percent have crossed the secondary school

stage of education. While three fourths of the women folk are home makers,

some of them are adding to family income by working as domestic help in

well-off neighborhoods.

The people living there predominantly belonged to the low income

category living in cramped one room tenements which included living,

sleeping and dining and small extensions for cooking. While some houses had

separate bathrooms, others had shared toilet facilities. Streets were unclean

with no facilities for garbage disposal. Most of the times, the streets were wet

with random puddles of water not due to rain but due to the fact that the folks

had to fetch water after pumping from the street corner. Stagnant water served

as breeding ground for mosquitoes. Children played around in unhygienic

environments while elders were seen cutting and cleaning fish right in the

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middle of the street with flies hovering around. While these scenes reflect a

typical day at the slum, also encouraging was the fact that women cared a lot

about kids’ education spending every extra pie on tuitions in the evening, a

testimony to their aspirations of ensuring a stable and better future for the

next generation.

When this researcher along with media student volunteers

interacted with the women folk for live talks shows for Anna FM for over a

year before the actual launch of this project, it was surprising to see that those

who had initially shied away and hid behind doors on seeing the Anna FM

Outdoor Broadcast van, soon looked forward to us being there every week,

interact with them on personal and social issues that concerned them and also

evolve collective efforts to help find solutions through the broadcasts. There

was a keen sense of eagerness and yearning in the eyes of the women when

we met them to do something in however small measure to uplift themselves

and their community.

One woman from Kannigapuram hesitantly asked this researcher on

behalf of the other women in her neighbourhood how they could beneficially

use the ample time they had at their disposal after all their domestic chores

were over. And this was the spark that ignited many of the joint ventures that

Anna FM built gradually with the community viz. a small training workshop

in the art of making handicrafts with palm leaves supported by the

university’s centre for women empowerment followed by a series of on-air

and off-air activities to promote formation of women self-help groups which

took up some form of entrepreneurship or the other to enhance family

economy and inculcate a sense of self-belief and self-worth.

A series of periodical formal and informal group discussions and

personal interactions with the women folk revealed that participatory efforts

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through Anna FM could empower them with knowledge and skills to enhance

the quality of lives from the perspective of health, nutrition and environment.

As a cascading effect these women would inspire an entire community into

collective action and the multiplier effect would sustain eternally with support

and guidance from campus resources in terms of infrastructure and

programme support. With this vision in focus was born the Sakthi Arivaayadi

project and these prior experiences led this researcher into evolving this

research question and design jointly with the community and content experts

who formed the project advisory board. An Experimental Design with control

being apt for the present study, the 314 respondents were approached in their

homes and randomly assigned to the Experimental and Control Groups

divided in equal measure.

While 157 respondents assigned to the Experimental Group

participated in the SFW project were termed ‘Participating Respondents’,

listening regularly to the broadcasts and involving in all the outreach activities

through the entire project period of one year, the rest of the 157 respondents

assigned to the Control Group did not participate in the project and its

outreach activities and were termed ‘Non-Participating Respondents’.

3.5 BASELINE STUDY

Prior to the launch of the project an extensive baseline

questionnaire survey and mapping of the community women folk was done. A

team of twelve media student volunteers pursuing Masters in Electronic

Media at the Department of Media Sciences, Anna University, well versed in

the nuances of CR broadcasting participated as media student volunteer action

researchers during May 2005, undertook an exhaustive mapping of the 314

women community volunteers from Kannigapuram and Kotturpuram, two

slums in the coverage zone of Anna FM for a detailed baseline study on the

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women folk aged above fifteen years of age with no upper limit (Figures A8.8

and A8.9).

Apart from photographing each woman respondent with digital

camera and a picture and video profile of their present living environment,

their demographic, socio-economic and health profile was also documented

by administering a survey schedule, comprising seventeen closed ended

questions. A survey schedule comprising 25 closed ended questions was also

administered on the women participant groups to study their current health

awareness levels on a three point Likert-type scale and general observations

during the course of personal interaction were also recorded.

Since Health was proposed as the first theme of the project,

concurring with the request of the community during live talk shows and

being the first mandate of CR guidelines as stipulated by the Government, this

study was designed to begin with understanding the specific health needs of

the women and decide on specific topics that would be of immediate

relevance and interest to them.

For example, the health profile of the respondents included status of

menstrual cycle as it is an important aspect of a woman’s reproductive health.

At focus group discussions, personal interactions and subsequent meetings

with SFW project advisory members, menstrual problems came up as an issue

of concern and misconceptions regarding the same in an Indian cultural

context were considered worthy of inclusion. Quite a few women who

consulted with the doctors at the health awareness camps as part of SFW’s

outreach activities raised sought help for diverse menstrual problems. This

and other aspects of the health survey schedule were designed in concurrence

with the community, content experts and project advisory members.

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The results of the personal and health profile surveys administered

on the women folk were to form the basis for the planning and production of

programs for the initial set of broadcasts. With the community mapping and

baseline survey done, the next stage was to go in for the pre production stage.

3.6 PRE-BROADCAST STUDY

After the completion of the comprehensive baseline study, a pre-

broadcast survey was conducted to understand the specific needs and

constraints of the participant groups during June 2005 before the launch of the

SFW project broadcast scheduled to begin in July 2005. The pre-broadcast

survey encompassed pre-production and prototype production research to

ensure greater acceptability of programs by the participant groups. The

exercise also proved cost effective and time saving. A random sample of

thirty women from the participant groups were chosen from Kannigapuram, a

day before the pretest survey date. They were briefed on the importance of the

survey and told how their cooperation and feedback was crucial in making

key decisions about the broadcast format.

Two pilot programs for duration of 15 minutes each were produced

in coordination with the women from the participant groups. The women folk

participated as interviewers interacting with the content experts and also

contributed to vox pops which reflected their present lifestyle pertaining to

health and hygiene and what they felt would be a better alternative to the

practices currently being adopted by them.

The prototype program productions were done in two different

formats, one on water in radio magazine format and the other on malaria in

dramatized radio feature format. Before the programs were played to them,

their awareness levels relating to the topics dealt with in the prototype

productions was tested through a brief survey schedule comprising ten

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questions each. Once the women folk had gathered to listen to the prototypes

on a compact disc player (Figures A8.10 and A8.11) we could sense an air of

enthusiasm and anticipation on the faces of some of them who were eager to

listen to their own voices for the first time ever. To bring their attention to a

focus and increase their familiarity with the title, the ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’

theme song was played for a while and their response and reactions to the

tune and lyrics were observed.

The first program ‘Water’ in Radio Magazine format was played

followed by a break during which the title song was played once again. The

next prototype production in dramatized feature format, ‘Malaria’ was played

to the women folk who listened with rapt attention. A similar exercise was

repeated with a random sample of thirty women from the R and H blocks in

Kotturpuram in the afternoon and the two prototype productions played to

them. The opinion of the women who participated in both the surveys was

recorded by the student action researchers pertaining to content, format,

presentation style, duration and overall satisfaction. All the women who

listened to the two prototype productions expressed their overall satisfaction

about the programs with some suggestions. They preferred the radio magazine

format with diverse segments comprising expert interviews, vox pop, skit,

jingles and songs instead of the radio feature format which they felt was

loaded and monotonous. The women expressed their displeasure over the too

lengthy interview with the doctor in the ‘Water’ program. Some of the women

said that they could not understand the couple of English words used by the

experts. The program duration and the language of the presenters were

satisfactory. The participant groups also felt that quiz competitions could be

organized as part of the program to encourage listening and retention of

information with prizes awarded as incentives. Though the ‘Malaria’

program was preferred to the ‘Water’ program, the general consensus was in

favor of the radio magazine format with multiple segments. The women

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responded satisfactorily to the brief survey schedule administered as post test

as compared to pre test, indicating that the objectives of the program to

enhance scientific awareness in everyday life were beginning to be realized.

Based on the survey findings, it was decided to adopt the radio

magazine format to share and disseminate scientific awareness necessary for

everyday living with the participants. It was also decided to keep expert

interviews brief and ensure predominant usage of the local dialect and avoid

use of English words.

3.7 CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS/FIELD

INVESTIGATION PROCESS

As part of SFW, 365 community radio programs on Everyday

Science Awareness were produced in magazine format, for duration of

15 minutes each in Tamil, comprising expert interviews, vox pops, skits,

songs and jingles from July 2005 to June 2006 on diverse themes as per the

feedback and suggestions from the participating women respondents. The

broad themes for the monthly broadcasts namely Health, Nutrition, Home

Gadgetry, Environment, Effective Fuel Utilization and Food Processing

representing the six study variables were identified based on needs assessment

through the baseline study, interactions with the respondents during on-air

and off-air outreach activities and opinion from content experts in the fields

on health, nutrition, environment, media and communication including project

advisory members. The specific themes that run through the entire year’s

duration of the project identified by the respondents are reflected in the

programme production chart (Appendix 7), with each theme comprising a

topic for broadcast each day including a weekly live phone-in interactive

feedback and quiz session on Fridays and a weekly Community Skit on

Tuesdays produced by the participating women respondents based on the

knowledge assimilated during the previous week’s programs. The ‘Sakthi

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Arivaayadi’ title song in Tamil highlighting the objectives of the project and

its various themes was broadcast throughout the year at the beginning and

closing of each episode as a Signature Tune to ensure efficient program recall

with its appealing tune and encourage respondents to stay tuned in. Colorful

posters (Figures A8.12, A8.13 and A8.14) designed with photographs of the

women respondents clicked during the pretest survey were put up at vantage

points near the homes of the respondents and pamphlets were distributed.

The SFW programs were broadcast from July 2005 four times

everyday on Anna FM @ 90.4 MHz, twice during the morning transmission

at 9 am and 10 am and twice during the evening transmission at 6 pm and 8

pm based on the broadcast time preference findings of the baseline study. The

daily broadcasts continued everyday until June 2006 and the impact of these

programs in inculcating everyday science awareness among the women

participatory groups were studied on a continual basis throughout the duration

of the project. The radio serial was initially produced by media student

volunteers in coordination with the participating respondents and they were

gradually engaged in all aspects of program production including planning,

scripting, interviewing and production in a phased manner after a

comprehensive training in the basics of community radio production.

Questions for the pre and post test schedules as detailed in

Table 3.4 were carefully formulated based on needs assessment through the

baseline study, focus group discussions with respondents and reviewed

through a series of consultations with experts in the field of Health, Nutrition,

Environment, Computer Technology, Media and Communication Research.

The draft version of the schedule resulting from this exercise was then pilot

tested on the respondents to check for simplicity, clarity, ease in

understanding, interpretation and comprehension and later restructured

according to the response elicited to the schedules. In addition to periodic

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special SFW orientation training programmes to ensure proper administration

of schedule, media student researchers were already well versed with CR as

they are involved in the planning, production, monitoring and evaluation for

Anna FM as part of their academic semester program on Community Radio at

the Department of Media Sciences, Anna University.

Data was collected in the field through the administration of these tested and

restructured survey schedules (Appendix 6) designed to measure Everyday

Science Awareness levels in terms of the six independent variables namely

Health, Nutrition, Home Gadgetry, Environment

Effective Fuel Utilization and Food Processing, for an identical time period,

before and after the SFW intervention, by a team of media student volunteer

researchers, coordinated by this researcher. The survey schedule was chosen

over the questionnaire as almost twenty percent of respondents were illiterate

and the others it was felt might experience questionnaire fatigue especially in

a lengthy study of this nature. The media student volunteers who administered

the survey schedule under the guidance of this researcher were trained

continuously to well understand the scope of the investigation and

implications of the different questions in the schedule. In the present study the

structured questionnaire format has been used with closed ended questions,

simple to administer and analyse. The limitations arising out of inability to

probe into attitudes and feelings has been made good by the qualitative study

techniques included in off-air and outreach activities. The scoring technique

follows the Likert-type scales (Table 3.5) for measuring the awareness levels

for the 3-point scale was evolved by assigning the score of 1 to a Below

Average response, score of 2 to an Average response and a score of 3 to an

Above Average response. For the bipolar scale a score of 1 is assigned to the

Below Average response and a score of 2 is assigned to the Above Average

response. The composite score of each item in the variables indicate the levels

of perception of Everyday Science Awareness by the respondents.

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Table 3.4 SFW survey schedule queries

S. No. VariablesNo. of

itemsQuery Details

1 Health 25 Drinking Water, Common Cold, Fever,

Stomach Ailments, Blood Pressure,

Diabetes, First Aid, Pain Relief, Hygiene,

Dental Care, Preventive Medicine,

Osteoporosis, Fitness, Anemia, Thyroid

Problems, HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health,

Pre and Post-natal Care

2 Nutrition 30 Balanced Diet comprising Carbohydrate,

Protein, Iron, Calcium, Minerals and

Vitamins; Choice of Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts

and Beverages; Iodized Salt, Memory

Enhancing Foods, Kitchen Medicine, Right

Cooking Practices, Food Adulteration and

Kitchen Pest Control

3 Home

gadgetry

20 Effective Utility and Maintenance of

Cooking Stove, Cooking Gas Cylinder and

Accessories, Pressure Cooker, Water

Purification Systems, Food Mixer,

Cookware, Lamps and Tube-lights, Electric

Fan, Sewing Machine, Water Motor, Water

Pump, Radio and Safeguard from Electric

Shocks.

4 Effective

fuel

utilisation

10 Thrift Use of Electricity, Environment

friendly Alternate Fuels and Rechargeable

Batteries.

5 Environment 17 Water-borne diseases, Maintenance of clean

water sources, Water Conservation, Diseases

due to Air Pollution, Planting Trees,

Diseased due to Noise Pollution, Recycling

of Degradable and Non-Degradable Wastes,

Organic Foods and Organic Disinfectants.

6 Food

processing

10 Processing of Milk, Grains, Spices, Sea-

Foods Packaged Foods, Preservation

Techniques, Food Coloring, Food Packaging

and Safety

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Table 3.5 SFW scoring method for pre and post test evaluations

VariableNo. of

ItemsRating Scale

Rating Score for Awareness

Levels

Health 25 3 point scale Below Average Response-1

Average Response -2

Above Average Response -3

Nutrition 30 3 point scale Below Average Response-1

Average Response -2

Above Average Response -3

Home Gadgetry 20 Bipolar Below Average Response-1

Above Average Response-2

Fuel Utilisation 10 Bipolar Below Average Response-1

Above Average Response-2

Environment 17 3 point scale Below Average Response-1

Average Response -2

Above Average Response -3

Food Processing 10 Bipolar Below Average Response-1

Above Average Response-2

During the baseline study where an exhaustive profile of

respondents was done, it was observed that the women displayed subtle signs

of questionnaire fatigue though they cooperated very well in replying to

queries. For a year-long project comprising regular surveys with pre and post

tests, a simpler and effective survey schedule was arrived at without taxing

the respondents already weighed down by family responsibilities and time

constraints. Hence the survey schedule was designed to be of a closed-ended

type ranging from bipolar to three point Likert-type scale to facilitate simple

and easy elucidation of responses from the respondents. Open ended

questions were part of on air and off air activities including group discussions,

weekly live phone-in and phone-out interactions, weekly production of

community skits by the participating respondents based on the knowledge

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assimilitated during the previous week’s broadcasts and outreach activities in

the form of camps and workshops.

As a continuous and interactive participatory feedback exercise, a

weekly live phone-in program (Figures A8.15 and A8.16) on Fridays was

built into the project to understand the level of assimilation of everyday

science awareness by the participating respondents through quiz programs

and game shows with incentives to promote listening and active participation.

The women respondents shared what they learnt from the previous week’s

programs on air and whether they benefited by adopting them in everyday

life. This included responses to live quiz shows based on the project audio

clippings broadcast during the previous week to assess program recall and

information retention. To assess the impact of listening, understanding and

undergoing practical community radio production training, participating

respondents independently produced, with minimal support, a community skit

(Figures A8.19 and A8.20) every Tuesday, showcasing the knowledge

gathered over the previous week through the radio serial.

To obtain an in-depth perception on ideas and opinion of

respondents otherwise not feasible in a survey, focus group discussions were

part of the base line and pre-broadcast study as a powerful research tool

capable of eliciting spontaneous information. Preceding the weekly

‘Samuthaya Nerkanal’ live show on Saturdays, these were organized as

informal interactions with respondents of 8 to 10 members at different locales

in the community. After the SFW project launch these FGDs preceded the

weekly live interactive quiz show on Fridays and complemented the pre and

post test surveys. Guided by this researcher, they were held for about an hour

before the live shows just outside the homes of the respondents to facilitate a

freewheeling sharing of thoughts and suggestions on what they learnt, what

they would like to learn in the coming weeks and also on off-air activities and

need-based training camps and workshops. Each FGD focused on review of

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the earlier week’s broadcasts and preview of what is to come the next week

and ways to evolve the SFW initiative suited to felt needs and aspirations.

Being a participatory initiative, the first set of FGD respondents were

encouraged to identify the next group for FGD and this continued as a chain

to ensure neutrality and also to extend coverage to as many respondents as

possible. This researcher recorded proceedings of the FGD pertaining to

names and characteristics of participants, their opinion with key statements,

emotional aspects and vocabulary used and any other relevant observation

valuable for appropriate restructuring of the SFW project. After a detailed

review of the notes recorded, the researcher evaluated how the focus group

went and what changes might be made when facilitating the next focus group.

The respondents were encouraged to share frank opinion on

content, presentation and drawbacks, if any, and also suggest ideas for

improvement of the project on a regular basis. To encourage regular listening

and participation, prizes were awarded as incentives for the best teams in the

field-based live-on-air quiz shows and studio-based game contests with

content experts as judges. Supplementary to inculcating health awareness

through the ‘Science for Women’ broadcasts, special outreach programs in

the form of a health camp (Figures A8.21 and A8.22) were organized to

sensitize the respondents towards the health care needs of the entire family.

The participant women groups were encouraged to involve

themselves in every aspect of the campaign to create a participatory feel and a

sense of belonging to the project, right from putting up the publicity banners

in the neighborhood and writing out the messages at the venue notice board to

distribution of pamphlets to spread the message around and personally

inviting friends and neighbors to the camp.

As part of the health camp, a ten member medical team from the

local government hospital offered free medical screening and dispensed

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medicines apart from referring some of the complicated cases to the hospital

for a follow up. Out patient cards specifically designed for the project were

used to document the beneficiaries of the camp and for follow-up of their

health status. This provided the women an opportunity to actually put to

practice the health lessons learnt on air by consulting doctors on their health

status and seek clarifications, if any. This medical record would be valuable to

the women for keeping a regular tab on their health status.

In addition to inculcating Environment Awareness through the

‘Science for Women’ broadcasts, another outreach activity in the form of an

environment camp (Figures A8.23 and A8.24) was conducted coinciding with

the theme for November 2005 with the support of the State Pollution Control

Board. The camp included street theatre and folk formats where the women

participants had a chance to comprehend the information listened to on

‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’ broadcasts even better by actually participating in the

song and drama productions and learning to implement healthy environmental

practices in everyday living like segregation between biodegradable and non-

biodegradable wastes and avoiding burning of garbage, to name a few.

For the project’s inaugural month thirty different topics for each

day of the month pertaining to science behind good health were identified

based on the baseline study done. Radio programs in magazine format

containing expert interviews, vox pops, skits, jingles and songs were

produced by ten teams of student volunteers from the media science

department. Participation from the respondents would be scaled up in a

phased manner from being mere vox pops to script writers, presenters and

interviewers after continual training. Care was taken to ensure that the

prominent health related problems peculiar to the participant women groups

revealed in the baseline study were addressed.

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A preliminary feed forward study for the next month’s theme was

also done to decide on the focus areas in keeping with the immediate needs of

the participating respondents. One of the key suggestions made by the

participants during the focus group discussions was that instead of the same

programs being broadcast four times a day to cater to the listening time

preferences of the participant groups, programs broadcast on the preceding

days be broadcast on rotation to ensure variety of programs heard on a

particular day and also to decrease the chances of missing out on listening to

any episode of ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’.

The participating respondents were also encouraged to regularly

participate in studio activities, interact with the experts and brainstorm on

issues perceived as important to them, to facilitate higher level of

participation. As revealed during the live phone-in shows and focus group

discussions (Figures A8.17 and A8.18) during the pre-test survey, the women

folk were able to recall the content listened to on air much more effectively

when they spoke with the experts themselves To reinforce the content listened

to during the week, the women groups were coordinated into scripting skits

and enacting them based on what they had assimilated from the programs.

Apart from skits and songs regular quiz shows and thematic debates

were also organized in the studios during the second month where the chosen

theme was nutrition. Experts from the field of nutrition and dietetics were

invited to conduct these quiz sessions and moderate the debates and focus

group discussions and apart from broadcasting the same, the participating

respondents were awarded prizes based on their display of talent and

involvement and the levels of everyday science awareness inculcated. And the

same process extended through the rest of the months, with restructuring

based on continual feedback.

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3.8 OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

Though the project took off as planned on July 1, 2005, the formal

inauguration took place on August 14, 2005 (Figure A8.6) with a review of

the progress during the first month. A highlight of the event was that the

program was compered by the participating respondents themselves, who

shared what they had learnt during the first month’s broadcast of the radio

serial and how they had integrated it into their everyday living. The earlier

field work for the SFW project commenced in April 2005 with an exhaustive

baseline study, followed by a pilot study in June 2005 and continuous

monitoring and evaluation comprising pre and post test study from July 2005

to June 2006.

Health Awareness Camp - September 2005: In addition to SFW

radio serial broadcast on health topics during the month of July 2005, as per

suggestions made in the first advisory meeting, it was decided to organize a

free medical screening camp (Figures A8.21 and A8.22) for the women

participant groups on September 24, 2005, in coordination with the

Government Hospital, Saidapet, Chennai to give the participating respondents

an opportunity to actually put to practice the health lessons learnt on air by

actually consulting doctors on their health status and seek clarifications, if

any. Prior publicity for the camp was given during the live shows organized

during the previous week and also through pamphlets and banners at three

strategic places in the locality – a tea shop, pharmacy and temple. Volunteers

also met the participating respondents a day prior to the camp on a door-to-

door campaign and impressed upon them to make use of the opportunity.

Interestingly they too joined in the publicity for the campaign by helping

distribute the pamphlets and putting up the banners.

A ten member team comprising doctors, nurses and pharmacists

from the local Government Hospital led by surgeon Dr. Revathy screened

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over 200 women, offered advice and medicines apart from referring some of

them to the hospital for further treatment. The name, address, ailment and

medicine prescribed along with hospital referral numbers of all the women

who attended the camp were documented on a specially designed medical OP

card bearing the NCSTC and Anna FM logo similar to the ones used by the

hospital. This medical record would be valuable to the women for keeping a

regular tab on their health status. Inquiries with the doctors revealed that

thirty six of the women who underwent screening at the camp consulted them

at the hospital for further treatment with the OP cards issued at the camp,

reflecting the fact that the camp had in a small but definite way contributed to

the well being of its participating respondents, paving the way for a better

living facilitated through good health.

Environment Awareness Camp – January 2006: An Environment

awareness camp (Figures A8.23 and A8.24) was organized in January 2006

jointly with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) as an outreach

activity of the project coinciding with the Harvest Festival of which Bogi is a

part, where rubber tubes and plastic waste are burnt to do away with old

garbage in the name of cleaning and doing away with junk. Through street

theatre and participatory activities with the community at both Kannigapuram

and Kotturpuram, the message to prevent atmospheric pollution was

disseminated. “Celebrate Bogi without polluting the environment – Don’t

burn plastic and rubber in the name of discarding home garbage - Let’s

celebrate by being sensitive to our environment.” As these slogans filled the

air through Street theatre, Folk music, Mimicry and Dance Drama, the

message was clear and inspiring. Women from the participant groups also

shared their views on caring for the environment with the Pollution Control

Board creative team. They also took an oath pledging their commitment to the

cause of preserving the environment.

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The message has reached and the awareness created but what about

the results. Has the effort created the right impact and are the women

community groups actually following the guidelines. Or to put it simply, on

Bogi day did the people in the neighborhood actually stop burning plastic and

rubber and all that cause harm to the atmosphere around them. Interaction

with the folks after a week revealed that the camp along with messages

through Anna FM were well received and at the localities where the camp

was organized there was no instance of burning polluting waste material. An

indication of the benefits of timely awareness programs through CCR coupled

with field interactions in simple creative style with total participation.

And same was the case at Kotturpuram where inspired by the

success of the camp in reinforcing environmental awareness, one of the

participating respondents, Kala inquired with Annie Josephine, Manager,

TNPCB, whether she could conduct similar camps in her neighborhood. And

that speaks volumes on how such outreach activities complement on-air

everyday science communication programs through CCR. In keeping with

popular request form the folks it was decided to broadcast ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’

twice each during morning and evening transmissions. And the researcher

also planned to go in for weekly live phone-in interactions with participating

respondents to know how well the programs had reached them through simple

quizzing and helping them recall their interactions with subject experts at the

studios. It was indeed amazing to learn how community participation can in

fact promote easy and quick recall of program content. Equally interesting

was the fact that the participating respondents loved listening to their own

voices on air and would never miss tuning in. Among the several suggestions,

one was to broadcast different episodes of the serial on any given day rather

than repeating the same four times twice in each transmission and this was

promptly included in the broadcast schedule.

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One of the live shows at Kannigapuram via the mobile phone

discussed some of the programs they listened to on health issues and the ones

where they interacted with experts such as gynaecologist Dr. Kamala Selvaraj

and HIV/AIDS expert Dr. Suniti Solomon at the studios. A discussion on

programs related to nutrition was worth the effort as quite a few requests for

topics such as low fat cooking and diet for diabetics came up. The following

week the researcher moved over to Kotturpuram where a large group of

women waited eagerly to brainstorm on health and nutrition. There was a

suggestion to organizes little quiz programs to encourage them to listen with

intent and win prizes for good answers. And the next few episodes were

planned based on this valuable input.

Computer Basics Training Workshop - March 2006: If the SFW

project aimed at enhancing everyday science awareness on Anna FM,

wouldn’t something be missing if we didn’t bridge the digital divide. And

thus sprang the idea of including Information Technology as one of the

project themes for April 2006 and the participating respondents too welcomed

it at the Focus Group Discussion. As a prelude to the theme for the month of

April focusing on Information Technology, a five day hands-on training

workshop (Figures A8.25 and A8.26) in the basics of computers- Windows

and Internet was imparted from March 20-24, 2006 jointly with the Centre for

Empowerment of Women, Anna University. A week long broadcast on

Computer basics was also aired from March 12-19, 2005 as part of the SFW

project before the launch of the workshop to help the participating

respondents get familiar with the basics. Hands-on computer basics training

to at least a small group from the two communities, it was felt, would be an

ideal outreach activity of the project even before they actually heard the

experts speak on Anna FM. Another key objective of the camp was that these

women would share what they had learnt with the rest of the community by

producing their own radio magazines for the project in innovative formats.

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After two months of planning and coordination to pool in the

resources for the camp, it finally took off on the March, 20, 2006. Indicom

Software designed the two basic modules on Windows and Internet in Tamil

exclusively for the project. 25 participating respondents signed in for the five

day camp from March 20 to 24, 12 from Kannigapuram and 13 from

Kotturpuram. The names were short-listed by the community members

themselves, taking into account their interest, aptitude and commitment to

devote five days continuously for the workshop. At the workshop inaugural,

the participating respondents shared with this researcher how lucky,

privileged and happy they were to be part of the workshop. From zero

computer literacy they visualized themselves as women empowered with

skills to use basic windows operations and navigate through the World Wide

Web and they promised to cooperate with the training schedule despite their

household chores and other preoccupations. A brief quiz was also

administered on the trainees before the start of the workshop to assess their

present levels of computer awareness and compare it with their responses to

the same at the end of the workshop. The workshop was organized in two

sessions.

The morning devoted to hands-on computer training at the Machine

Design Workshop Department of Mechanical Engineering, Anna University

and the afternoons were spent in learning basic theoretical concepts at the

Centre for Water Resources. Classroom training provided an opportunity to

interact with trainers to clarify on doubts and analyze the mistakes done or

difficulties experienced while at the computer lab and they were encouraged

to feel free and learn at their own pace. The participants were divided into

four groups to produce programs for the SFW project on Computers in

Education, Business, Media and Future Lifestyle based on the knowledge

gained at the camp. While Day 1 of the workshop was of an introductory

nature, the real lessons began on the second day. It was incredible to note that

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all the 25 trainees were at their computer desks well ahead of the scheduled

10 am and clocked full attendance while remaining focused every minute of

the workshop.

Volunteer trainers from Indicom Software and Services first briefed

the women folk on the user friendly software designed for them exclusively in

Tamil on Windows and Internet. They personally guided them through every

step – right from booting the system and using the key board and mouse to

opening a file, storing and saving and also navigate the web. Some of them

were fast learners while others needed that extra help to cope with the basics.

The trainers handled them with special concern never hesitating to teach all

over again - in a language they could easily comprehend. So engrossed were

they in the enchanting world of computers that none of them knew it was time

for lunch. In fact, it took a lot of persuasion to get them log off their

computers. Soon they were found complaining that they needed more time on

their systems with an extended workshop. So much for their enthusiasm and

promises were made to consider their request.

A week before the computer camp began on-air computer lessons

were broadcast on Anna FM to help the women folk get familiarized with the

basics terminologies, as a prelude to the workshop. These were played again

for those who had missed listening. Anna FM’s production assistant also

exposed them to the nuances of Sound Forge, how to edit sound bytes, mix in

music and embellish with sound effects. Towards the end of the classroom

session each of the four groups into which the trainees were divided into, got

into group discussions to brainstorm on producing radio magazines based on

what they had learnt each day at the camp. While the first two groups planned

for programs on Computers in Education and Business, the other two groups

worked on Computers in Media and the Future of Computers. And these

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productions were to be aired as part of the project in April under the theme

Information Technology.

Mid way through the workshop the women folk seemed at ease

with the keyboard and mouse and some were even spotted trying out creative

stuff – drawing, coloring and painting- learning and enjoying their new found

digital empowerment. They were frequently seen clarifying from the trainers

and also referring to the booklet with printed notes designed for them. After a

long time they seemed to feel liberated from their drab kitchens. Some of

them said they felt young being at the university and rubbing shoulders with

smart students. Others thanked their stars for Anna FM, for Sakthi Arivaayadi

and the everyday science awareness that they were imbibing for a better life –

not just for them but their families as well.

Learning is rewarding indeed and at the workshop valedictory,

certificates were distributed certificated to all the trainees and prizes were

given away to three toppers who were judged on their overall performance

during the camp, comprising an annual subscription to a computer magazine

in Tamil. The workshop experiences narrated by the women folk at the

valedictory were overwhelming; while some went emotional others sounded

ambitious. The training partner of Indicom Software, while presenting his

feedback report appreciated the involvement with which the participants

learnt their lessons and congratulated them for the remarkable performance as

evident in their responses to the questionnaire administered on them before

and after the camp. Apart from being a community development effort in

bridging the digital divide; this attempt is also an effort in building academia-

industry partnership for social empowerment. As the project proceeded into

the last quarter, suggestions and innovative ideas were reinforced into the

programs, to maximize the potential of participatory communication of

everyday science awareness through CCR.

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World Earth Day Debate -April 2006: Another outreach effort to

inculcate environmental awareness amongst the community women folk as

part of the Sakthi Arivaayadi project was to organize a World Earth Day

Debate on April 22, 2005 (Figures A8.27 and A8.28). This time too Anna FM

joined hands with the creative team from the TNPCB comprising volunteers

from the Chennai Music College. A creatively done banner with a picture of

beautiful Mother Earth in the background invited a gathering of not just the

participating respondents, but also a large number of children from the

neighborhood. First was a song on caring for the earth by greening the

environment. And then followed a mimicry session in lighter vein with

celebrity voices speaking up to spread awareness on Earth Day and some

captivating folk music.

It was time then for the much awaited environmental debate- on

the topic, “Which is the major cause of Environment Pollution –

Overpopulation or Industrial Growth?” Four participating respondents from

each of the communities geared up to speak their minds out. While the

Kannigapuram team represented by Joyce, Jameela and Ester prepared to

speak on the topic – “Overpopulation is the reason for Environmental

Pollution”, the other group from Kotturpuram represented by Mallika,

Kanchana and Sujatha chose to speak on “Industrial Pollution as the major

cause of Environmental Pollution”.

A hot debate ensued with each team trying hard to outwit the other.

It is only because of too may people that we end up polluting the environment

emphasized Jameela in a rather convincing style. Kanchana on the other hand

argued that it is because of the increasing need of our growing population that

industries have sprouted in large numbers adding to the pollution levels. The

debate showcased all the knowledge the participating respondents gathered

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during the earlier months, listening to the series of ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’

programs on Environment.

An opportunity to recall all what had been learnt earlier and

articulate them convincingly in debate style. Empowering women participant

groups with everyday science awareness on caring for the environment and

also helping them share it in amongst their neighbors.

When it was time for the final verdict, the ‘creative’ judge from

TNPCB who interspersed the debate with his humor laced remarks had the

community breaking into peals of laughter. His verdict was that excessive

population growth and high rate of industrial growth are part of the vicious

cycle, one leading to the other and there is no one cause for environment

pollution and that as a community all could come together to protect Mother

Earth. And that exactly was the motive of this outreach activity, to learn and

share about the importance of Earth Day, and why we need to preserve it.

After some serious food for thought, folks at the Earth Day camp

were treated to a dance drama on why we need to preserve our trees. And a

group of bubbly little kids brought their tender hands together and danced

along to the lively music. And it seemed as if they were dedicating their little

footsteps to preserving Mother Earth for posterity, not just for their own

generation but to the many generations ahead. The Earth Day Camp drew to a

close and as the crowds dispersed in the hot mid day sun, the magnificent

planet Earth on the SFW banner beamed a hearty smile seeking for a promise

to preserve its smiling face.

Workshop on Basic Production Skills in CR Broadcasting - April

2006: To ensure regular active involvement, the participating respondents,

wrote their own scripts for their weekly community skit, aired every Tuesday,

based on what they learnt on air the previous week on ‘Sakthi Arivaayadi’.

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They also participated actively in live interactive shows, quizzes and debates,

displaying plenty of untapped talent much to the surprise of their families who

were only used to seeing them cooking, washing and cleaning.

At this juncture, it was felt that a brief two day workshop on the

basics of community radio broadcasting with emphasis on the project themes

would empower the participating respondents. And by the end of the

workshop, these women would be articulate enough to share everyday science

with their folks on Anna FM, in simple radio magazine format, by producing

programs all by themselves.

Twenty six participating respondents, nominated by the community

members themselves, signed up for the two day CR broadcast skills training

workshop – seventeen from Kannigapuram and nine from Kotturpuram –

comprising high school students, working women, housewives and even

grandma Helen (Figures A8.29 and A8.30). Hailing from diverse backgrounds

made no big difference. Once at the workshop each one of them donned the

role of eager students willing to be focused and make the best use of the

training. While some wanted to be presenters and interviewers others wanted

to be lyricists, poets and singers. On a different plane, Sheela, a flower seller

from Kotturpuram said she was keen on tapping her dramatic skills, as

wielding the pen was not her cup of tea. At the end of it, all they wanted was

to learn the different aspects of CR production and become independent radio

producers for Sakthi Arivaayadi on par with media student volunteers.

Day one began with an orientation session by the researcher,

briefing the participants on the different workshop modules planned for the

two days. Ms Annie Josephine, Manager of TNPCB, Chennai and SFW

advisory member, picked up a few case studies from a few SFW productions

on Environment and dwelt on how she planned her program outline, how she

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chose her experts and what homework she did to bring in the tidbits to make

the program informative, interesting and participatory.

Dr. K. Bhanumathi, another SFW advisory member, who earlier

coordinated the pre-test study before the launch of SFW, enlivened trainees

with her inputs on the importance of community participation in community

radio. Drawing examples from her own experiences, she explained how as a

community they could all get together and bring about positive transformation

in their neighborhood through learning to produce their own radio shows on

Anna FM.

The afternoon session began with the trainees grouping themselves

into six teams of four to five members each, of their own choice and each

team was free to choose any one of the project themes and narrow down on a

specific topic. i) Diabetes ii) Nutrition for Children iii) Myths related to

Puberty and Pregnancy iv) Myths related to HIV-AIDS, v) Blood and Organ

Donation and v) Environmental Pollution were the topic chosen and each

team would learn to produce a ten minute radio magazine that included

Planning, Scripting, Interviewing, Vox Pops, Presenting, Dramatizing the skit,

Composing and Singing out the jingles, Recording, Editing and Mixing to

fine tune the end product.

Coordinated by this researcher, media student volunteers first

guided each team to plan an outline for their Radio program, what would go

into each show, the different segments, the time duration for each, the ideal

content expert for the interview, fixing an appointment for the expert’s phone-

in and studio booking for recording and editing. By the end of the day, the

trainees had drawn an outline of their content, planned their expert interviews

and learnt how to use the IC recorder for Vox Pops. Some of them even began

to write out a draft of their scripts for the intro, skit, jingles and questions for

the vox pop and the experts.

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Having completed their promise to fine tune their scripts as

homework, they women assembled for day 2 of the workshop geared up to

complete their assigned tasks by the evening. Once the draft scripts were seen

by the media student volunteers and suggestions included, it was now time to

move to the studios for recording. With limited resources, the teams had to

plan judiciously so that all of them could gain equal access and these were

real lessons in community sharing.

While some did the phone-ins and the vox pops others got their

skits and jingles in place. Even the lunch hour was staggered as the teams

queued up for the editing table. Creative enthusiasm ran so high that many of

them missed their tea and lunch…and hadn’t realized it until they were asked.

As most of the teams completed their productions – recording, mixing and

editing with support from media student volunteers, it was time to listen to

their first-time CR masterpieces, for a self-assessment.

Each team evaluated the other team’s production and suggested tips

for improvement, and a number of lessons were waiting to be learnt. As the

curtains came down on the workshop, one thing seemed clear, the hand that

rocks the cradle rules the world, and why not, can also rule the world of

community media and transform their neighborhood. And that’s the essence

of CR, people reaching out to themselves.

3.9 RELIABILITY

The Cronbach Alpha Reliability Method is used check the

reliability of data in terms of stability, equivalence and consistency and this

method is appropriate for binary and large-scale data. Cronbach Alpha is a

measure of the squared correlation between observed scores and true scores.

In other words, reliability is measured in terms of the ratio of the true score

variance to observed score variance.

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In this study, the method has been used to determine the reliability

of the survey schedules used for pre and post-test evaluation of Everyday

Science Awareness levels of the respondents in terms of the study variables,

with respect to stability of measurement and internal consistency. In general,

higher the Cronbach Alpha Coefficient, higher is the reliability of the test.

However a value of more than 0.70 is acceptable to establish reliability

(Nunnally 1978).

The reliability Analysis of the SFW Schedules was done through

the Cronbach Alpha Reliability method and the Cronbach Alpha Co-efficient

for the different study variables was found. Table 3.6 shows that the overall

Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of the study variables is 0.76 (computed as

average of the six values). Being above 0.70, this value is acceptable

(Nunnally 1978) and implies that the SFW Survey schedules conform to

acceptable standards of reliability in terms of stability of measurement and

internal consistency while evaluating Everyday Science Awareness levels of

the respondents on the six study variables.

Table 3.6 Reliability analysis

S No. VariableCronbach Alpha

Coefficient

1 Health 0.80

2 Nutrition 0.79

3 Home Gadgetry 0.76

4 Effective Fuel Utilisation 0.75

5 Environment 0.75

6 Food Processing 0.69

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3.10 VALIDITY

For the purpose of the present study, the face validity was

established by the investigator jointly with the community and content

validity was established through a series of periodic consultations with

experts in the field of Health, Environment, Nutrition, Biotechnology,

Computer Science, Media, Communication Research and Women

Empowerment.

3.11 SECONDARY DATA INFERENCE

An exhaustive pre broadcast study coordinated by this researcher

with forty media student volunteers on 4000 respondents in the Anna FM

coverage zone in 2004 jointly with the EMMRC, to understand the

expectations from Anna FM revealed a number of suggestions, the key ones

pointed to the preference of a casual style of presentation and eagerness to

participate in CCR.

An earlier study conducted in 2003 by media students coordinated

by the Educational Multimedia Research Centre, Anna University, before the

launch of Anna FM also revealed that they were eager to participate in

programming (Sreedher and Govindaraju 2003).

A study to evaluate the effectiveness of localized global content

broadcast over India’s first CCR, Anna FM @ 90.4 MHz in disseminating

scientific information through the use of simple language and innovative

techniques was conducted in 2005, coordinated by this researcher for BBC

Tamizhosai. A localized Tamil version of BBC Tamizhosai’s eight-part

nuclear science serial ‘Anusakthi Ulagam Arivom’ was rebroadcast on

ANNA FM @ 90.4 MHz from August 20 – 27, 2005 at 8:15 pm with a repeat

broadcast at 7:15 am the next morning.

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The sample comprised 100 respondents in the coverage zone of

Anna FM. The basic criteria for sample selection were that the respondents

had at least high school education drawn from diverse social strata. The study

reveals that a majority of the respondents, the student community in

particular, found the program innovative, informative and interesting. The

respondents appreciated the packaging of the content in crisp eight minute

capsules. The student respondents preferred to go in for live interactive

phone-in sessions with the experts as part of such future science radio

initiatives and welcomed the idea of broadcasting similar radio science serials

on a range of suggested topics. Interestingly they felt that the series was

unique and a break from the routine commercial content they listened to

normally.

The Economic Research Group of CLRI, Chennai conducted an

independent external evaluation of the SFW project in March 2006

coordinated by the Director of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, CLRI,

Dr. Amudeshwari, as per the decision of the Project Advisory Meeting. CLRI

Research Scientist Dr. Giriappa and his team visited Anna FM during March

2006 and interacted with both the respondent groups and the media student

volunteers. The team visited the community at Kannigapuram and

Kottupuram and personally administered a specially designed comprehensive

schedule on a random sample of 120 respondents to evaluate the impact of the

project in inculcating everyday science awareness.

The analysis points to the fact that SFW has created a mixed impact

on women participant groups in Kannigapuram and Kotturpuram. The women

have participated with the intention of learning science in their everyday

activities. The knowledge they gained has no doubt empowered them to make

their own decisions. In fact the awareness and information support shared by

the project team through Anna FM’s participatory community radio initiative

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with the women folk have helped them gain enormous confidence and also

help them disseminate the knowledge gained to more women folk towards

enhancing the quality of their lives. Further the study revealed high, medium

and low impact areas with regard to the everyday science awareness levels

achieved. The high impact areas are i) treating burn injuries ii) spread of

HIV /AIDS iii) knowledge on pollution and iv) knowledge on natural

disasters. The medium impact areas are i) use of First aid method ii) rain

water harvesting and the low impact areas are i) safe drinking water ii) energy

saving methods and iii) knowledge on food flavoring and colouring.

3.12 CONCLUSION

While this chapter discussed the research methodology and design

adopted with perspectives on experimental design, including identification of

the universe, sample selection, construction of research instruments, field

investigation process, reliability, validity and inferences from secondary data,

the next chapter will deal with an analysis and interpretation of data

discussing SPSS and the different statistical techniques employed, including

frequency and percentage values of demographic variables; use of

Independent Samples ‘t’-test and ANOVA to test whether the samples have

been drawn from populations with the same means; Paired Samples ‘t’-test to

find significance of mean difference between pre and post test studies; and

The Karl Pearson Product Moment Correlation Test to determine the

association among the study variables and finally a summary and discussion

of the findings.