Participatory Community Impact Research
Contents |
Definition/Description
Evaluation and impact assessment of media products, including community radio, has been discussed during the past many years, and apart from time consuming and expensive processes driven by forces external to the medium – e.g. community radio – itself, little experience exists. But the body of knowledge and experience is slowly but surely growing.
Impact assessment is an important part of the area of monitoring and evaluation. New research is emerging and the community radio impact assessment methodologies often take inspiration from other social science research methods, all the time keeping in mind on the one hand the questions to which we needed answers, and on the other hand the need for the methodology and its techniques to be practical and sustainable in real-life settings.
Indicators
Methods/Methodologies/Tools to use
While much discussed such methods – to be sustainable – need to be not just participatory, it should be possible for the volunteer community radio producers to carry out this work and its analysis themselves without the (expensive) involvement of external researchers. Furthermore, this calls for techniques the programmers themselves find interesting to apply and work with, as well as producing understandable results, encouraging motivation and providing an incentive to keep up the work.
Impact assessment is needed for the reasons mentioned earlier in this guide, namely to:
• Report back to the producers on the effectiveness of their programming: Are the target audiences happy with the programmes? Are the programmes fulfilling community interests and expectations? Are they interesting and accessible?
• Report back to the listeners about the station’s performance. This can be done in feedback programmes.
• Report back to the funding partners about the effectiveness and impact of the work of the station
• Demonstrate to future funding partners that the station is making an impact and is able to document it in quantitative and qualitative terms. Once community members realize the importance and value of impact assessments, motivation to carry out assessments generally increases.
Some useful methods for assessing impact of community radio/media are introduced here.
Outcome Mapping
is an integrated method of planning, monitoring and evaluation which takes complexity of developmental problems into account. This method provides for a participatory process that builds a culture of organizational learning and evaluative thinking into a project. It also enables a project team to react quickly to changing situations.
An ethnographic Action Research Approach
Practitioners’ tips
Examples
Resources
Author(s)
Birgitte Jallov (under construction)
Contributions
(lists person who contributed with a publication or practical tip etc.)
