(1979). Social Networks and Psychology. Connections, 2 - INSNA

staff--two of whom are native Miskito speakers from the region--and recording the perception of problemsand potential solutions from village residents for later playback . Programming workshops will also beheld in the communities selected for study to achieve the greatest possible participation of rural residents. These workshops will be especially designed for those women determined by our detailed evaluationsas marginal in terms of interactive personal networks and information sources . Other feedback tools, suchas reading received letters over the air, will also be tried .2 . PurposeAs originally conceived, the broad purpose of RER is to provide useful information in the areas ofnutrition, health, and agriculture to the rural population . The underlying assumptions of this approachare that lack of information is the main impediment to change, and that needed information is the soleproperty of knowledge "experts ." Within this context, the goals as stated in the original grant proposalare as follows : 1) Measurable changes in knowledge gained in the areas of child care, nutrition, familyplanning, and farming methods . 2) A regular listening audience of 80% of the families within the region .3) Reinforcement of radio messages by community health and nutrition leaders and midwives . 4) A highlevel of confidence in the accuracy of information presented . 5) Regular use of RER by public schoolsystems in supplementing basic courses and in the administration of rural public schools . 6) Partial phaseoutof Wisconsin-Nicaragua Partners by September 1980 .Besides being quite vague, these goals are well within the dated "top-down" development philosophywhich the two American co-coordinators of the projects do not feel is in all aspects appropriate . Therefore,we have tried to shift the focus of these goals--primarily using their vagueness as a realistic justification--to 1) a study of how the station fits into formal and informal communication networks on subjects ofhealth and nutrition among village women of childbearing age, and 2) a coorientation study of the perceptionsthese women and employees of various educational institutions concerned with nutrition, agriculture, andhealth have of each other, and how they change over time . Three villages have been selected for study,including one control village outside the listening area . Time I (before the station goes on the air)interviews have been largely completed by this writing . Time II (after the station has been on the airfor six or more months) interviews are planned for later in 1979 .We believe that results from the evaluation will show whether the radio station plus "participationpackage" (programming workshops, user-initiated feedback techniques, coordination with other educationalorganizations) has been effective in promoting a degree of self-determination in information acquisitionand utilization . Moreover, we will gain an idea to what extent internal organization is important forthe translation of information into action, i .e ., when internal political/social structures are as importantor more important than simply offering information for social change to occur .3 . Research designThe formal design is a pre-post survey . Time I questions were administered before radio broadcastingbegan ; Time II questions will be asked of the same respondents after programming is underway . Sampleconsists of all women between the ages 15 to 45 (roughly child-bearing age) in three Miskito Indianvillages : two test villages and one control village outside broadcast range . All local employees of fiveregional development organizations form part of the sample, as well .4 . Questionnaire- 94 -The questionnaire consists of two parts : A) Network questions to determine where women obtain informationabout nutrition and health matters (in terms of both specific people and other media sources) ;B) Coorientation questions to determine villagers' perceptions of goals of the development organizationsvs . the goals as enunciated by members of the organizations themselves .5 . InterventionThe research intervention is the implementation of regional educational radio (RER) . This consistsof start-up and continuation of regular broadcasting on an AM station that does not now exist . Initialbroadcast schedule is expected to be three to four hours a day . Programming will be largely in the indigenousMiskito language but will be in English and the national language of Spanish, as well .A unique aspect of RER--in terms of both programming and the study of communication networks--is whatwe call the "participation package ." This package will consist of activities we consider ideal forcommunity-based programming : conducting staff-sponsored workshops in villages to demonstrate the mechanicsof using a cassette tape recorder ; leaving tape recorders in villages, encouraging residents to recordideas, music, concerns ; encouraging villagers and local nutrition and health leaders to participate by useof various feedback techniques ; enhancing local leaders by including them in regular radio programming ;coordinating efforts with the school system and other regional development organizations .