MCM431 Handouts Set 2 by VUBuddy

Lesson 01 Introduction to development Communication

Communication

Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding. This process requires a vast repertoire of skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating. Use of these processes is developmental and transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond. It is through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur.

Communication Theory Framework

It is helpful to examine communication and communication theory through one of the following viewpoints:

Mechanistic: This view considers communication to be a perfect transaction of a message from the sender to the receiver. (as seen in the diagram above) Psychological: This view considers communication as the act of sending a message to a receiver, and the feelings and thoughts of the receiver upon interpreting the message. Social Constructionist (Symbolic Interactionist): This view considers communication to be the product of the interactants sharing and creating meaning. Systemic: This view considers communication to be the new messages created via “through-put”, or what happens as the message is being interpreted and re-interpreted as it travels through people. Critical: This view considers communication as a source of power and oppression of individuals and social groups.

Inspection of a particular theory on this level will provide a framework on the nature of communication as seen within the confines of that theory.

Theories can also be studied and organized according to the ontological, epistemological, and axiological framework imposed by the theorist.

Ontology essentially poses the question of what, exactly, it is the theorist is examining. One must consider the very nature of reality. The answer usually falls in one of three realms depending on whether the theorist sees the phenomena through the lens of a realist, nominalist, or social constructionist. Realist perspective views the world objectively, believing that there is a world outside of our own experience and cognitions. Nominalists see the world subjectively, claiming that everything outside of one’s cognitions is simply names and labels. Social constructionists straddle the fence between objective and subjective reality, claiming that reality is what we create together.

Epistemology is an examination of how the theorist studies the chosen phenomena. In studying epistemology, objective knowledge is said to be the result of a systematic look at the causal relationships of phenomena. This knowledge is usually attained through use of the scientific method. Scholars often think that empirical evidence collected in an objective manner is most likely to reflect truth in the findings. Theories of this ilk are usually created to predict a phenomenon. Subjective theory holds that understanding is based on situated knowledge, typically found using interpretative methodology such as ethnography and interviews. Subjective theories are typically developed to explain or understand phenomena in the social world.

Axiology is concerned with what values drive a theorist to develop a theory. Theorists must be mindful of potential biases so that they will not influence or skew their findings (Miller, 21-23).

Development Communication is a communication strategy for the whole society. Development communication is an art or science of human communication applied to the direct revolution of a country and its people from the state of scarcity and shortage towards a vibrant state of economic growth which makes possible the high values of life and large fulfillment of human prospective. One of the first examples of development communication was Farm Radio Forums in Canada. From 1941 to 1965 farmers met in groups each week to listen to special radio programs. There were also printed materials and prepared questions to encourage group discussion. At first this was a response to the Great Depression and the need for increased food production in World War II. But the Forums also dealt with social and economic issues. This model of adult education or distance education was later adopted in India and Ghana.

Instructional television was used in El Salvador during the 1970s to improve primary education. One of the problems was a lack of trained teachers. Teaching materials were also improved to make them more relevant. More children attended school and graduation rates increased. In this sense the project was a success. However, there were few jobs available in El Salvador for better-educated young people.

In the 1970s in Korea the Planned Parenthood Federation had succeed in lowering birth rates and improving life in villages such as Oryu Li. It mainly used interpersonal communication in women's clubs. The success in Oryu Li was not found in all villages. It had the advantage of several factors including a remarkable local woman leader and visits from the provincial governor.

A project of social marketing in Bolivia in the 1980s tried to get women in the Cochabamba Valley to use soybean recipes in their cooking. This was an attempt to deal with chronic malnurishment among children. The project used cooking demonstrations, posters and broadcasts on local commercial radio stations. Some people did try soybeans but the outcome of the project is unclear.

In 1999 the U.S. Government and D.C. Comics planned to distribute 600,000 comic books to children affected by the Kosovo War. The comic books are in Albanian and feature Superman and Wonder Woman. The aim is to teach children what to do when they find an unexploded land mine left over from Kosovo's civil war. The comic books instruct children not to touch the anti-personnel mines and not to move, but instead to call an adult for help. In spite of the 1997 Ottawa Treaty which attempts to ban land mines they continue to kill or injure 20,000 civilians each year around the world.

DSC is a discipline in development arrangement and accomplishment in which more satisfactory account is taken of the human behavioral factors in the design of growth projects and their objectives. It involves an understanding of communication methods and application in adult education, the processes of change, diffusion of innovation, simple action and analysis”.

The practice of Development Support Communication, DSC, is a multi-sectoral process of information sharing about development agendas and planned actions. It links planners, beneficiaries and implementers of development action, including the donor community. It obligates planners and implementers to provide clear, explicit and intelligible data and information about their goals and roles in development, and explicitly provides opportunities for beneficiaries to participate in shaping development outcomes. It ensures that the donor community is kept constantly aware of the achievements and constraints of development efforts in the field.

Development Support Communication makes use of all available structures and means of information sharing. Therefore it is not limited to mass media alone. It also uses both formal group and non-formal channels of communication, such as women’s and youth associations, as well as places where people gather. markets, churches, festivals, and meetings. But its contribution is in using these in a systemic, continuous, co-ordinated and planned manner, to perform linkage and enabling functions. It requires analysis of the communication environment, of the available and needed communication competencies and resources (hardware, software, financial and human), and clearly indicates expected results from specific resource inputs, so as to maintain accountability.

In short, DSC is a legitimate function of development planning and implementation. DSC therefore needs to be examined as a valuable «technology» for using the social communication process to foster and strengthen sustainable development at local and national levels. It should be taken more seriously in programs of social change, and should be reflected explicitly in development policy and strategy. One way of doing so is through the enunciation of a national information and communication policy, which can be explicitly integrated into national development thinking and practice.

Differences between DSC and DC

It is applied at macro level i.e. DC is applied in the projects/ programs that are at large scale. It is technology based. It usually depends upon the technical mass media. It is for general masses i.e. it is not for any specific community or group of people but for the general public. DC has no specific goals. It has general goals. It is for the overall development in a sector or an area. It is source-oriented. In DC, the communicator does not care about the needs and level of his/her targets. There are no limits but time is fixed for completion DC has no specific goals. It has general goals. It is for the overall development in a sector or an area. It works vertically top-down. i.e. this communication usually flows from source towards receiver.

DSC is applied at micro-level the projects in which it is used are launched and implemented at small scale. It depends on interpersonal and culture-based forms of communication. It is for specific and fixed target audience. It has specific, set and clearly defined goals. It is receiver-oriented. In contrast to DC, the target audience is given special importance before communicating any message. DSC has certain limits of a project. And the program is finished after achieving specific goals. It has specific, set and clearly defined goals. It is participatory at grass root levels. In this communication, audiences are given maximum participation.