From On Air - Spring 2004
Study Shows Taru on Target
Professor Arvind Singhal
of Ohio University, along with a team of researchers from
Johns Hopkins and Michigan State Universities, and the Centre
for Media Studies (CMS) in New Delhi, recently completed
their qualitative and quantitative evaluation study assessing
the impact of the PCI radio serial drama Taru on audience
members located in the Indian state of Bihar.
Taru was a collaboration between PCI, All India Radio (AIR),
Ohio University, and Janani (an NGO that provides reproductive
health services throughout Bihar
and Madhya Pradesh).
The research team had been closely monitoring audience response
to the radio serial drama. The drama followed the challenges
of a young woman named Taru — the
main character modeled after Janani’s rural medical practicioners — who
confronts issues like dowry, caste, women’s rights, sound health practices,
and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
At the same time Janani tracked the sales of condoms, birth
control pills, and pregnancy dipsticks, in addition to
the demand for its health services, all of
which were found to have increased significantly during the broadcast of Taru.
The study focused on four villages in Bihar — Abirbur, Kamtaul, Madhopur,
and Chandrahatti. In these villages, folk performances dramatizing the Taru storyline
were carried out a week prior to the radio serial’s broadcasts (in mid-February
2002) to encourage a positive environment for the program. In these four villages,
Janani’s rural health practitioners spread word-of-mouth messages about
the folk performance, encouraging hundreds of people to attend (the audiences
ranged from 800 to 1,000 people). They also awarded transistors (with a sticker
of Taru’s logo) to groups who correctly answered questions based on the
folk performance. These groups were then formalized as Taru radio listening clubs.
Each group received a notebook with a Taru logo that further branded the program.
Participants were encouraged to discuss the social themes addressed in Taru,
relate them to their personal circumstances, and record any decisions, or actions
they took as a result of being exposed to Taru.
In the village of Abirpur, the researchers conducted ten
rounds of visits during 2002-2003. Several rounds of visits
were made to three additional villages. During
this time, some 60 in-depth and 25 focus group interviews were conducted with
Taru listeners, their family members, and community leaders. These interviews
were audiotaped, and transcribed from Hindi into English. The team members also
investigated examples of individual and social change reported by villagers employing
qualitative techniques of participant-observation, note-taking, participatory
photography, and video documentation.
From a social science point-of-view, the data provides numerous
examples of how Taru inspired community action to solve
real-life social problems. People were
encouraged to share ideas about the social issues facing their system, and discussed
ways of confronting resistance to their plans for social change. As we know,
India’s caste, gender, and class communities greatly mediate the extent
to which people can overcome restrictions and barriers to progress. The popularity
of Taru prompted an innovative response to listeners who were determined to discuss
the program with persons outside of their own caste.
This research highlights the value added when entertainment-education
programs are strategically integrated with community-based
organizations and locally available
health care services. It further validates the impact of utilizing intensive
publicity to prime audience receptivity.
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