An audience survey was carried out in the communities surrounding each of the stations, using questionnaires as a tool. The survey radius was based on each station’s identified signal-reach.
The reach was identified by the stations, based on their transmitter strengths and the approved broadcasting radius.
3.4.1 Questionnaire Design and Administration
I designed questionnaires32 about media use and listenership in both English and Kiwahili, Kenya’s national languages, to cater for those who may not understand English. The questionnaires consisted of closed questions which generated numerical data. After pretesting the questionnaire on ten respondents with demographics similar to those I expected to find in the field, I adjusted the wording of some of the questions for clarity, and the sequencing of some parts of the questionnaire. For each station 115 questionnaires were prepared, as a way to give a margin for those that would turn out to be unusable. The questionnaires were then orally administered at each research site with the aid of four research assistants in total. Oral administration overcame the possibility of a language or literacy barrier, and ensured that there were fewer unusable questionnaires. The research assistants each had a post-secondary education and one had prior research experience. They were drawn from each respective research area and were fluent in the local language. This allowed for the possibility to administer the questionnaire in the local language in case the respondent did not understand English or Kiswahili. To ensure effective questionnaire administration, a questionnaire administration practice session was held with each research assistant. In this session we went through each item on the questionnaire in the relevant languages, and discussed the coding of possible answers provided. In addition, explaining the purpose of the research and requesting consent before questionnaire administration was emphasized. At the end of each day of the survey, the research assistants and I held a debriefing meeting, where we discussed challenges and insights from the day and targets for the following day. These meetings were useful for
32 See sample questionnaire in Appendix
keeping track of, for instance, the number of males and females interviewed per day and adjusting accordingly, as well as designing strategies to overcome any identified research challenges.
One challenge noted in all three research contexts to varying degrees was asking for the age of the respondent, especially among older respondents. When this was asked as the first question, there was some reluctance in answering, and in one case even refusing to continue taking the survey. This was especially notable because it did not arise during pre-testing of the questionnaire. Following this observation, the research assistants and I chose to ask this question almost at the end of each questionnaire administered, although it was among the first questions on the printed document. This trend implies implicit sociocultural norms which surround the sharing of demographic information. While one may willingly share information about their media use habits, they are less willing to offer strangers information that they consider as personal. This is not a conclusive explanation, but it points to the need for reflection on the types of information that people freely share or not. An awareness of the existence of such norms in different contexts would offer insights in research design, especially on the framing of questions. It implies that there are some questions that may be framed directly, while some kinds of information might need to be more gently teased out through indirect questions.
3.4.2 Sampling considerations
Cluster sampling was employed in selecting the respondents for the questionnaires. Cluster sampling is a form of probability sampling in which, instead of sampling individual units which may be geographically dispersed, the sampling is done from groups that occur naturally in the population such as neighbourhoods or schools (Teddlie and Yu 2007). For each station, the sampling area was decided on based on the broadcast coverage of the station. These areas were then divided into clusters based on neighbourhoods or trading centres. Subsequently, an equal number of questionnaires were randomly administered in each of the selected areas, both in homesteads and in the trading centres. In the course of the questionnaire administration, which took on average four days per station, an effort was made to ensure that a roughly equal number of males and females were interviewed. Hence, an element of purposive sampling – “selecting units (e.g., individuals, groups of individuals, institutions) based on specific purposes associated with answering a research study’s questions”(Teddlie and Yu 2007, 77) - was
undertaken based on population characteristics. The aim was to get data across various demographic categories.
As mentioned in 3.4.1, for each of the three stations, 115 questionnaires were printed, with the goal being to administer a minimum of 100 questionnaires per station broadcast area, and a maximum of 115 questionnaires per area should time and resources allow. The minimum of 100 questionnaires was settled on in view of the population figures in each of the three areas.
Each of the areas has over 5000 inhabitants,33 who were all considered to be potential listeners.
For large populations (categorised as more than 5000), 100 respondents offer a 95 percent confidence level, with a +/- 10 percent margin of error. 34 The ideal number of respondents for a minimal margin of error (+/- 2.5 percent) is 1000, and larger commercial stations making financial decisions based on listenership data may opt for this larger sample. However, in a community broadcasting context, 100 respondents can offer an indicator of listenership patterns and favourite programmes (Gordon 2012). Therefore, the sample size was partly grounded in time and resource considerations, as well as on a reasonable margin of error that this number would offer. This being an exploratory survey, the sample size was considered sufficient for the research purpose.
Following questionnaire administration, all the data was fed into Microsoft Excel, and then aggregated and analysed using pivot tables. These generated quantitative details on various questions such as who is listening to which community radio content, the ways in which they engage with it, trends in the demographics of those listening to the station, preferred programmes, and awareness of and participation in the station’s management. Use of quantitative methodology made it possible to measure the reactions of many respondents to a limited set of questions, enabling comparison and data aggregation (Patton 1990). The survey also allowed for a comparison of managers’ and producers’ ideas of listenership versus actual listenership trends. In the below section I detail the research process for each station.
3.4.3 Kangema FM
Following a preliminary visit to Kangema FM in March 2014, further research was carried out on Kangema FM audiences and operations in November and December 2014. An audience
33 Population figures for each area detailed per station in the following section
34 Statistical calculation programmes indicate a margin of error of +/- 10 for random sampling sizes of 100 out of large populations (over 5,000). See for example http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm
survey was conducted the third week of November 2014. This was followed by group interviews with audience members from three fan groups in the area the following week. Other research activities between October 2014 and January 2015 included observation of operations at the station, listening to programme content, and interviewing staff at the station.
For the audience survey, a total of 115 questionnaires were administered in four sub-counties of Murang’a County based on the station’s calculated signal reach: Kahuro, Mathioya, Kangema and Kiharu. In total these areas made up a population of 350,463 people, as per census figures of 2009. However, these are not all potential listeners because the signal does not evenly reach all areas, some even quite near the station, due to hilly topography. As such, the potential listeners were calculated as the whole of Kangema sub-county (77,917) where the station is located, and half the population of each of the other sub-counties (136,273), making a total of 214,190 potential listeners. The areas surveyed were selected with the assistance of the station’s technician, who had the technical specifications of how far the station’s signal should reach based on transmitter strength. The aim was to survey the nearest and furthest areas of the station’s signal reach. Sampling was done in town centres and adjacent areas.
More townships were sampled in Kangema sub-county, which is in the immediate vicinity of the station, where the broadcast signal should be strongest and most consistent. Of the administered questionnaires, there were 114 usable ones for analysis.
3.4.4 Koch FM
Following a preliminary visit to Koch FM in March 2014, further research was carried out on Koch FM audiences and operations in November 2014 and January 2015. An audience survey was conducted the first week of November 2014. This was followed by group interviews with audience members delineated by gender and age (youth, women, men) the following week.
Other research activities between October 2014 and January 2015 included observation of operations at the station, listening to programme content, and interviewing staff at the station.
For the audience survey, 115 questionnaires were distributed within Korogocho, with the aid of two field assistants who reside in the area, and one independent field assistant who does not live in the area. The distribution took three days. Out of these, 107 questionnaires were usable for the analysis. The areas of Korogocho covered were the 9 villages that make up the settlement: Grogon A, Grogon B, Gitathuru, Nyayo, Kisumu Ndogo, Highridge, Korogocho A, Korogocho B, and Ngomongo. Population figures put the total numbers in Korogocho at
about 120,00035 people. The questionnaires were distributed using simple random sampling, with questionnaires administered both in homesteads and in businesses. The aim was to distribute at least ten questionnaires per village. This number was achieved and exceeded slightly. As far as the homesteads were concerned, distribution was tricky since the homesteads are not built in a clear-cut manner, and in some cases each structure houses more than one family. In addition, given the distribution of questionnaires during the work day, it was noted that most of the people found in the homesteads were women, as the men were out in their places of employment, and in some homesteads only children under 16 were available, as the adults were out working. The choice was therefore made to select interviewees from both homesteads and businesses, in order to have a more accurate representation of the community members.
3.4.5 Mugambo FM
Following a preliminary visit to Mugambo Jwetu FM in March 2014, further research was carried out on Mugambo Jwetu audiences and operations in December 2014 and January 2015.
An audience survey was conducted in the week of 1st to 6th December 2014. This was followed by group interviews with audience members in the area the following week. Other research activities between October 2014 and January 2015 included observation of operations at the station, listening to programme content, and interviewing staff and management at the station.
For the audience survey, 115 questionnaires were administered in 10 townships within the Mugambo FM catchment area that is, Tigania West. This area has a population of 135,980 people, as per Kenya National Bureau of Statistics census figures of 2009.36 Sampling was done in the town centres and adjacent areas. On average10 questionnaires were distributed per township, with the exception of Kianjai where 20 questionnaires were distributed, as this is the area in the immediate vicinity of the radio station. As well, it was a market day with people from various parts of the area gathered in the market. The areas surveyed were selected in collaboration with the station’s manager and one of the producers, to cover a progressively larger distance from the station. This was because the station had at the time recently moved
35 See Korogocho Socioeconomic Survey Report 2009 (Gathuthi et al. 2010) and article on UN Habitat page
‘People United for a New Korogocho’ – Korogocho (KENYA), found on
http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=5263&catid=510&typeid=24&subMenuId=0
36 See First Meru County Intergrated (sic) Development Plan 2013-2017 (2013, 26), available online on http://meru.go.ke/file/20150518_meru_county_integrated_development_plan_2013_2017.pdf
to an area where they believed they had improved transmitter strength to cover a larger area than their immediate vicinity. For resource and time efficiency, the decision was made to focus on sampling from within townships and on market days, as opposed to visiting individual homesteads. This may have resulted in a higher incidence of business people being sampled, but this was mitigated by making use of market days where people had come from their homes into the townships, and were not necessarily permanently stationed at the town centres. In total, 108 questionnaires were usable for the analysis.