Anthropological Methods for Communication Research  (English, Hardcover, Azad J. L.)

The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was one of the most advanced and ambitious techno-social experiments in the use of communications systems for national development. One of the unique features of this project was the introduction of a team of young anthropologists to conduct detailed holistic qualitative and descriptive studies of its impact on the rural viewers. Their field work as well as their personal experiences were fully recorded in diaries and the resulting matter was edited to present a personal view of the SITE experience, particularly emphasizing the importance of anthropological research methods in understanding the role of high technology in national development.

While the first three chapters are an overview of the anthropological methods involved and the eleventh an outline of instructions for Field Work, chapters four through ten contain the anthropologists personal experiences regarding their entry into the villages, interactions with the villagers, key informants, pre-SITE,SITE and post-SITE living conditions and finally their departure. The book attempts to document the anthropological methods applicable in the field of communications research with special reference to the third world countries.

About the Author
Binod C. Agrawal (Ph. D, Wisconsin) works at Developments and Educational Communication Unit, Space Applications Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad; has taught at lowa State University and the Indian Agricultural Research institute, Delhi, besides having bee Executive Secretary of the Xth International congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. His publications include Cultural Contours of Religion and Economics in he Hindu Universe (1980), Television comes to Village: An Evaluation of SITE (1980), SITE Social Evaluation: Results, Experiments and Implications (1981) and Yanadi Response to Change: An Attempt in Action Anthropology (1985). He is international editorial consultant of Encyclopeadia of Communication and Media Development.