Devcompage now offers a free communication research advisory service for undergrad or graduate communication students (devcom, masscom, com arts), NGO workers, field staff, extension specialists or university faculty members who need advice on any aspect of their thesis or communication research or planning a communication campaign or need to develop monitoring and evaluation instruments or process and analyze data
You can post your queries as a comment in this page and I will give you professional advice or we can start some discussion with other communication or social scientist readers of Devcompage. What’s cool about this page is that all professional advice is for FREE, pro bono.
66 responses so far ↓
eva lapasanda // April 12, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Thank you so much ma’am for the recent service devcompage is offering. It will surely be a great help to researchers, especially students. I will surely share it to my students.
God bless you.
always,
eva
alexis // April 19, 2008 at 3:28 pm
this part of your page ma’am is very timely, now that i’m in my fourth year in college. can you give me probable research topics or problems that i may use for my study?
Monina Escalada // April 19, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Alexis, you will have to choose your own thesis topic because I don’t have details about your major, specific area of interest, and the thesis research priorities of your university. You also have to consider the thesis topics addressed by students before you so you don’t reinvent the wheel. Read the communication theses in your university because there should be a section on “suggestions for further research” which can give you ideas. Check the web for related studies. Talk to your thesis adviser.
Le Anh Tuan // April 25, 2008 at 10:09 am
I visited your website last week and one new feature I am very interested in is your support for research students. I have circulated this among AusAID students at the JCU.
Le Anh Tuan
James Cook University
Australia
ruby ngoho-espina // April 28, 2008 at 5:21 pm
i will be working this may on an Environmental Impact Assessment project with the Lide Management Corporation in Isabel. Dr. Mangaoang will be our consultant, he said we will be using a statistical package to assess our data. Mam oi, wala man mi matudloi nimo ani sa among batch but i oftentimes hear you mentioning this. Patudlo unta ko. My # is xxxxxxxxx. tnx in advance…
Monina Escalada // April 28, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Ruby, you should come over to my office so we can discuss your Environmental Impact Assessment project. I need to understand what the project is about to be able to help you. For instance, what is the scope of the project, what expertise is available on your team to address its various dimensions. A survey, using a questionnaire, and a prior focus group discussion (FGD) will help you but it will address only one aspect of the research — residents’ perceptions. Technical experts such as water scientists could assess the hydrology, percolation and other water-related impact of the Ormoc water that is piped into Isabel. FGDs with the residents near the water source and the watershed could give your team some useful insights.
Le Anh Tuan // May 5, 2008 at 11:55 am
Dear Dr. Escalada,
How are you these days! I have informed ACIAR fellows in Australia of your website. They are very interested in the site.
Thank you so much for offering us, as students, a great learning resource and especially help in thesis preparation, which must be very helpful for many students who are doing research.
With my best regards and best wishes,
Le Anh Tuan
James Cook University
Australia
Monina Escalada // May 5, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Tuan, thanks. Please tell the ACIAR fellows in Australia to leave a comment here so we could be connected. They can raise questions and I will post my reply. Other social scientist readers can also contribute their ideas. They should not worry that their ideas might be stolen in the Internet. They can ask questions and I can post my reply. Later, if they want me to read their drafts, they can send those to me as email attachment and won’t be displayed in Devcompage.
But first, it is important that they leave a comment in Devcompage so that other readers will know that this thesis advisory service works.
aiko // May 31, 2008 at 5:23 pm
i am now in the height of collecting my thoughts as to the design of my thesis. my professor already asked me what i have in mind for my thesis. initially, as my appointment as raco of the cscst system i am now working together with information centers (3 centers are now functioning in the province) aiming to provide avenue for farmers in enriching their production. i would be very glad to bring this matter up to you, maam. i know you are very busy but i am planning to visit you the soonest possible time.
Monina Escalada // May 31, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Good to hear from you Aiko. Since you work closely with the info centers in Cebu, you might want to examine farmers’ uses and gratification and effects of these information centers on their productivity or profitability. Think along those lines. First step would be to raise the research question. What is it that you want to find out?
You need to spend time to hang out in those centers to observe the extent to which farmers make use of them. You may also need to have long conversations with some farmers in their own communities to understand their circumstances and how information can better be used to help them.
You might also want to explore how best to use the ICTs to enhance farmers’ learning and reach those in remote areas.
These are my initial thoughts. Come over when your time permits but I will be out of the office on June 18-20, 23-27. Perhaps July is a better time.
mafe06 // July 21, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I’ve been checking your site now and then for materials that I can use in my class. Thanks for being so diligent in posting. Your blog has helped me a lot.
However, it’s only now that I decide to make use of your Thesis/Research Coach service.
I am in the “process” of organizing my “thoughts” to come up with a good proposal for my masters and I would appreciate it very much if you could share some of your thoughts on a good focus for my study. I am involved with CICT’s project on eSkwela and iSchools and I was thinking something in the line of ICT interventions in education. On one hand, I would like to work on something that deals with KM…So you see po, my thoughts are not that organized yet.
I would appreciate your thoughts on these very very raw ideas. Thank you very much!
Monina Escalada // July 21, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Mafe06, thanks for trying this service. This is just a quick reply but let me say that your plan to examine ICT interventions in education is brilliant in the light of its contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — use of ICTs and universal primary education in development. Could you tell me more about the eSkwela and iSchools? What are their objectives, who are their beneficiaries? i
According to Infodev.org, while initiatives on the use of ICT for development (ICT4D) has proliferated, rigorous, field-tested knowledge about ICT4D issues, and understanding of the enabling conditions and success factors in ICT4D initiatives, have been relatively scarce. Perhaps your thesis could examine these issues — effectiveness, access, quality, cost, equity, and sustainability of eSkwela and iSchools.
After you send me more info on eSkwela and iSchools, we can discuss your research interest in more detail. I hope to hear from you again.
mafe06 // July 22, 2008 at 4:37 pm
hello ma’am! Thanks for your ideas. I will look into it. As to information about eskwela please access this site http://eskwela.wikispaces.com/News+Articles. Pasensya na po.
As to ischools, here’s the short rationale of the program:
The iSchools Project is one of the flagship projects under the Commission
on Information and Communications Technology – Human Capital Development Group (CICT – HCDG). It supports the efforts of the Philippine Government and the Department of Education in integrating ICT in education in Public High Schools.
It focuses on strengthening classroom learning and instruction by expanding access to various sources of information. In so doing, the Project hopes to increase the ability of public high school students throughout the Philippines to successfully compete with their peers with the rest of the country (as well as with the rest of the world) for jobs, future education, and other growth opportunities.
mafe06 // July 22, 2008 at 4:37 pm
P.S. I will forward to your e-mail more info about the projects. Thanks!
Monina Escalada // July 22, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Mafe06, here’s what I gathered about the eSkwela project from the link you provided.
The eSkwela was initiated in close collaboration with the Bureau of Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education (DepEd-Bals). Under this project, community-based learning centers or eSkwelas will be established in major urban centers around the country to deliver an ICT-enhanced program for interested OSYs and other individuals.
The eSkwela allows those who dropped out of school for sometime to continue their studies in an “unconventional way”. They get to access their learning materials in eSkwela learning centers and they have to pass in order to be credited for their accomplishments.
For your thesis, you can examine access, effectiveness (in terms of OSY’s learning gains), quality of learning materials, etc. Read up on Uses and Gratification Theory as it could be your theoretical framework. As applied in educational communication studies, the uses and gratification paradigm can predict learners’ participation in an electronic communication mode.
The uses and gratifications theory suggests that consumers use media to achieve and satisfy specific fulfillment needs. It looks at why people use media and what, exactly, they use it for. In uses and gratification, the four categories for which people make use of media are: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance. This theory considers people as active media users rather than passive, and it explains why audiences choose the media that they select.
Keep in touch.
mafe06 // July 23, 2008 at 11:08 am
I don’t think thank you is enough for these ideas. You have actually given me a more concrete view of what I need to do.
I am involved with the eskwela as an instructional designer. What we actually do is we come up with the scripts (for digitization) for the existing modules (in print) being used by BALS in the eSkwela. At the moment, learners in the centers are using the print modules, but they have pilot tested some of the first digitized modules in the center in Quezon City. We hope to finish all the first cycle modules at the end of this year.
Monina Escalada // July 23, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Mafe06, you’re most welcome. You might find these links useful:
http://www.world-links.org/downloads/task,cat_view/gid,49/?lang=en
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3369070/icts-in-education
ICTs in Education: Development of a Methodology for the Evaluation of Social Impacts and Equity Conditions (http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-87763-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html).
http://www.mcit.gov.eg/events/Finalreport200763123256.pdf
http://www.google.com.ph/search?hl=en&q=evaluating+the+use+and+impact+of+ICT+for+out-of-school+youth&btnG=Search&meta=
Shukuru // July 24, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Thanks so much for your assistance, especially to students. Iam a Tanzanian, wanting to do evaluate IEC activities conducted in to help reduce forest threats, in one of the valuable forest in the country. Can you assist how i can go about especially developing conceptual framework . This is part of fullfulment of my masters degree.
Thanks
Monina Escalada // July 24, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Shukuru, evaluation of IEC activities to reduce forest threats is a most useful thesis research. But you need to provide me with more information so I will be in a better position to advise you. Apart from the overall objective (to reduce forest threats), what are the specific objectives of the IEC activities? Who is the intended audience? How big is the intended audience and in which geographical areas? What IEC activities have been undertaken? Is there a project logframe so one can see how the IEC activities fit in the scheme of things?
The conceptual framework presents the relationships between independent and dependent variables. You need to specify which are your independent and dependent variables and think about the relationships between the two (e.g., will an increase in the independent variable lead to an increase in the dependent var? or will an increase in one lead to a decrease in the other?). Once you provide these bits of information, then we can move forward. I hope to hear from you again.
Shukuru // July 25, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Thank you for your responses.
Various categories of audiences have neen involved in this. Most of them are communities living adjucent to the forest. There school children, adults, politicians and religious leaders. Activities were conducted with aim of increasing key stakeholder’s understanding of the value of Eastern Arc Mountain forests, the threats that they currently face and the importance of investing in their sustainable management. The second objective was to raise awareness on the National Forest Policy and Forest Act and to encourage feedback and participation from Eastern Arc Mountain forest stakeholders.
From these broad obectives, i will investigate its performances, where the communities around the forests have gained anything as per IEC objectives set before.
Different IEC activities has been taking place using various methods such as written materials (leaflets, posters), radio, video, trainings, study tours. The above methioned objectives are the ones which are feactured in most of the materials produced.
Hope to hear from you again
Thanks
To increase key stakeholder’s understanding of the value of Eastern Arc Mountain forests, the threats that they currently face and the importance of investing in their sustainable management.
Objective 2: To raise awareness on the National Forest Policy and Forest Act and to encourage feedback and participation from Eastern Arc Mountain forest stakeholders.
Monina Escalada // July 25, 2008 at 5:40 pm
I assume that there was no baseline survey before the IEC activities were implemented. To wrap it up, here are my thoughts on this proposed thesis. This framework can be applied by other thesis students who are thinking of doing their research along the same lines.
Alternatively, a blend of quantitative and qualitative approach can also be done.
Possible thesis title: Stakeholders’ access and participation in IEC activities and their knowledge and attitudes toward sustainable management of Eastern Arc Mountain forests
Research objectives
1) Determine stakeholders’ access, exposure, and participation in IEC activities;
2) Find out stakeholders’ understanding and knowledge of the value of Eastern Arc Mountain forests;
3) Assess stakeholders’ attitudes towards investing in sustainable management of Eastern Arc Mountain forests
Conceptual framework
Present a visual representation of the he relationship between independent and dependent variables.
Independent variables - exposure to information & participation in IEC activities (leaflets, posters, radio, video, trainings, study tours)
Dependent variables - awareness, knowledge and attitudes toward investing in sustainable management of forests
Methods
1) Focus group discussions (FGDs) — explore stakeholders’ exposure and participation in IEC activities, their understanding and attitudes towards investing in sustainable management of forests, and other stakeholders’ concerns
2) Individual interviews (survey) — paper and pencil test on awareness, knowledge, attitudes and participation
3) Document implementation of IEC activities
len nazario // August 26, 2008 at 4:37 am
Good morning ma’am,
Thank you for this webpage. Surely it is a great guide and reference materials for us comm students.
Our class will be undertaking a devcom project this september. we already conducted a survey of our would be community. Before we were able to identify the problem, we already have a soution at hand, that is to conduct a sort of a forum about health issues, particularly TB for aduts and asthma for children. At this point in time, we ware stil in the process of evaluating the result of the survey. We are also asked by our professor tocome up with a devcom concept paper about our topic, I am confused about the format of this devcom paper and I dont know how to start it. Please help po.
Thank you.
Len Nazario
Monina Escalada // August 26, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Len, thanks for your kind words. What key variables did your survey cover? Who were your respondents? I am asking this because your devcom concept paper could deal with “Information Needs on TB for Adults and Asthma for Children”. You can present your survey results in this paper and also point out the gaps in knowledge that your forum on health issues need to address. It will be cool and I’m sure your professor will appreciate it.
Where are you now in your survey processing? The most efficient way to deal with survey data is to code them first into numeric and enter the numbers in Microsoft Excel. From there, you can upload the spreadsheet data into a statistical program such as SPSS, if your university has a licensed program. Otherwise, you can download an open source statistical program such as PSPP (http://www.gnu.org/software/pspp/). PSPP is a program for statistical analysis of sampled data. PSPP is a free replacement for the proprietary program SPSS, and appears very similar to it with a few exceptions. Check this out.
mara bustillo // September 8, 2008 at 9:06 am
Good Morning!
ma’am we need a topic about FM Radio for our communication research.
We would like to ask for your help.
Thank you Ma’am!
Monina Escalada // September 8, 2008 at 10:49 am
mara. is this for a thesis or a class project? what is your course and where is your location so I will know how to help you better. i will wait for your reply.
Christian Sumalinog // September 8, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hi ma’am! I am taking up AB Communication in Leyte Normal University. We are now under the Communication Research subject. I and some four classmates were tasked to conduct a study concerning radio. Do you have any suggestion as to what topic to research on? Mara Bustillo is my groupmate. We wanted to focus on FM. What we have in mind right now is “Acceptability and Impact of Waray Music Played in FM Radio Stations in Tacloban City to AB Communication Students of Leyte Normal University”. Do you think that would be a significant topic ma’am? Thanks in advance!
Christian
Christian Sumalinog // September 8, 2008 at 6:11 pm
By the way, it’s a thesis we are working on right now ma’am.
Monina Escalada // September 8, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Hi Christian. Well, your topic - acceptability and impact of Waray music played in FM radio stations in Tacloban City to LNU students. Well, for a group thesis, this topic is a bit narrow. Has your teacher approved it?
Since you’re in the city and you have access to other universities, You could expand your sampling population to include other university students, not just LNU’s? First, your group has to determine university students’ listenership to FM radio stations, which will include their favorite FM radio station in Tacloban, their favorite FM radio announcers, why they like those particular stations.
To assess acceptability of waray music, you need to expose your respondents to a taped FM radio program in which Waray music is part of the repertoire. Afterwards, ask respondents to fill up a questionnaire that asks them to assess Waray music on a 10-point semantic differential ora Likert scale. A semantic differential scale uses two bipolar adjectives to describe the various attributes of a communication material, object, etc. Examples: conservative-modern, cool-corny, relevant-out of place, interesting-boring, exciting-dull, old fashioned-up-to-date, etc. A Likert scale is usually a 5-point attitude scale that provides a range of choices: strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, strongly disagree. Example: Waray music is up-todate.
What’s on your mind when you think of impact? Impact means effect of effect. You need to think of ways to measure impact of Waray musics on student listeners. Impact on what aspect?
Perhaps it might be more worthwhile to do a comprehensive piece of research on: “FM Station Listenership and Preferences Among Various Sectors in Tacloban City” where the sample is stratified to include university students, professionals, housewives, and blue-collar workers (drivers, household helpers). It will be useful to see if there are many listeners. You could compare the amount of time respondents spend listening to an FM radio station with other media — TV, newspapers, magazines. You can also explore acceptability of Waray music among your respondents.
Christian Sumalinog // September 8, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Hi ma’am! Thanks for the advice. Our situation is like this ma’am. Our class was grouped into eight. Each group is given a media organization. Our group was assigned to radio. So our topic must be on Radio or Music only. We actually had a research proposal already and defended it last Friday. Our first proposal was entitled “Factors Affecting the Level of Listenership and Choice of FM Radio Station in Tacloban City among the students of Leyte Normal University”. It was supposed to be a study in comparison with a former study with the same title (Factors Associated with the Level of FM Radio Listenership among High School Students). It was disapproved by our panelists since they believe that it’s just a mere replication of the study. So we tried to insist on the topic since it was the purpose why we have the defense. They went on and said that we could only continue if after a purposive sampling (pre-survey asking how many students in LNU listen to FM Radio) it would come out that half of the student population still patronize radio.
With regard to your suggestion ma’am on including other universities, the professionals etc. i guess is unrealistic since we have to finish the research before the end of this semester and aside from this subject, we also have other 8 major subjects so we have lesser time of going out and to collect the data that is why we have thought of considering LNU as our research locale for us to finish before the deadline.
What do you think ma’am? Thanks for this site. This is really a lot of help to us.
Christian
Christian Sumalinog // September 8, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Impact for me ma’am is the effect of something towards someone or something. I guess if we have to include impact, it would be on the aspect of study habits, or behavior since there are also waray music now which are badly composed and gives double-meanings. And with regard to our previous topic, we believe that it’s not a replication since we are trying to compare or differentiate if those who belong to the younger youth group (13-16) have the same listening habits as those who are on the older youth group members (17-22) and if the factors affecting the younger ones are the same factors that affect the level and choice of FM Radio listenership by the older ones. We are more interested on the level of influence of these factors but we do not know how to measure level of influence. What’s your idea ma’am? I am really confused.
Christian
Christian Sumalinog // September 8, 2008 at 11:18 pm
This new topic that we are thinking about has not yet been approved by our adviser. We are still to propose this tomorrow during our class at 7:30am. But the former title had her approval and it was even her idea to conduct the follow-up.
Christian
Monina Escalada // September 9, 2008 at 5:20 am
Christian, it is helpful that you indicated your constraints — time, your panel’s feedback, etc. Then go ahead with your new thesis topic on “acceptability and impact of Waray music played in Tacloban City FM radio stations among LNU students”. You need to draft the following:
Research objectives
Conceptual framework
Operational definition of terms
Theoretical framework
Review of literature
Methodology
Instrument
For Methodology, you might want to consider this:
Do an arranged exposure where you bring together 3 to 4 groups of LNU students, stratified by year level or gender. Then let these separate groups listen to taped 6 Waray music and let them visualize it as part of an FM radio program. Better yet, ask an FM radio station announcer to help you produce a 30-minute program where about 4 Waray songs are played. This will be more realistic.
Afterwards, ask respondents to fill up a questionnaire that asks them to assess Waray music. You can use the research methods you learned in your class, perhaps a Likert scale on a 10-point semantic differential ora Likert scale, which is usually a 5-point attitude scale that provides a range of choices: strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, strongly disagree. Example:
1. I like Waray music played on my favorite FM music station.
___1) Strongly agree
___ 2) Agree
___ 3) Not sure
___ 4) Disagree
___ 5) Strongly disagree
To develop attitude statements, you should brainstorm on the various attributes of Waray music that you think are relevant.
Let’s communicate by email regarding the details of your research to protect your IPR.
Best of luck. Regards to your research teacher.
Christian Sumalinog // September 9, 2008 at 9:02 am
thank you so much ma’am. We have just presented the topic you have suggested to our research adviser, Ms. Eva Lapasanda. She said that we could focus on a particular community, let’s say a village since it is composed of professionals, students, workers etc. With regard to your suggestion on “FM Station Listernership and Preferences among Various Sectors in Tacloban City”, how could we measure ma’am preferences? You are really a lot of help to us ma’am.
My email address is channyboo4189@yahoo.com.
Christian
Monina Escalada // September 10, 2008 at 5:10 am
Christian, do what your research adviser suggested and focus on a neighbor community. I just learned from my students that there are many Waray songs which have double meaning. It makes your study more exciting. I would not use the term, Impact, for your study because Impact is measured using observation and a longitudinal research design which your time won’t allow. Impact is used when you have compelling evidence of change and Waray music played on FM radio stations caused that change.
Here’s Dr. Jane Bertrand’s perspective on impact:
But if your research adviser and thesis panel are not fussy and they say it is fine to use Impact, then go ahead and use impact. In our case, we would use Influence so that it is not so demanding in terms of measurement. Influence can be measured in terms of a Likert scale or direct questions.
Acceptability is measured through these questions:
I hope this info will be sufficient to get your group going on your thesis. You have to listen to your research adviser because she will be the one to compute your grade.
Good luck.
Christian Sumalinog // September 13, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Hi ma’am Moni!
Thank you ma’am for giving us sample questions on how we could measure acceptability. I am still to relay these to my groupmates. We are still on the drafting of a good background and related theories. We’ll update you ma’am every now and then. God bless!
Christian
lard // October 7, 2008 at 11:10 pm
please can you help me get my thesis for my research work on background music and studies
Monina Escalada // October 8, 2008 at 2:54 am
lard, you will need to provide more details to enable me to help you. Like, what are your research objectives, what’s your degree program, etc.
darryl // October 14, 2008 at 10:47 am
maam, i am 4th year DC student.. i have a research about radio spot on child labor but i can’t find any related studies on my research. can you help me where to find my related literatures? i really need it to finish my thesis maam. thank you.. i am expecting for your response maam..
Monina Escalada // October 14, 2008 at 4:13 pm
darryl, could you give me more details about your thesis on “radio spot on child labor”. What was your research question? Where are you studying?
darryl joy // October 14, 2008 at 4:34 pm
i am a 4th year DevCom student of Bukidnon State University maam..
my research questions maam are these:
1. how do listeners evaluate the radio spot in terms of: characters; dialogue; sound effects?
2. what is the level of listeners’ awareness and persuasion towards child labor radio spot?
darryl joy // October 14, 2008 at 4:46 pm
by the way ma’am, thank you for your response.. i am very happy that there is a site like this.. it’s a big help for us.. we are now in communication reseach II ma’am.. my research title ma’am is “RADIO SPOT VARIABLES ASSOCIATED TO LISTENERS’
AWARENESS AND PERSUASION”
Monina Escalada // October 14, 2008 at 9:00 pm
darryl, that seems to be a fine research title. To find answers to your research question on listeners’ evaluation of a radio spot’s characters, dialogue and sound effects, you would need to have a framework to evaluate these. Have you read Jane Bertrand’s Pretesting book? Dr. Bertrand suggests that communication materials be evaluated using these measures of effectiveness — attraction, comprehensibility, acceptability, self-involvement and persuasion. Refer to this framework to assess the radio spot. Then you will find related research literature on this topic. You would need to read Esta de Fossard’s radio book because it tackles pretesting radio programs, particularly dramas, that you can adapt.
I hope I made sense to you. Your next steps would be to read the references I suggested. Good luck.
darryl joy // October 15, 2008 at 12:45 pm
good day ma’am!!! thank you so much for your suggestions ma’am… i haven’t read yet the book of Dr. Bertrand ma’am, but i will find that book ma’am.. And also the Esta de Fossard’s radio book.. thank you so much again ma’am..
darryl joy // October 16, 2008 at 4:29 pm
hi ma’am!!! good day…
i want to follow your suggestions to read the books of Dr. Bertrand and Esta de fossard’s radio book ma’am but it is so sad to know that the books you suggested are not available in our library ma’am…
i’ve tried surfing the net about the books ma’am but they were not also there… what should i do ma’am? please help me.. my chapter 2 ( Review of Related Literatures) is so week ma’am…
darryl joy // October 16, 2008 at 4:30 pm
i mean it is so weak ma’am..
Monina Escalada // October 16, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Darryl Joy, on the right hand side of Devcompage, you will find a long list of readings on pretesting and evaluation of communication materials. You can click on those and the ideas of Dr. Jane Bertrand are reflected there. In the case of Esta de Fossard’s radio drama book, you can click on this link: http://www.jhuccp.org/pubs/fg/3/3.pdf.
Another valuable resource is the Pink Book - Making Health Communication Programs Work published by the US National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute. Click on this link:
http://www.cancer.gov/pinkbook
armie // October 17, 2008 at 11:10 am
hi ma’am… have a nice day.. i am a Devcomm student of Bukidnpn State University.. I am tasked to do a leaflet about fighting malnutrition ma’am.. ma’am, i just want to ask you what are the best content for my leaflet. thank you..
Monina Escalada // October 17, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Armie, to be able to decide on the content of your leaflet, you need to think about the following: 1) objectives of the leaflet and 2) intended audience. Your objectives may be: to create awareness about malnutrition — causes, symptoms, effects, to develop positive attitudes toward the importance of fighting malnutrition, to persuade mothers to observe proper nutrition practices to prevent malnutrition, etc. What do you want your intended audience to be doing after reading your leaflet? I don’t know who your intended audience is. Are they mothers in low-income areas? Or policy-makers so that they will support malnutrition prevention initiatives? The type of audience you’re aiming for will define the message treatment. If your leaflet is meant for mothers in low-income areas, then the content has to be highly visual and very simple and written in the local language. On the other hand, if it is for policy makers, then you will have to design the leaflet in a slick, impressive way at the same time communicating the key points of malnutrition. As you can see, communication specialists need to sort out their objectives and audience to be able to develop a relevant message and material.
Jonathan Talbot // October 21, 2008 at 12:45 am
Possibly offtopic…but can you suggest resources that would allow someone with varied communications experience (marketing, informal teaching, journalism, framing, media relations and more) but only formal communications training in journalism to “fill in the gaps” in his understanding of key, fundamental communications concepts? What’s the really fundamental stuff?
As a second question, what’s out there as a fundamental idea that is likely to change as the result on ongoing research?
Monina Escalada // October 21, 2008 at 3:45 am
Jonathan, I find that the Communication Initiative Network rich in resources that can round out your varied communication experience. Visit this website and you will find it quite useful.
The fundamental stuff are really the communication concepts, theories and models that serve as guideposts in professional communication practice. The Comminit website has “Knowledge Sections” that provides a lot of information and links to change theories, planning models and strategic thinking.
mary grace // October 21, 2008 at 7:04 pm
hi, can anyone help me what is meant by operational definitions in making a a research proposal.
Monina Escalada // October 21, 2008 at 9:41 pm
mary grace, an operational definition is a specific, precise statement of a variable in terms of the operations used to measure and categorize observations.
For example the operational definition for gender could be ___(1) female ____(2) male”. Or the operational definition for age might be the NEDA age classification which groups age into young, middle-aged, old, senior citizen. Another example is media exposure which can be operationally defined as — refers to the total number of media channels which the respondent is exposed to or from where he/she gets information on a particular topic. it will be measured by giving 1 point to every communication medium (radio, TV, newspaper, Internet, interpersonal contacts) mentioned by the respondent.
You need to read a social science research book to understand what an operational definition means. you also need to read some of the better and recent theses in your school library to understand how operational definitions are written.
mary grace // October 22, 2008 at 12:17 pm
thank you very much maam.
my research is about traffic management:
under my statemen of problem this im going to define operationally
1.Implementing structures
2 human resources
3. budget
4. technology
5. policies, rules, regulation
thanks for giving an example.
ill try to see some references.
Thank u very much
Monina Escalada // October 22, 2008 at 1:52 pm
mary grace, to come up with the operational definitions of the 5 variables in your thesis, you need to refer to management books to understand what is involved in, let’s say, implementing structures. The management references should be able to tell you what comprises “implementing structures”. Then you have to reflect on how these will be measured in your research. It’s like answering the question: what do i mean by implementing structures? what organizations and entities are involved?
So the first step is to read management books to extract their definitions of your 5 concepts. Second step is to decide how these will be measured in your research.
Good luck. I hope this helps.
darryl joy // November 4, 2008 at 1:28 pm
hi ma’am.. good day! thank you for the sites you gave me last time but still i cant relate it to my thesis ma’am.. my problem ma’am is my chapter 2 because it is so weak..my related literature is so thin..
jacel // November 8, 2008 at 11:32 pm
ma’am , good day !
im taking up bachelor in communication research and preparing for a thesis proposal .. but i really find it hard to hit 1 good topic ..
i hope ma’am you’ll help me about it ..
GOD BLESS .. =)
jacel // November 8, 2008 at 11:34 pm
uhm .. i forgot .. it should be related to communication .. radio, tv, prints, media .. things like that .. please help me out ma’am ..
Monina Escalada // November 9, 2008 at 12:04 am
jacel, to find a good thesis topic, you need to read widely — communication books and theses of students before your batch. Towards the end of a thesis, there’s usually a “suggestions for further research” where you can pick up some good ideas. Apart from theses, you need to read books or what’s on offer in the Internet. This should tell you what sort of communication research has been done and where the knowledge gaps are.
In my communication research class, I also ask my students to submit three thesis topics which are reviewed for relevance.
pearl hope ruelan // November 11, 2008 at 9:30 pm
hi maam! gud day! ds is pearl hope ruelan, 2nd year DevCom student of CSCST-main campus. i really appreciate this page for it gives advance knowledge and information in my studies.
Monina Escalada // November 12, 2008 at 8:04 am
pearl hope, I’m glad you find Devcompage useful in your studies. If you have any questions related to development communication research or practice, post a comment here. Good luck and keep visiting Devcompage.
Eula Mangaoang // November 17, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Good day Ma’am!
I’m Eula, a BS DevCom student here in UPLB, major in Educational Communication, and I took up technical courses on environmental sciences. We’re also in the process of looking for possible research topics. My mother referred me to this site and I find it very helpful.
Your advice here on finding a research topic is also a great help… I just hope I’ll get through this topic-searching problem…Hahaha… Thank you Ma’am for having put up this site… 
I hope to visit this site more often… God bless po!
Monina Escalada // November 17, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Eula, thanks for your kind words. I hope you find your thesis topic soon. Here’s the roadmap:
1) find out what topic in educational communication you are passionate about
2) let your passion take you to a wide and deep search of the literature
3) read up on that topic in the web, books, journals, and theses
4) talk to your favorite teacher about the topic coz he/she may lead you to further reading
5) explore the knowledge gaps — what aspects of that topic have not been studied yet
Eula Mangaoang // November 18, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Thanks ma’am for the small but meaningful pieces of advice!
I really appreciate it…
Eula Mangaoang // November 18, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Thanks Ma’am, I appreciate your help very much!
Mengistu Gebre // November 20, 2008 at 6:13 am
I am doing my M.Sc. thesis in rainfall variability.I am not clear with which field of study you are helping students?
regards,
Mengistu
Monina Escalada // November 20, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Mengistu, I don’t work on rainfall variability. As you have seen on the “About” page, this is about development communication. Thanks for visiting.
Leave a Comment