M.

Phil Research Proposal

“The notion of social communication: A study on the role of media in

creating and spreading social awareness

Synopsis

Introduction

Social awareness through different media has become the most important tool of
spreading awareness regarding social issues, problems and phenomena. Many
government, non-government and media agencies are involved in this job. They
have their own method for doing impactful communications with the social groups.
Social awareness campaigns can potentially be an important non-monetary
instrument with which behaviour can be influenced. They have been widely used in
the recent past in a number of contexts – for example, the anti-corruption
movement started by Anna Hazare and later taken up by the Aam Admi Party
(AAP), Beti Bachao campaign launched by the government, after the December
2012 rape incident, a major mass protest has also been seen, and and Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan launched by the incumbent government at the centre. Whether or
not, such campaigns help achieve their goal is a question that is open to empirical
analysis. More than 3 million social service organizations are presently working in
India and these organizations are frequently using various media for their social
awareness campaign. The awareness programme by the public service
organizations are not a new phenomenon in world as well as in India and their
effect has is also seen on a large area of our society. It has a great history behind
and been motivating, provoking people regarding social problems and issues for
more than 200 years. They have been waged from time immemorial. Advertising
were launched to free the slaves in Ancient Greece and Rome. In England during
the industrial revolution, advertising were mounted to abolish debtor prisons, grant
voting right to women and abolish child labour. In India, various reformers like
Raja Ram Mohan Roy and others like them have done in India, too, the socio-
religious reform movements in different parts of our country during the 19 th century

Page | 1
to overcome the out-dated practices of female infanticide and awareness about
education to women are all examples of social advertising with social motives.
Various social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda have
used various media for such advertising to create social awakening. These
awareness programmes also motivated people for social movement and mass
protest for the social cause.

Social communications through media and public service advertisings have created
a great effect on society in terms of spreading awareness. A number of advertising
programmes and campaigns related to various social issues have been showing
through different media. In the present era, not only traditional media but also new
media and social media are playing a vital role in society. Now the presence of
new and social media can be seen easily for spreading social awareness or to
motivate people for mass protest for a social cause. The main reason behind this is
that using new and social media is very easy and it can be accessed from anywhere.
With the help of media, the government or the social agency can spread the
awareness to the maximum audience. Some of the traditional and new media which
are frequently used by social agencies to create/spread social awareness are street
play, radio, newspapers, television, e-paper, website writings, facebook etc..

It can be said that social communication advertising is a form of advertising that is

designed to educate or motivate people to undertake socially desirable action. The
primary objective of social communication or advertising is however social and not
private gain. According to the encyclopaedia, definition of social
communication/advertising is “Aspects that promote community’s health and well-
being such as programme that educate people about drugs, diseases and other social
issues”. Social advertising are promoted for varied objects and directed at different
target population by various projects. According to the international survey of
social advertising, there is no consensus on the term that are used to explain
advertising and advertising which is not to promote any commercial information
but to plead for social change and cause.

Government is spending so much of money just to make impactful communication

with the people just to make them aware about the social issues. For establishing
the impactful and social communication with the people, government is using

Page | 2
traditional as well as new and social media for this work. Some of the prominent
programmes/campaigns which are being promoted frequently on television, radio,
newspaper and new media are:

- Atithi Devo Bhawah Campaign

- Pulse Polio campaign
- Beti Bachaao, Beti Padhaao campaign
- Swach Bharat Abhiyan Campaign
- Anti-smoking Campaign
- Blood donation Campaign
- Right to vote Campaign
- Importance of Education Education
- Skill development scheme
- Mission Indradhanush

Apart from the above, the current Prime minster of India has started several
campaigns to revolutionize the entire social system. The prominent in them are
Digital India campaign, make in India campaign, Pradhan mantri jan dhan yozna,
Niti aayog etc.

The proposed study will begin by understanding the work of various social
agencies and methodology using by them to establish social and impactful
communication through various media. The study will also focus on the changing
environment of traditional media in context of creating social awareness. In the
present era, the role of new media, especially social media has become very
important for spreading awareness. The proposed study will also deal with the role
of social and new media i.e. these are responsible not only for social awareness but
also for the mass protest and social movements. In the recent years our country has
witnessed so many social movement and mass protest. With the help of social and
new media, these protests could be able to involve a large number of citizens,
especially youth, in the campaign. The study will include various NGOs and
government agencies which are involved in creating social awareness for different
issues. This study will also try to see the impact of traditional, new and social
media among the youth for the change in society, involvement of youth through
social media in social movement and mass protest and the impact of traditional

Page | 3
media on various social awareness programmes which are started by the
government.

Statement of problem (1)

The 1st proposed research area for this study would be the capital of Madhya
Pradesh, Bhopal. Bhopal is called the 2nd media hub of India after Delhi and there
are so many media agencies currently working in this city. Bhopal is also known
as the education hub of the state. A number of students, from all over the country
come to this city for their higher education and these students are the frequent new
media and social media users. But in the meanwhile, there are so many problems
which are being faced by the people of this state. The state has completed so many
years after the independence but due to the lack of political will, yet so many
human and natural resources did not reach any development goals. The state is
facing so many challenges in social development like-

- Education
- Women and child health
- Poverty
- Gender based discrimination
- Malnutrition, etc.

According to a report of a media website (mediarights.org), 44.77 million people

live below poverty line and 15.81 million citizens of this state live below extreme
poverty line1. A claim of the government reports that the total number of school
going children is less than a million but the number of child labour in the state is
more than 10 lakh.

Health care is a serious issue constantly highlighted in news reports, and with talks
of reform, appropriateness of care options, and escalating costs, Madhya Pradesh
village residents are left wondering what will happen in the future. According to
NFHS-3 (2005-06), about 60 per cent of children under five years of age are
underweight and 50 per cent suffer from chronic under nutrition (stunting). An
estimated 12.6 per cent of children aged 0-59 months old (about 1 million children)

1
http://www.mediaforrights.org/health/english-articles/341-madhya-pradesh-completed-51-years-but-
faces-many-challenges

Page | 4
are severely wasted. While institutional deliveries make up more than 80 per cent
of childbirths in MP, initiation of breastfeeding is still only 66.8 per cent (AHS-11-
12) and exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is even lower at 41.5 per
cent2. Health issues will stand as a key concept in this study, which will be
conducted in an effort to explore how promotion and campaign practitioners
conduct campaigns and spread social awareness. Madhya Pradesh has an extensive
physical infrastructure and a large manpower is engaged in the delivery of health
services. The health situation is still far from encouraging. The situation can be
judged from the fact that out of the 90 problem districts identified in India where
the birth rate and the infant mortality rate are significantly high. Mothers and
children share major mortality and morbidity burden that too mainly due to
preventable reasons. So the social awareness campaigns related to health care
awareness in Madhya Pradesh can play a vital role in the villager’s life.

In the context of mass protest and social movements, Madhya Pradesh has
witnessed some protest in the last few years. The Narmada bachaao aandolan, land
and water protest are some of the famous social and mass protest in the recent days.
The impact and involvement of media and youth was not so satisfactory in these
protest. Since the role of media is very powerful in Madhya Pradesh but in the
context of social movements, somehow the researcher could not see the powerful
impact of media on the society.

Child marriage is an area of major concern in the state. The Annual Health Survey
2010-11, showed 12.5 per cent of the marriages among females and 18.9 percent of
the marriage among males were below legal age.

Since Madhya Pradesh is known as India’s second media hub and is home to many
reputed organizations and media agencies, but despite of the name and the fame the
state has earned there lies a bitter truth- the truth of the fate of the social issues. The
social issues and crisis are increasing at an alarming level. The sole reason being
the failure the social awareness programmes, using different media, to create social
awareness on various social issues at a mass level.

Statement of problem (2)

2
http://unicef.in/StateInfo/Madhya-Pradesh/Challenges

Page | 5
The 2nd proposed area of this study is Rajasthan. Rajasthan is known as the land of
kings and kingdoms. It is a land of diversity, from the major cities to rural villages.
It is the largest state in the country as far as geographical area is concerned and it is
the 8th most populous state in the country (Census, 2011). But in the mean while
there are so many problems that are being faced by the people of this state.
Discrimination on the basis of caste and gender, girl child education, health care
issues etc. It has an enrolment of 95 per cent in elementary schools, faces a
challenge in achieving age-appropriate learning outcomes among children and in
creating a protective environment for them. Societal norms in Rajasthan still
conform to caste and gender-based discrimination, resulting in high levels of
gender discrimination which have, in turn, led to a troubling sex ratio and high
incidences of child labor, child marriage and corporal punishment. Child Protection
is an area of great concern in Rajasthan. 3According to the state Department of
Home, 6,749 girls up to the age of 18 years have been reported missing since
January 2009, and 864 of these girls are untraceable. The tradition of child
marriage on auspicious days of the year continues in the state and approximately 42
per cent girls are married before the legal age of 18 years. Corporal punishment is
socially accepted by most families as a better way to discipline a child and more
than 50 per cent of children have experienced a form of physical abuse.

The Indian government’s National Child Abuse study of 2007 showed that, in
Rajasthan, corporal punishment was much higher among boys than girls.

There are so many different organizations which are continuously working on

various social issues and trying to aware people. In the context of people of rural
areas, various campaigns are conducted to aware those regarding social problems.
This study is undertaken to see the impact of various public service advertisings or
campaigns in rural areas. The data is collected through survey and it helped to
understand the notion of spreading awareness in rural areas.

Aim

3
State department of home, Rajasthan

Page | 6
The aim of this study is to access the pattern and style of social awareness
programmes in different age groups (i.e. 18 to 50 years) and the opinion of rural
and semi urban people about various social awareness programmes. The aim of this
study is also to see the role of various media on society in the context of creating
social awareness and motivating people for mass protest. The researcher will also
try to understand the notion of social communication among youth in the proposed
research area. Since, government and other social agencies are spending so much of
money to aware people for social issues and such campaigns; the concerned study
wants to study the real impact of the ongoing social campaigns which are started by
the government for the society. The concerned study believes that the
ethnographical study and findings of this study will lead a new kind of social
awareness programmes in the society.

Research objectives

The objectives of this study are-:

 To access the impact of social communication and effectiveness of public

service advertising in the proposed research area.
 To find out, that whether there is any difference between men and women views
in the context of social awareness programmes running by social agencies.
 To see that how the newly launched digital India campaign is working in the
rural areas.
 To estimate the involvement of youth in mass protest and social movement
through social media in rural areas.
 To study the awareness level for the major health related awareness
programmes.
 To see the working process of social communication channels in rural areas on
grassroots level.

Research hypothesis

Page | 7
  Awareness programmes started by social agencies or NGOs are more successful
than government social awareness projects.
 Opinion leaders play a constructive role in rural areas in the context of social
communication.
 People do not pay much attention to social communication channels.

Review of literature

In India and abroad, very few studies have been done to see the impact of
awareness campaigns or advertisings. Much of the literature on Public service
advertising is coming from the traditional advertisings as well as the social work
and social services. The researcher has reviewed some articles which are based on
the research topic and this helped him to understand the ongoing situation in the
field of social services and its impact.

1. Impact of an advertising on condom used in urban Pakistan

Published by: Population Council
Stable URL: http:/www.jstor.org/stable/27896277

This study was done by Sohail Agha and Dominique Meekersin urban areas of
Pakistan and it deals with the advertising impact on the uses of condoms.
According to this study, during the era of 90’s the word condom could not be used
on Pakistani television and due to this restriction, advertisers started referring this
word with Sathi or companion on television. After 2007, the condom word can be
shown on television in written but not be spoken. The researcher has taken total
800 respondents from different parts of country to see the impact and awareness
level in people regarding condom. During the field work, the researcher asked
various question from its respondents and questionnaires were collected. The data
was analysed through advertisings impact survey. The findings of this study
showed that the samples were not different with respect to place of residence, age,
education level. Samples confirmed awareness of condoms ads. This research
provides some in-depth knowledge that how long the impact of an advertising
campaign may last.

Page | 8
 2. Using Media to Advance Public Health Agendas

Contra Costa Health Services, Public Health Division

This study was conducted in California by Wendel Brunner, Kate Fowlie, and Julie
Freestone to see how contra costa health services and other agencies have worked
with the media and influence local people regarding health services. These local
health departments work in the field of chronic diseases, global warming and other
aspects of social issues. The tool taken for this study was the interview with the
concerned person and to observe the ongoing developing relationship between
health service agencies and society. According to this study, to work with media
has become an integral part of public health practices now a days. Also journalism
and traditional media are undergoing and creating rapid situation among the people
so it can give impact on large number of people.

3. Current health scenario in rural India.

Published in: Aust. J. Rural Health (2002) 10, 129–135

This study is done by Ashok Vikhe Patil, K. V. Somasundaram and R. C. Goyal to

see the health status of rural people in India. According to the author, after 54 years
of freedom, a number of development programme are implemented in rural and
urban area but approx. 716 million people in rural India are affected from various
diseases. The cause behind this reason is the people of rural areas are not aware of
various health care services. The author says the people of rural areas are the most
prime victim of various policies because they are not aware of these government
policies. They work in difficult atmosphere and face various problems like unsafe
birth practices, unclean water, poor nutrition etc.

4. A study on the effect of public service announcement on television.

Published in: Abhinav Journal.com

Page | 9
 Volume: 2, issue 6

This study was done by Suganya Manickavelan to see that particular impact and
includes various campaigns or advertising which are being conducted by
governmental agencies or local bodies. The author has tried to show the main
purpose of public service announcement on television. According to this study,
public service announcements gives impact on society through its powerful direct
messages. The author has adopted survey method for this study and taken approx.
130 samples randomly. The findings of this study says that 84% people mentioned
that they are aware about public service announcement and 60% pointed out that
TV delivers more knowledge than others. Very less people have said that they
prefer radio for awareness.

5. Impact of social media in changing mind set of youth on social issues.

Published in Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce

Nitika Anand conducted this study in Delhi. According to this study, the social
networking sites are acting as great medium to view mobilization. People are
continuously sharing their thoughts on any issue and youth is also taking
participation in the discussion like violation of Human Rights, corruption etc. The
author says that these social networking sites are proving themselves a boon at least
in bringing thoughts of people on these social issues. It is also being generated
from the information so obtained that people are getting more aware about the
social issues mainly from Facebook. It was found in the study that women are
spending less time on these sites mainly for 10-30 minutes yet they are more
sensitive towards these social issues. Most of the people think that youth can play a
positive role in changing our society which is represent in most of the responses to
different queries.

6. The study of Dr Atnu Mohpatra entitled ‘Lokpal and the role of social
media’ (Published in IJSSIR, vol. 2 (3), March, 2013) gives a deep insight
on the impact of social media in any anti-corruption movement. The author
Page | 10
 of this study says that most probably this was the first time when Indians
used social media for a social movement. A huge support for India against
Corruption (IAC) and Anna Hazare, indicated on Facebook by ―likes‖ on
posts. In the first four days of its existence, IAC had 116,000 fans on its
community Facebook page (IAC, Facebook Page: 2012). People created
many other Facebook pages, and individual social media users debated,
posted statuses, uploaded videos and photos throughout the movement.
According to the authorthe massive use of social media in Lok Pal
movement is a trend setter and can be seen as a successful experimentation
for good cause. People can use social media content to gauge the status of a
movement and to identify the goals it seeks to attain. It is true that the
movement which was initiated by the social media geared up the main
stream media.

Scope of the study

On the basis of previous studies and literature reviews, the concerned study
believes that the topic is very important for the society. Through this study, the
process and effectiveness of social communication on grass root level, which are
running by the government and other change agencies through various media, can
be easily understood. The media has got a vital role in moulding a good society to
develop our lifestyle and move it on the right path, because it always tries to side
with the truth and relevant factor. It is the best tool to spread awareness in the
modern society either it be political, social or economic and giving us latest sight
about what is happening in our world, making us aware about our rights, creating
awareness against evils in our society, what new happening around us, exposing
corrupt politicians and hardcore criminals by sting operations. In the present era,
since the government has started various projects and campaigns related to rural
India, various public service advertisings are initiated by the concerned bodies to
make the people aware about the schemes. So, the role of social communication is
quite important here. The importance of this study can be also understood that the
government is running various cleanliness and sanitation programs in the state; this

Page | 11
study will look into the reason behind the lack of awareness level or can say the
lack of media impact on these people.

Research Methodology

The proposed study will be based on quantitative cum qualitative research method
and multiple methods will be used to collect and to find out objectives and
problems.

- Survey method: - The concerned study will follow descriptive or survey

method to assessment and effectiveness of public service advertisings on
rural community and to access the opinion of rural people about working
methods of PSA and to find out whether there is any difference between
men and women views.

- Empirical research: - The concerned study will follow empirical research

method to analyse the effect of various active social communication
channels in the proposed area. This method is a way of gaining knowledge
by means of direct and indirect observations.

Parameters
For choosing the universe of the proposed study, the researcher has set some
certain parameters:

a. Distance from the City (30-50 km and 80-100km)

b. Literacy rates (low and high)
c. A village that have a primary health centre, school, aanganbadi, panchayat,
mahila mandal etc.

Universe of study (1)

Page | 12
On the basis of above written parameters, the researcher has proposed 2 villages of
Madhya Pradesh for this study

1. Silvani (distance from the nearest city is 50 km)

2. Salkanpur village (distance from the nearest city is 80km)

Universe of study (2)

On the basis of above written parameters, the researcher has proposed 2 villages of
Rajasthan for this study.

1. Sheel ki dungri (Distance from the nearest city is 40 km)

2. Sirohi (Distance from the nearest city is 80km)
3.

Sampling size and method

The sampling size and method will be decided after the pilot study of the proposed
universe of the study.

Source of data and collection techniques

The proposed study will be relied on both primary and secondary data in order to
come up with the accurate and objectives findings. Primary data collection will be
given the highest priority in the proposed study as the researcher found very limited
studies related to the subject. Primary data for this proposed study would be
collected using interviews, ethnographical survey and questionnaires.

For secondary data, the researcher will go for the available articles, reports,
works and DAVP projects related to the research topic.

Page | 13
 Tentative chapters of the study
Abstract
Chapter 1. Introduction to Social Communication
Chapter 2. Conceptual approach and theoretical framework
Chapter 3 As per as objectives.

Chapter 4 Data analysis and findings.

Chapter 5- Conclusion and further studies/suggestions
Reflexivity
References
List of figures
List of tables
List of charts
Appendices

Page | 14
 References
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://rdfblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/social-responsibility-for-a-
better-society-2/.

Ashok Vikhe Patil, K. V. (2002). Cuurent health scenario in rural India. Aust. J Rural Health , 10,
129-135.

D Zmirou, M. C. (n.d.). A controled evaluation of a health education programme for pregnant

women in rural areas. BMJ .

D. Zmirou, M. c. (n.d.). A controlled evaluation of a health program for pregnant women in

rural areas. BMJ .

Groove, B. &. (2000). 388.

http://www.academia.edu/4243602/ROLE_OF_MEDIA_IN_SOCIAL_AWARENESS. (n.d.).

http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG180.htm. (n.d.).

hunger, P. a. (1995). 517.

Manickavelan, S. (n.d.). A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF PUBLIC SERVICE. Abhinav journal .

meekers, s. a. (n.d.). Impact of an advertising campaign on condom used in pakistan .

http:/www.jstor.org/stable/27896277 .

Sachdeva, D. D. (2012). Social Welfare Adminstration in India. Patna: Kitab Mahal.

shivkumar, M. (n.d.). Gender discrimination and women’s development in India. Munich

personal repec archive .

Wendel Brunner, K. F. (n.d.). Using media to advance public health agendas. costa health
services, public health division .

Page | 15