Anthropological Methods for Communication Research: Experiences and Encounters during SITE

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.