PhD progresses @ 4th Cross-Field Residential Seminar

Community Multimedia Centresin Mozambique:a contribution from the Theory of Social Representations.

Sara Vannini ‒ NewMinE LabUniversità della Svizzera italiana, Lugano.

(Social REpresentations of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique and ACTions for improvement).

RE-ACT

Research Question

Social Representations

Theory

MethodsApplication

Need

Research Question


Theory

Methods

ImprovedResearch Question?

ApplicationNeed

What are the social representations of CMCs in Mozambique (according to different stakeholders)?

telecentres

community radios

CMCs in Mozambique in 2011


Moscovici, 1973


Moscovici, 1973

systems of values, ideas and practices, that are shared among a given group


Making sense of the reality

Communicate

Semiotic Triangle of SR

agency

negotiation

cognitive polyphasia

Semiotic Triangle of SR

Bauer & Gaskell, 1999

Toblerone Model

Why SR Theory could be suitable

for the ICT4D domain?

Design-Reality Gap (Heeks, 2008)

Misalignments may lead to

sustainability issues (Rega, 2010)

ICTs entered Mozambican

communities abruptly and

are symbolically charged (Contarello & Sarrica, 2007)

Epistemologically: constructionist & non-sperimental

Triadic: • no separation individual

perception/socio-cultural

context

• focus on communication

• not focused on internal

decision-making process

What do Local People Think about Telecentres? A Key Issue for Sustainability.Rega, 2010










context













context/others




Current Status of the Literature

Applied vs Theorethical


What is the current status of studies about Social

Representations in ICT4D?• Purpose

• Methodology

• Geographical areas of application


What is the current status of studies about Social

Representations in ICT4D, Development, & ICTs?• Purpose

• Methodology

• Geographical areas of application

• Which sectors of International Development have been

considered?

SR + International Development

SR + ICT4D

SR + ICTs

Inclusion

Criteria(EN, FR, PT,

ES, IT)

ICT4D

everything possible (7 journals, ICTD conference, Science Direct, GScholar)

ICTsJournals of Social Psychology, Science Direct, GScholar

DevelopmentJournals of Development, Science Direct, Gscholar

Reference check

Inclusion

Criteria

ICT4D

everything possible (7 journals, ICTD conference, Science Direct, GScholar)

ICTsJournals of Social Psychology, Science Direct, GScholar

DevelopmentJournals of Development, Science Direct, Gscholar

Reference check

Journals of International Development

Meta-discourse about Development in Developing Countries

Areas of Development only when for developing purposes in developingcountries

Language SR + ICT4D SR + ICTs SR + Development TotalEN 6 9 8 23ES 0 1 3 4Total 6 10 11 27

Geographical Areas

211

1

9

8

6

1

2

7

1

Development Areas

ICT4D ICTs Development Tot

Health 5 5

Access to information 4 11 4

Identity/stigma 1 3 4

Education 1 2 3

Development per se 3 3

Government/Participation 2 2Gender 1 1 2

Methods of Data Collection

1

1

1

2

3

5

7

7

11

9

Scripts (storytelling)

Photo-stories (storytelling)

Photo-diary (storytelling

Literature Review

Focus-group interviews

Written accounts/association of words

Surveys

Observations/field notes/ethnography

Interviews

Multi-method

Methods of Data Analysis

1

0

1

1

1

1

2

5

7

12

does not specify

Central nucleus/periphery

DCS (Discourse of the collective Subject)

Metaphors (manually)

Linguistics (morpho-syntaxis, semantics)

Argumentation

Automated Content Analysis (es: T-Lab,…

Advanced statistics

Reflection on results

Content Analysis (Atlas, Nvivo…)

Purpose

What is the current status of studies about

Social Representations in ICT4D?

• Field is much l e s s s t ud i ed

• Similar studies have demonstrated SRT f i t s the

domain(s) and purposes of this study

• Methodology: m i x ed me thod s seem to fit well ‒

rigor needed in ICT4D

What is the current status of studies about

Social Representations in ICT4D?

CommunityInitiating Agencies

Staff

Community

-Users -(RC+TC)

#95-(RC) #72

-Non-Users #8

Initiating Agencies

#2

Staff

#57

(Participant-Driven) Photo-Elicitation

1)Interviews ‒ whole corpus

1)Automatic analysis of the reciprocal relationships among textual units[T-Lab]

1) Results

1 2 3 4 5 6

Molding the polisthrough the

community radio

Learninginformaticsat the telecenter

Computers as possibly connected typewriters

Users’ edu-tainmentexperience of the radio

“What we sell is

photocopies”: An

instrumental view of telecenters’ services

The CMC as a

bureaucratic

umbrella

1) Results

2)Interviews ‒ information and communication flows

2)Content Analysis[N-Vivo]

2) Results

Community Radio 60.9%

Inbound 46.1%

Outbound 4.8%

Within 34.3%

Telecentre 7.4%

Inbound 6.5%

Outbound 0.4%

Within 0.4%

TOT # Interviewees 230

2) Results

STAFF U-CMC U-RC NON-USERS TOTAL

Community Radio 78.9% 58.1% 54.2% 25.0% 60.9%

Inbound 63.2% 43.0% 40.3% 12.5% 46.1%

Outbound 7.0% 5.4% 2.8% - 4.8%

Shared 49.1% 32.3% 27.8% 12.5% 34.3%

Telecentre 5.3% 10.8% 5.6% - 7.4%

Inbound 5.3% 8.6% 5.6% - 6.5%

Outbound - 1.1% - - 0.4%

Shared - 1.1% - - 0.4%

TOT # Interviewees 57 93 72 8 230

3)Photos & Photo-related interviews

3)Content analysis [Manual]

TelecenterRadio CMC

ServicesFacilities & Tools

People ManagingPeople Using

[Cantoni & Tardini, 2006; Rega, 2010]

3) Results ‒ photo 1

3) Results ‒ photo 2

ImprovedResearch Question?

Is Social Representations a suitable Theory

for advancements in the ICT4D domain?



...Design-Reality Gap is addressed



...integrated view: Initiating Agencies’ expectations & Local Ownership




...integrated view: Initiating Agencies’ expectations & Local Ownership

...insights on appropriation and reinvention of a (new) object


Is the Methodology applied within this study

suitable for the field (ICT4D)?



...mixed methods allow triangulation



...photo-elicitation allowed for gaining different insights




...photo-elicitation allowed for gaining original insights


Limitations

relationship “donors”-recipient

photo-elicitation: time & questions

different lengths in interviews

results very specific & not generalizable

1) What are the social representations of CMCs in

Mozambique?

2) Is Social Representations a suitable Theory


3) Is the Methodology applied within this

study suitable for the field (ICT4D)?

THANK YOU!

Journals• Rega, I., Vannini, S., Fino, E., Cantoni, L. (accepted). Exploring the Meanings

of Community Multimedia Centers in Mozambique: A Social Representations Perspective. Submitted to Information Technology and International Development, (ITID).

• Vannini, S., Rega, I., Cantoni, L. (accepted). Information and Communication Flows through Community Multimedia Centres: Perspectives from Mozambican Communities. Submitted to Information Technology for Development (ITD), Special Issue on ICT and Development in Africa.

• Rega, I, Vannini, S., Cantoni, L., (submitted). Using Photo-elicitation to Explore Social Representations of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique. Submitted to Information Technology for Development (ITD).

Conference Proceedings• Vannini, S., Aguirre, L., Rega, I., Cantoni, L. (2013). Images of Community

Multimedia Centres in Mozambique: a participatory photo-elicitation study, in Proceedings: IFIP WG 9.4: Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, Ocho Ríos Jamaica, 19-22 May, 2013.

• Vannini, S., Rega, I., (2012), Inbound and Outbound Information and Communication flows: Perspectives from Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique, in Proceedings: CIRN 2012 Community Informatics Conference: 'Ideals meet Reality' Monash Centre, Prato Italy 7-9 November 2012.

THANK YOU!

PhD progresses @ 4th Cross-Field Residential Seminar

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