Although Honduran colleges are on a two-week vacation and
local high schools are in the middle of their semester, they offices of OYE
have quite literally emptied sending staff and scholars back to school. Instead
of receiving classes OYE is passing out investigations. Designed by Shawon
Jackson and Viviana Mardones, Princeton volunteers, in conjunction with Luis
Paredes, Yarli Yanez, and Fabiola Oro these investigations are designed to
improve OYE’s radio and magazine projects.
OYE’s study, Determining
the Media Preferences of Youth in El Progreso, examines youth expectations
and preferences in regards to radio and magazine media to ultimately improve
its communications programs. To complete this study OYE will visit 6 local high
schools and interview 680 youth between the ages of 12 and 18.
The focus area of 12 – 18 years of age has proved
surprisingly inclusive as 45% of Honduras’ population is under the age of 18. Data
collection for this study is going exceedingly well. With a slightly late start
yesterday OYE completed data collection at Saint Elizabeth, a small Catholic
school, and began collecting interviews from La Perla. La Perla, El Progreso’s
largest high school yielded over 100 interviews yesterday but will be a
multi-day process. To facilitate the interviews OYE has reached out to its
network of educators. As OYE arrives to the schools, teachers invite the team
into their classroom to administer the interview. The process has been smooth
and effective so far, and within two days the interview process should be
complete.
Many thanks go out to Shawon Jackson and Viviana Mardones who
have invested countless hours into making this a professional and accurate
study. These two volunteers have polished their investigative skills conducting
ideological and literature reviews and working hand in hand with Luis Paredes
to design a high quality investigation that will produce recommendations for
improvements to OYE’s radio and magazine projects. By revealing a deeper level
of understanding about what youth look for in these media outlets, OYE can
reach out to El Progreso’s youth population in more effective ways and leverage
the work down by these volunteers long after they are gone.
Stay tuned here for updates on this investigation and reflections from OYE volunteers.
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| Shawon Jackson "I'm hoping to learn more about the nuances of surveying adolescents - understanding the various variables, for example, that can impact our results. Additionally, I'm hoping to become more comfortable speaking with Hondurans, in order to better my Spanish skills." |
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| Viviana Mardones |
"I am entering my junior year and will be doing social investigations of my own, and this [investigation] has given me an inside look at what its really like."
