Back to School; Determining the Media Preferences of Youth

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.

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."

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."