Communication - Publications

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    Corruption as a site for contested meaning: Elite constructions in India
    ( 1993-12-01) Pavarala, Vinod
    This paper investigates the problem of corruption in India from a social constructionist perspective. The constructions of corruption among five elite groups (bureaucrats, judges, politicians, industrialists, and journalists) in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh were obtained through a total of 60 interviews. Members of these five elite groups play a critical role in constructing the problem of corruption for public discourse. These elite groups, with the possible exception of the media elite, are also primary targets of public accusations of corrupt behavior. This paper examines three major issues related to corruption: the definition of corruption, the so-called functionality of corruption, and the role of culture in fostering or inhibiting corruption. Narrow/legalistic or broad/moralistic definitions of corruption, the acceptance or rejection of functionality, and modernist or nationalist responses to the question of culture are shown to constitute the varied structures of reality constructed by the different elite groups. These constructions of the corrupt reality in India are explained with reference to specific interests of the elites and their positions in the social structure. Instead of treating corruption as an objective condition, this study seeks to view corruption as a process in which strategic elites in society, define the problem and negotiate solutions to it. © 1993 Human Sciences Press, Inc.
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    The global village in Atlanta: A textual analysis of olympic news coverage for children in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    ( 1999-01-01) Lester-Roushanzamir, Elli P. ; Raman, Usha
    Newspaper reporting aimed at children has proliferated yet children's news has seldom been the subject of study. This project begins to fill that void by examining the "News for Kids" (NFK) section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It examines international news reporting for children and specifically the representations of international others as they were portrayed in reporting on the centennial Olympic games. Does news for children s tructure the "other" into a hierarchy of difference from "us?" Our findings suggest that powerful dominant discourses emerge which form a systematic strategy of representation. Since representation is one of the ways in which social meanings (e.g., preconditions for the functioning of social practices) are produced and circulated in society, this textual analysis helps break into over-determined discourses by identifying ideological constructions within the news reporting.
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    IJO's 50: A time to reflect
    ( 2003-03-01) Raman, Usha
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    Blindness and poverty in India: The way forward
    ( 2007-11-01) Khanna, Rohit ; Raman, Usha ; Rao, Gullapalli N.
    A few recent studies have shown that poverty is an exacerbating and often determining factor in the incidence of disabling conditions, including visual impairment. Recent estimates from the World Health Organization indicate that 90 per cent of all those affected by visual impairment live in the poorest countries of the world. India is home to one-fifth of the world's visually impaired people and therefore, any strategies to combat avoidable blindness must take into account the socio-economic conditions within which people live. This paper looks at the relationship between poverty and blindness in India and suggests strategies to address blindness prevention in a comprehensive manner. © 2007 Optometrists Association Australia.
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    Medical ethics in the media.
    ( 2009-01-01) Raman, Usha
    The mass media function both as reflector and a shaper of a society's attitudes and values and as such represent a forum within which one may understand and influence public opinion. While questions of medical ethics may be largely confined to academic and scientific spaces, their importance to society at large cannot be denied, and how issues of medical ethics play out--if at all--in the media could tell us how society understands and processes these questions. This paper uses the techniques of framing analysis and textual analysis to examine how the print media, represented by two major Indian newspapers, cover medical ethics. The study looked at all articles related to medical research over a three-month period (January-March 2007) and considered how the story was framed, what were the key threads followed, and the dominant themes focused on. The ethical frame is notable by its absence, even in articles related to controversial themes such as drug research and genetics. Discussion of ethics appears to be problematic given the adherence to traditional "news values" when covering science and medicine. The research community and the media need to pay more attention to explicitly focusing on ethics in their interactions.
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    Perspectives on primary eye care
    ( 2009-03-01) Murthy, G. V.S. ; Raman, Usha
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    Population-based cross-sectional study of barriers to utilisation of refraction services in South India: Rapid Assessment of Refractive Errors (RARE) study
    ( 2011-01-01) Marmamula, Srinivas ; Keeffe, Jill E. ; Raman, Usha ; Rao, Gullapalli N.
    Aim: To assess the barriers to the uptake of refraction services in the age group of 15-49 years in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted using cluster random sampling to enumerate 3300 individuals from 55 clusters. A validated questionnaire was used to elicit information on barriers to utilisation of services among individuals with uncorrected refractive error (presenting visual acuity < 6/12 but improving to ≥6/12 on using a pinhole) and presbyopia (binocular near vision < N8 in individuals aged > 35 years with binocular distance visual acuity of ≥6/12). Results: 3095 (94%) were available for examination. Those with uncorrected refractive errors cited affordability as the main barrier to the uptake of eye-care services. Among people with uncorrected presbyopia, lack of 'felt need' was the leading barrier. Conclusion: The barriers that were 'relatively easy to change' were reported by those with uncorrected refractive errors in contrast to 'difficult to change' barriers reported by those with uncorrected presbyopia. Together, the data on prevalence and an understanding of the barriers for the uptake of services are critical to the planning of refractive error services.
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    Considering ethics in community eye health planning: perspectives from an existing model.
    ( 2011-01-01) Raman, Usha ; Sheeladevi, Sethu
    Despite the widespread acceptance of the principles of the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 and the subsequent amendments, health for all has remained a distant dream in many parts of the developing world. Concerns such as the economic efficiency of health systems and their reach and coverage have dominated discussions of public health, with ethics remaining at best a shadowy set of assumptions or at worst completely ignored. Similarly, questions of ethics have been taken for granted and rarely addressed directly in the design of public health models across sectors and are rarely explicitly addressed. This paper uses the experience of the L V Prasad Eye Institute's (LVPEI) pyramidal model of eye healthcare delivery to explore ethical issues in the design and implementation of public health interventions. The LVPEI model evolved over time from its beginnings as a tertiary care centre to a network that spans all levels of eye care service delivery from the community through primary and secondary levels. A previously published analytical framework is applied to this model and the utility of this framework as well as the ethics of the LVPEI model are interrogated. An analytical and prescriptive framework is then evolved that could be used to build in and evaluate ethics in other public health delivery models.
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    Clinician-patient communication in a glaucoma clinic in India
    ( 2011-03-01) Mocherla, Shobha ; Raman, Usha ; Holden, Brien
    We compiled data from nonparticipant observations of clinician-patient communication in clinical interactions in a tertiary care eye hospital in India. Applying elements of the French philosopher Michel Foucault's concept of power and knowledge, we deconstructed the structuring and moderating influences on the expert/nonexpert dyad. We found that clinicians enforce their "disciplining power" through varying degrees of communicativeness to bring about compliance in the patient. Clinicians appear to classify the patient as "participant" or "deviant" based on the patient's "internalization" of instructions, and then communicate in predictable ways with the patient. Patients can also wield power, communicating it by understanding and following or not understanding and not clarifying/verifying instructions in the clinic, and thereafter failing to comply with the clinician's advice. We suggest that clinicians need to hone their communication skills both to optimally utilize interactions in the clinic and to encourage patient compliance, thereby making possible better treatment outcomes. © The Author(s) 2011.
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    Expressions of equity: imbalances in the patient-clinician interaction.
    ( 2012-01-01) Mocherla, Shobha ; Raman, Usha ; Holden, Brien
    This paper reports patient perceptions of inequities in the doctor-patient interaction. A mixed method study was conducted in a tertiary eye care centre in southern India to gain an insight into patient understanding and satisfaction from clinician communication. Non-participant observations enabled us to map the sequence of communication opportunities in the clinical interaction, and in-depth interviews were used to identify patient perceptions of the content and clarity of clinician communication in a clinic for patients of glaucoma, a chronic eye disease. A 60-item instrument was administered to 550 participants in the quantitative phase to explore associations between patient expectations, experience and ratings of clinician communication and satisfaction with it. The qualitative results helped map the clinical interaction, highlighting the consequences of poor clinician communication. The quantitative phase showed that patients expected explanations about the disease, the opportunity to ask questions, receiving supportive signals, and being treated as equals. Most patients stated their information source on disease was their doctor, leading us to conclude that clinicians must utilise communication opportunities optimally to ensure every patient has an equal chance to correctly understand their disease and role in treatment. By consciously improving their communication and using it strategically, clinicians can help ensure effective treatment outcomes.
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    Social constructions of religiosity and corruption
    ( 2012-01-07) Pavarala, Vinod ; Malik, Kanchan K.
    Religion coexists witii what may be described as a liberalised, cosmopolitan and global outlook among Indians and remains an indispensable part of the cultural ethos and social fabric of Indian society. However, interpretations of both religion and corruption are extremely diverse. Notwithstanding the existence of deep-seated faith with strong moral values, religion is not seen as contributing to the moral or spiritual fabric of the nation in present times, while corruption is regarded as pervasive. Very few of the respondents canvassed in this study thought that we should count on religion to make a difference in people's general attitudes towards corruption. Respondents indicated that their confidence in the accountability of religious organisations is low, and it is therefore problematic to assume that religious organisations are likely to be either appropriate or effective vehicles for fighting corruption. In fact, religion is looked upon as a discredited entity by many, largely due to a sense of popular disillusionment with Its "caretakers".
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    Social constructions of religiosity and corruption
    ( 2012-01-07) Pavarala, Vinod ; Malik, Kanchan K.
    Religion coexists witii what may be described as a liberalised, cosmopolitan and global outlook among Indians and remains an indispensable part of the cultural ethos and social fabric of Indian society. However, interpretations of both religion and corruption are extremely diverse. Notwithstanding the existence of deep-seated faith with strong moral values, religion is not seen as contributing to the moral or spiritual fabric of the nation in present times, while corruption is regarded as pervasive. Very few of the respondents canvassed in this study thought that we should count on religion to make a difference in people's general attitudes towards corruption. Respondents indicated that their confidence in the accountability of religious organisations is low, and it is therefore problematic to assume that religious organisations are likely to be either appropriate or effective vehicles for fighting corruption. In fact, religion is looked upon as a discredited entity by many, largely due to a sense of popular disillusionment with Its "caretakers".
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    Quantitative and qualitative analysis of nutrition and food safety information in school science textbooks of India
    ( 2012-11-01) Subba Rao, G. M. ; Vijayapushapm, T. ; Venkaiah, K. ; Pavarala, V.
    Objective: To assess quantity and quality of nutrition and food safety information in science textbooks prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India for grades I through X. Design: Content analysis. Methods: A coding scheme was developed for quantitative and qualitative analyses. Two investigators independently coded the data and inter-coder reliability was assessed using Cohens Kappa. The inferences were then reviewed by an expert group. Results: There was high agreement (Kappa = 0.89) between coders. Nutrition topics got 10% pages in textbooks of grades I to VII, while they were omitted in subsequent grades. Food safety got a mere 1% of page allocation only in grades I to III books. Over 25% of biology illustrations related to nutrition in grades I, II and IV but not in others. Nutrition topics in textbooks beyond grade IV were repetitive and inconsistent. Some illustrations depicted uncommon foods and had urban bias. Conclusions: Nutrition and food safety content in science textbooks is low. Important topics such as nutritional needs during adolescence, obesity, unhealthy foods and food labelling are not covered. These findings provide direction for strengthening textbook content to promote nutrition education in schools. © The Author(s) 2011.
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    Communicating Nutrition in Community Settings: Case Studies in Critical Examination of Institutional Approaches in India
    ( 2014-03-01) Gavaravarapu, Subba Rao M. ; Pavarala, Vinod
    With co-existence of under-nutrition and obesity among its people, malnutrition afflicts India like a double-edged sword. The search for solutions has often pointed at 'Nutrition Communication' as a tool in alleviating malnutrition. This study, through three case studies in India, attempts to critically examine how various organizations engaged in nutrition communication perceive, develop and implement communicative processes. These case studies typically combined data collection methods like information gathering and interviews. We realize nutrition communication programmes are top-down, expert-driven and are often denied planning, evaluation or budgets. We argue that factors such as the organization's knowledge of the nutrition problem(s), perceptions of the key communicators, their motivation levels and personal biases also affect the design and implementation of nutrition communication programmes. © 2014 Mudra Institute of Communications.
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    Religion and attitudes towards corruption in India: a collective action problem?
    ( 2014-10-13) Marquette, Heather ; Pavarala, Vinod ; Malik, Kanchan K.
    This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
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    Religion and attitudes towards corruption in India: a collective action problem?
    ( 2014-10-13) Marquette, Heather ; Pavarala, Vinod ; Malik, Kanchan K.
    This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
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    Our Media, Our Principles: Building codes of practice for community radio in India
    ( 2015-09-03) Malik, Kanchan K.
    Community broadcasting is a nascent and unique sector now operating together with the commercial and national players in India and is identified by three significant characteristics—community participation, non-profit making, and community ownership and management. The overarching philosophy of community radio, acknowledged worldwide, is that it is a tool for social justice and a platform for community voices. Community radio seeks to counter the hegemony of the mainstream media and move away from the commerce-driven negative tendencies of media and journalism such as sensationalism, tabloidization, celebrity-worship, the unrestrained use of hidden cameras and paid news. Ordinary people, through participation in management, content production and organization, produce information relevant to them, choose their own stories, express their voice and define their identity. As India witnesses an endeavour to erect a nationwide network of thousands of autonomous, locally orientated community radio stations, it becomes necessary to build a set of codes of practice for this third tier of broadcasting so that it does not become a clone of mainstream media. This paper looks at some of these principles that the community radio sector in India must hold as sacred in order to strengthen civil society, journalism practices and democracy in India.