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Communications Landscaping - North and Latin American Transnational Communities: Methodology
General aspects
The Rockefeller Foundation awarded the project "Panorama of Communications among Transnational Communities in North America and Latin America" to Communication Initiative for Latin America (CILA) in September 2003. The general purpose of the project is to create a map or outline that will identify the infrastructure of this sector, the communication strategies and legislation that govern communication associated with migration processes in Central American nations that initiate migration as related to the United States, with special emphasis on Mexico, (Oaxaca, Puebla/Veracruz, Zacatecas), El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Guatemala, in order to become familiar with and better understand these communities' communication processes, their nature, and the problems, actions, and activities involved.
The project was carried out from October 2003 to June 2004, from Bogota, Colombia, with the collaboration of informers in the nations involved. Fernando Calero Aparicio coordinated the project with the assistance of Ligia Consuelo Macías. The Communication Initiative team facilitated operational and administrative support. Adelaida Trujillo, Communication Initiative for Latin America Director, and Juana Marulanda, CILA web page editor were in charge of the executive and technical management.
Click here to see La Iniciativa de Comunicación team.
Process
The first step in developing the project was composing a Base Document to serve as a foundation for defining and delimiting the study, as well as a means of presenting its nature, general characteristics, objectives, geographical focus areas, and constitutive elements.
The next sep, after this initial research, was to create the Control Matrix, a structure or protocol like a map to serve as a guideline for defining the contents, search areas, the main questions that we intended to answer throughout the study, step by step and going from the most concrete and specific questions –control questions – to the most general ones, passing through broad or general questions, categories and level of analysis, until answering the three methodological queries proposed. This matrix-protocol became an essential instrument for data gathering.
Due to its nature and characteristics, the Control Matrix was fundamental during the whole process, both for planning the activities to be carried out for the purpose of meeting the proposed objectives and for classifying and organizing data. In order to fully use and take advantage of this work tool, we prepared a complementary, explanatory document aimed at the project collaborators. The document is called Considerations for Working with the Control Matrix; it contains a more detailed definition of the categories contained in the Control Matrix.
Aware of the complex nature of the topic under study and for the purpose of obtaining the most precise, localized information possible on the various project topics, the team decided to create a Follow-up and Control Panel or team of informers on the situation of communication among transnational communities in the geographical areas of interest. With these informers, we were able to handle concerns and questions as they arose, but even more important, we were able to clarify some paradigmatic elements in these communities' study focuses, as well as scope and limitations, regarding the topic, the methodology, and data gathering.
This Panel was selected based on work areas, experience, and knowledge of the topics related to the specific queries. We found some if its members during the information search process; we contacted others thanks to professional references and recommendations made by academicians and experts in this field. As may be seen in the Control Panel Member Profile, some are experts in Migration and others in the area of Communication or in fields somehow related to these topics. The Panel had nine members, one from each country, with the following exceptions: El Salvador where we had different collaborators for the first stage and the second stage of the study, Mexico that had two different approaches, and Honduras where unfortunately, of the persons and institutions that we found in out timeframe, none were interested in being a member of the Panel.
The Panel members wrote up three questionnaires, one for basic information, one on communications media, and the other was general. They also prepared a
Search Based on "the Elements That Make Up the Study"
In order to gather data on the elements that made up the study - academic literature, communications media, and communications and telecommunications regulatory frameworks, all of them related to transnational communities and communication with emphasis on the geographical areas established -, we did a constant search, mainly through the Internet, but also by consulting experts. Furthermore, for our research we made up a contact network integrated by specialists, students, academicians, and persons somehow related to or interested in the topic of transnational communities and communication. We developed a dialog with some of them, which enriched some of the points of view regarding the query at hand.
Our final result was a selection using the most representative experiences, papers, and materials possible for each one of the study components, which we classified based on thematic and geographic categories; eight final essays and a general document that presents a global panorama of the development of the process and the situation observed regarding communications among transnational communities in the different nations under study.
Completion and Conclusions
The last stage of the project consisted of our final consolidation of the data gathered using the different sources, having it translated in some cases, and putting the results in the Communication Initiative for Latin America web page.
In parallel, we recorded the main project findings in a definitive document - Overview - that presents a global panorama of the development of the process and the situation observed regarding communications among transnational communities in the different nations under study. The document was written, as the others, broaching the three research questions and also methodological aspects, conceptual elements, the limitations and obstacles faced, as well as the main achievements and successes.
Comments / Lessons Learned on the Work Methodology
Carrying out this project proved to be an enriching experience, not only in terms of the findings, but also in terms of the process, method, and methodology per se, regarding which we would like to express some reflections and considerations.
Since the very beginning of the project, the need to discover, almost experimentally, the most appropriate methodology to apply to this type of research was evident. This was partly because of the breadth and complexity of the topic and partly because of not having references or the history of similar studies to be able to use as an example due to the fact that communication among transnational communities is a relatively new field of study.
Therefore, in spite of our having set up strategies, procedures, and protocols from the onset, we suggested new strategies and methods along the road based on the arising needs and requirements. Our goal was to boast a multidisciplinary perspective that was rigorous but, at the same time, flexible, standardized in its scopes, but not homogenous, for it to adapt to the specific requirements of working with collaborators in different nations and contexts.
Paradoxically, in spite of the importance that the topic of transnational communities presently enjoys, in general, and in the nations under study, in particular, one of the greatest difficulties that the team had to face was finding material aimed at communication among these groups. Communication appears as a relevant aspect to understand transnationalism, but it is not treated in depth nor with the expected magnitude in most studies. It was not easy for us either to find productions in communication media specifically devoted to the topic.
The on-line nature of the research was a determining element for both the process and the results obtained. It is important to mention that many things were probably not included, such as community or institution experiences that, for several reasons, are not present in the Internet or that were not taken into account by our collaborators and panelists.
The lack of physical presence in the places under study was at least partly compensated by the Control Panel. However, it was obvious that fieldwork is needed in the specific sites, with the communities themselves and with the informers and collaborators.
We wish to state our concern, echoed by the participants, for this project to be merely the seed for further research on the topic of transnational communities and communication, which we have found to be broad and rich in study possibilities.
Back to Table of Contents.
The Rockefeller Foundation awarded the project "Panorama of Communications among Transnational Communities in North America and Latin America" to Communication Initiative for Latin America (CILA) in September 2003. The general purpose of the project is to create a map or outline that will identify the infrastructure of this sector, the communication strategies and legislation that govern communication associated with migration processes in Central American nations that initiate migration as related to the United States, with special emphasis on Mexico, (Oaxaca, Puebla/Veracruz, Zacatecas), El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Guatemala, in order to become familiar with and better understand these communities' communication processes, their nature, and the problems, actions, and activities involved.
The project was carried out from October 2003 to June 2004, from Bogota, Colombia, with the collaboration of informers in the nations involved. Fernando Calero Aparicio coordinated the project with the assistance of Ligia Consuelo Macías. The Communication Initiative team facilitated operational and administrative support. Adelaida Trujillo, Communication Initiative for Latin America Director, and Juana Marulanda, CILA web page editor were in charge of the executive and technical management.
Click here to see La Iniciativa de Comunicación team.
Process
The first step in developing the project was composing a Base Document to serve as a foundation for defining and delimiting the study, as well as a means of presenting its nature, general characteristics, objectives, geographical focus areas, and constitutive elements.
The next sep, after this initial research, was to create the Control Matrix, a structure or protocol like a map to serve as a guideline for defining the contents, search areas, the main questions that we intended to answer throughout the study, step by step and going from the most concrete and specific questions –control questions – to the most general ones, passing through broad or general questions, categories and level of analysis, until answering the three methodological queries proposed. This matrix-protocol became an essential instrument for data gathering.
Due to its nature and characteristics, the Control Matrix was fundamental during the whole process, both for planning the activities to be carried out for the purpose of meeting the proposed objectives and for classifying and organizing data. In order to fully use and take advantage of this work tool, we prepared a complementary, explanatory document aimed at the project collaborators. The document is called Considerations for Working with the Control Matrix; it contains a more detailed definition of the categories contained in the Control Matrix.
Aware of the complex nature of the topic under study and for the purpose of obtaining the most precise, localized information possible on the various project topics, the team decided to create a Follow-up and Control Panel or team of informers on the situation of communication among transnational communities in the geographical areas of interest. With these informers, we were able to handle concerns and questions as they arose, but even more important, we were able to clarify some paradigmatic elements in these communities' study focuses, as well as scope and limitations, regarding the topic, the methodology, and data gathering.
This Panel was selected based on work areas, experience, and knowledge of the topics related to the specific queries. We found some if its members during the information search process; we contacted others thanks to professional references and recommendations made by academicians and experts in this field. As may be seen in the Control Panel Member Profile, some are experts in Migration and others in the area of Communication or in fields somehow related to these topics. The Panel had nine members, one from each country, with the following exceptions: El Salvador where we had different collaborators for the first stage and the second stage of the study, Mexico that had two different approaches, and Honduras where unfortunately, of the persons and institutions that we found in out timeframe, none were interested in being a member of the Panel.
The Panel members wrote up three questionnaires, one for basic information, one on communications media, and the other was general. They also prepared a
Search Based on "the Elements That Make Up the Study"
In order to gather data on the elements that made up the study - academic literature, communications media, and communications and telecommunications regulatory frameworks, all of them related to transnational communities and communication with emphasis on the geographical areas established -, we did a constant search, mainly through the Internet, but also by consulting experts. Furthermore, for our research we made up a contact network integrated by specialists, students, academicians, and persons somehow related to or interested in the topic of transnational communities and communication. We developed a dialog with some of them, which enriched some of the points of view regarding the query at hand.
Our final result was a selection using the most representative experiences, papers, and materials possible for each one of the study components, which we classified based on thematic and geographic categories; eight final essays and a general document that presents a global panorama of the development of the process and the situation observed regarding communications among transnational communities in the different nations under study.
Completion and Conclusions
The last stage of the project consisted of our final consolidation of the data gathered using the different sources, having it translated in some cases, and putting the results in the Communication Initiative for Latin America web page.
In parallel, we recorded the main project findings in a definitive document - Overview - that presents a global panorama of the development of the process and the situation observed regarding communications among transnational communities in the different nations under study. The document was written, as the others, broaching the three research questions and also methodological aspects, conceptual elements, the limitations and obstacles faced, as well as the main achievements and successes.
Comments / Lessons Learned on the Work Methodology
Carrying out this project proved to be an enriching experience, not only in terms of the findings, but also in terms of the process, method, and methodology per se, regarding which we would like to express some reflections and considerations.
Since the very beginning of the project, the need to discover, almost experimentally, the most appropriate methodology to apply to this type of research was evident. This was partly because of the breadth and complexity of the topic and partly because of not having references or the history of similar studies to be able to use as an example due to the fact that communication among transnational communities is a relatively new field of study.
Therefore, in spite of our having set up strategies, procedures, and protocols from the onset, we suggested new strategies and methods along the road based on the arising needs and requirements. Our goal was to boast a multidisciplinary perspective that was rigorous but, at the same time, flexible, standardized in its scopes, but not homogenous, for it to adapt to the specific requirements of working with collaborators in different nations and contexts.
Paradoxically, in spite of the importance that the topic of transnational communities presently enjoys, in general, and in the nations under study, in particular, one of the greatest difficulties that the team had to face was finding material aimed at communication among these groups. Communication appears as a relevant aspect to understand transnationalism, but it is not treated in depth nor with the expected magnitude in most studies. It was not easy for us either to find productions in communication media specifically devoted to the topic.
The on-line nature of the research was a determining element for both the process and the results obtained. It is important to mention that many things were probably not included, such as community or institution experiences that, for several reasons, are not present in the Internet or that were not taken into account by our collaborators and panelists.
The lack of physical presence in the places under study was at least partly compensated by the Control Panel. However, it was obvious that fieldwork is needed in the specific sites, with the communities themselves and with the informers and collaborators.
We wish to state our concern, echoed by the participants, for this project to be merely the seed for further research on the topic of transnational communities and communication, which we have found to be broad and rich in study possibilities.
Back to Table of Contents.
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