Bottom-up and inside-out: using participatory methodology to measure the social impact of a radio engagement project with young people of refugee experience

Abstract

The divergent and complex nature of the Australian community broadcasting sector complicates any attempt to measure its social impact, as does the general lack of consensus within academic debates on how best to measure, record, and demonstrate the sector’s long-term effects (Jallov 2005). This article focuses specifically on the use of participatory monitoring and evaluation processes as a method for determining the social impact of community radio projects. It draws its findings from a pilot research project that involved the production of a radio series, produced by young people from refugee backgrounds living in Adelaide, South Australia, to investigate how community radio can positively contribute to resettlement experiences. This paper does not report on the findings of the research project itself but rather provides insight into how a bottom-up and inside-out approach, embedded within a participatory action research methodology, can be useful for developing key indicators by which the success of such projects can be measured.