The Research and Learning Group

Research services

Researchers getting ready for the field

The BBC World Service Trust has recruited and trained an international team of research professionals from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom to form the 'Research and Learning Group'.

The Research and Learning Group is a leader in the field of media and international development research. Established in 2005, it aims to be the premier global resource for research on using media for development, serving the media and development community worldwide.

To date, the Research & Learning Group has delivered research in 42 languages across 39 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Read more about the Research and Learning Group

Key activities

The Research & Learning Group focuses on four key activities:

  • Providing audience and market insights both to inform the development of mass media campaigns, and throughout the lifecycle of the initiative
  • Conducting qualitative and quantitative research studies to assess the impact of mass media campaigns
  • Enhancing research skills and capacity in developing countries through formal training, mentoring and knowledge sharing
  • Ensuring that research findings and methodological insights are documented and widely disseminated through reports, publications and conferences

In addition, the Research & Learning Group occasionally conducts stand-alone research projects such as the African Media Development Initiative, a pan-African study which aims to better understand the state of the media in 17 sub-Saharan African countries.

The award winning Africa Talks Climate initiative is a multi country stand-alone research and communications project to inform policy and debate. Discussions were convened with over 1000 citizens from DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, and interviews carried out with nearly 200 policy-makers, religious leaders, business people, journalists and civil society representatives. The aim of the research was to assess public understanding of climate change and identify how communication and media could best support Africans’ response to climate change.

The Research & Learning Group draws on cutting-edge thinking from academic and commercial media research, and international development studies, and adheres to a strict set of ethical and professional standards.

Research studies

The following are examples of recent research studies conducted by the Research & Learning Group:

  • Evaluating opinions about transitional justice in Sierra Leone & Liberia
  • HIV and AIDS midline and endline: knowledge, attitudes and practices survey with young media consumers in Nigeria
  • HIV and AIDS related stigma and discrimination: A baseline study in the Indian states of Manipur and Nagaland
  • Insights on homeless people in Bangladesh
  • Men who have sex with men: A formative study in Cambodia
  • Sentinel survey of media and HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and practice in six provinces of Cambodia
  • Sexual and reproductive health knowledge, attitude and practice survey among 15-24 year-olds in Ethiopia
  • A survey with radio listeners working in the livestock sector in Somalia
  • Gender-based violence research: Darfur Lifeline project
  • National survey in Afghanistan on the impact of the BBC World Service Trust's 'Afghan Women's Hour' and Afghan Education Projects
  • Understanding audiences of the Iranian multi-platform media development project
  • Using content analysis to measure the influence of media development interventions: Elections training for journalists in Yemen
  • National survey for media and development: 'Voices of Burma

Collaboration

The Research & Learning Group collaborates on a variety of activities with the following institutions, including research, internships and capacity building:

  • Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
  • Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California
  • Bloomsbury Colleges Group
  • Cambodia Centre for Health Promotion
  • International Centre for Transitional Justice
  • London School of Economics
  • Office of Transitional Initiatives, USAID
  • Open University
  • Oxford Internet Institute
  • Search for Common Ground
  • Society for Family Health
  • UNFPA
  • University of Adelaide