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DW Akademie was collaborating with TGM Research

TGM BEST PRACTICES: ONLINE RESEARCH IN JORDAN

Deutsche Welle Akademie using online surveys to assess media literacy programs

How did the Deutsche Welle use online surveys to assess the efficiency of the media and literacy actions in Jordan?

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Deutsche Welle Akademie using online surveys to assess media literacy programs

DW Akademie was collaborating with TGM Research using online surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of DW Akademie’s Media and Literacy (MIL) efforts in creating a positive impact on the youths in the MENA region.

Project Background:

Deutsche Welle Akademie (DW) is a world-renown media outlet setting high standards for education and independent journalism. It plays a key role in the development of free and transparent media systems worldwide and currently leads multiple projects around the globe to improve accessibility quality journalism, as well as offer programs to boost media skills.

DW Akademie’s ultimate goal is to advocate for human rights, freedom of speech without discrimination, and the accessibility to independent sources of information. One of the programs run by DW focused on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) - the skills ordinary people need to be able to understand and effectively use media and information sources, as well as their own media. The study was especially essential to DW as disinformation is becoming more accessible, and the ability to evaluate the “trustworthiness” of information is an important skill to thrive in this information age.

Research Goals:

To evaluate the effectiveness of DW Akademie’s Media and Information Literacy efforts in creating a positive impact on youths aged 18 to 25 years in the MENA region.

The key was to measure an indicator that proves selected participants in MIL modules are significantly more resilient toward COVID-19 related false information than a control group.

Determining whether there has been a success in any MIL efforts is through proper research and evaluation. Measurement included items such as:

  • How confident are you about your ability to judge the quality of sources when you get messages about the news?
  • Combatting fake news and conspiracy theories is everyone’s responsibility.
  • Now tell us how strongly you agree with the following statement: "I trust the person or company that has written the post".
Deutsche Welle for years has been supporting multiple programs in MENA region
Deutsche Welle for years has been supporting multiple programs in MENA region (source: DW)

Challenge:

Jordan is a small country with approximately 7 million people and has a relatively high internet penetration rate (67%). However, most of the population is not accessible through online survey panels. Considering the scope of the study, it was also crucial to access respondents who are highly engaged to have them participate in both measurements. If we approached this project with a standard approach, it could have resulted in high drop-out rates between tests; consequently undermining the entire project and impacting the design of similar initiatives.

For this reason, DW contacted TGM Research to receive support with study design and data collection.

Methodology:

  • Country: Jordan nationwide
  • Sample profile: general online population (representative digital-national sample in terms of demographics & regions), 18-25, gender (50 females/50 females)
  • Design:  experiment design, randomized control trial consisting of three groups to test – one control group and two treatments groups (the groups of people who will be exposed to MIL mobile application) with:
(pre-test)
Measurement 1:
a benchmark study asking about attitudes and usage and perceptions around information/ misinformation topics in Jordan.
(post-test)
Measurement 2:
survey of 10-15 min length conducted seven days after the pre-test and after the participants have interacted with the mobile application (free game/application accessible from both Android and Appstore).
  • Sample size: N = 300 online interviews.
  • Scope of work: localization (translation to Arabic), recruitment, data collection, data cleaning and processing and rewards handlining.

Measurement Process:

  • 1. Recruitment: recruiting people from 18 to 25 years old in Jordan for a pre-test study with allocation to three cells using true randomization and three different apps to test.
      Sampling pool: we used our own and partner's panels alongside dynamic sampling - we also created viral content with a prize draw to tease potential participants and to increase engagement.
      For data quality validation: (key for such markets), we implemented multiple control mechanisms based on our proprietary tech, such as digital fingerprinting alongside human-based manual check : using app screenshots to load in the survey and verify whether people installed it and played with it.
Treatment group version 1
Group 1:
(N=100 participants with 50% male, 50% females)
Treatment group version 2
Group 2:
(N=100 participants with 50% male, 50% females)
Treatment group version 3
Group 3:
(N=100 participants with 50% male, 50% females)
  • 2. One week later: participants had to install an app and interact with it for at least 60 min (three cells allocations and three different apps or games to test).
  • 3. Filling a post-test : qustionnaire study to see the impact of each app. LOI=15
      Providing rewards: custom rewards using mobile top-ups (very challenging logistically in these countries, and only very few companies can have access to systems allowing smooth payouts).
Market Research in Jordan

Outcome:

The whole project took about one month, with ongoing recruitment for the pre-test part. We made sure to keep a gap of seven days before the invitation to install the mobile application with all related instructions and panel support and finally invited participants for the post-test study.
The final conversion for the people completing all parts successfully has been ~15%; this means TGM Research recruited ~2,000 participants for the pre-test to guarantee a sample of n=300 participants at the end with the requested quotas.

Client's feedback:


As the leading online data collection agency, TGM Research conducted multiple market research projects in Jordan, pioneering online research in this market. To learn more about other recent projects we did in Jordan or MENA region and our expertise, please contact us.
We hope you have found this short guide useful
If you have any further questions about how best to set up your online research study in Jordan or MENA region, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
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