672,00 USD 9 340,39 USD 13 012,39 USD Fuente: Elaboración propia (2014).

Defining the assignment of numerals to objects is considered rather comprehensive when the process of factors is measured. The operationalisation of communication on MAC plants is composed of a number of associations which indicate a concept, converting it into an operational definition known as a variable which can be measured.

The measurement techniques are then applied to units of its indicators and the related categories. If the operational definition indicates that the concept should be measured by a combination of various variables, for instance, ‘socio-economic status’ (SES), the measurement process is then also defined as the correlation among its components.

In the study of communication on MAC plants in Lembang, the various ‘blocks’, such as predisposing, perceived need, enabling, institutional, intervening and dependent factors, are operationalised in accordance with the previous steps mentioned in the measurement process of the Tables 3.1 – 3.8.4

In line with the previously mentioned Figure 3.1, the multivariate model of the study is constructed on eigtht categories or ‘blocks’ of factors, respectively:

Block 2 Predisposing factors (psycho-social factors); Block 3 Enabling factors (socio-economic status factors);

Block.4 Perceived need factors (satisfaction about MAC plants in arisan factors);

Block 5 Institutional factors (arisan association and toga);

Block 6 Intervening factors (exchange of information about toga factors);

Block 7 Communication on MAC plant knowledge and practice for health promotion and illness prevention factors;

Block 8 Communication on MAC plant knowledge and practice for treatment factors.

Block 1 and Block 2: Predisposing Factors

The factors concerned are socio-demographic and psycho-social factors of respondents at the individual level. The socio-demographic factors are composed of background variables such as ‘age’, ‘formal education’, ‘religion’, ‘occupation’, ‘size of household’ and ‘marital status’. Previously, it was stated that the factor ‘gender’ was initially recorded, but had to be deleted from the analytical model, since the actual research is conducted among the partners of the household heads who are all women and also members of the arisan association in Lembang.

The same arrangement occurred in the predisposing socio-demographic factor of ethnicity since almost all members of the arisan association belong to the same Sundanese ethnic group in the research area. The assessment of variables in this category consists of the documentation of the so-called ‘hard’ background variables collected during the household surveys, and therefore their measurement does not require specific techniques of documentation.

Table 3.1 shows the composition of predisposing socio-demographic factors in Block 1 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level. Table 3.2 shows the composition of the predisposing psycho-social factors in Block 2 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level. Since the assessment of the variables in this category includes the documentation of ‘soft’ factors collected during the household surveys, their measurement needs specific techniques of documentation.

Table 3.1: Block 1: Predisposing factors: concepts, variables, indicators and categories.

Concepts Variable Indicator Category

Socio- demographic characteristics at individual level

age number of years 0-5; 6-10; 11-15; 16-20; 21-25; 26-30; 31-35; 36-40; 41-45; 46-50; 51-55; 56-60; 61-65; 66-70; 71-75; 76-80; 81+

formal education type of school none; elementary s.; junior high s.; senior high s.; academy/univ. non-formal

education

non-formal education yes; no

ethnicity ethnic group Sundanese; Javanese;

Batak; Padang; other

religion type of religion Islam; Protestant; Catholic; Buddhism; Hinduism; other profession main profession retired; housewife;

civil servant; entrepreneur; other additional

occupation

additional occupation none; florist; printer; telephone-kiosk attendant; seamstress; merchant; handicraft; beautician; other

membership membership of sort none; arisan; library; of institution PKK; other

household size number of HH members real numbers

The qualitative part of the study is used to identify the margins, in order to achieve a non- normative but realistic validation of such cognitive phenomena within the domain of the communities concerned. This step is followed by the execution of a nominal distribution. Later, the total range of the variation of the variables is defined on the basis of cumulative scores of indicators, which permits a differentiation in levels to be made. Finally, all the answer scores are sub-divided into five equal answer categories, reflecting the actual distribution within the sample.

Table 3.2: Block 2: Predisposing factors: concepts, variables, indicators and categories

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Psycho-social knowledge of MAC level of knowledge little knowledge; characteristics at plants for health average knowledge;

individual level promotion much knowledge

knowledge of MAC level of knowledge little knowledge; plants for illness average knowledge;

prevention much knowledge

knowledge of MAC level of knowledge little knowledge; plants for remedies average knowledge;

of treatment much knowledge

belief in MAC plant for health promotion

level of belief little belief; average belief; much belief belief in MAC plants

for illness prevention

level of belief little belief; average belief; much belief belief in MAC plants

for treatment

level of belief little belief; average belief; much belief opinion of role of

arisan in MAC plants for health promotion

level of opinion low; medium; high

opinion of role of

arisan in MAC plants for illness prevention

level of opinion low; medium; high opinion of role of

arisan in MAC plants for treatment

level of opinion low; medium; high

This strategy facilitates the categorisation of data in a scale of generally three similar categories of measurement of levels, built up from cumulative answer scores (ΣM), ranging from ‘little’, through ‘average’ to ‘much’. This example shows that the level can be assessed by letting the respondent score his/her answer into one of these three categories. The superiority of this technique is that the knowledge level of respondents is measured on the basis of local - emic - parameters, and not on the basis of external – etic - parameters.

Block 3: Enabling Factors

These enabling factors describe characteristics which are related to the socio-economic status (SES) of the arisan member at the individual level. This status is established on the basis of various related indicators such as family income, type of house owned, area of land owned, type of vehicle owned, state of house, livestock possessed and household budget, which are subjected to a factor analysis in order to acquire the overall status of the surveyed households. Table 3.3 shows the composition of the enabling factors in Block 3 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level.

Table 3.3: Block 3: Enabling factors: concepts, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Socio-Economic characteristics at individual level

socio-economic status (SES)

level of SES poor; average; well-to-do

Block 4: Perceived Need Factors

These perceived need factors describe characteristics which are related to the perceived satisfaction of the arisan members at the individual level with the arisan activities in the exchange of information about MAC plant knowledge and practice.

Table 3.4: Block 4: Perceived need factors: concept, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Perceived satisfaction at individual level satisfaction with arisan activities on MAC plants

level of satisfaction little satisfaction; average satisfaction; much satisfaction

Slikkerveer (1990: 74) states that the perceived need factor is: ‘a major determinant of behaviour’ and Koos (1954) indicates that socio-cultural determinants are strongly influencing the perception and interpretation of illness to varying degrees and this has subsequently been confirmed by extensive medical anthropological and sociological research. In accordance with this study, perceived satisfaction is defined as the observation and interpretation of the arisan institution activities which initiate the decision-making process of information exchange and communication on MAC plants. Table 3.4 presents the composition of perceived need factors in Block 4 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level.

Block 5: Institutional Factors

These institutional factors represent characteristics which are related to the arisan association in the survey at the system level. The frequency of participation in the arisan activities could be expressed in terms of the geographical or financial accessibility of the arisan association. Slikkerveer (1990) states, that in general sociological theory, these concepts are known as ‘availability’ and ‘accessibility’ of services and in recent studies of developing countries they have been extended to include also functional and cultural dimensions (Slikkerveer 1990). Table 3.5 shows the composition of institutional factors in Block 5 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the system level.

Table 3.5: Block 5: Institutional factors: concepts, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Arisan association frequency of arisan frequency of arisan

meeting in a month

Once; twice; three times; other kind of activities in arisan kind of activities in arisan Presentations; demonstrations;

arisan lottery; other

Block 6: Intervening factors

These intervening factors represent characteristics related to external dynamic interventions at the local community level. Such dynamism is generally regarded as the external ‘agents of change’ which impact on factors at both the individual and system levels to influence or even create new behaviour which is different from the traditional ways of life.

Table 3.6: Block 6: Intervening factors: concept, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Intervening characteristics at the system level exchange of MAC plants knowledge of MAC plants low; average; high

The influx of information through the mass media, printed as well as in electronic form, provide local people in Lembang with new perspectives on and knowledge of both traditional herbal medicine and modern medicine. Consequently, in the treatment of a sick household member the systems approach shows that communication in various medical systems can be regarded as a specific form of provider behaviour resulting from a complex pattern of behaviour and interaction where during the communication process specific knowledge is provided.

Block 7 and Block 8: Communication on MAC Plants for Health Promotion and Illness Prevention, and Communication on MACPlants for Treatment Factors

Communication on MAC plants for health promotion and illness prevention, and for treatment factors are composed of the two related categories of characteristics in the model which are the result from the dynamic process of interaction between and among independent (predisposing, enabling, perceived need, and institutional) variables and intervening variables which are interacting with the variables of the reported communication behaviour on MAC plants in a differential mode.

These dependent variables also indicate the potentially corresponding changes from non- communication to communication on MAC plant knowledge and practice. As indicated above, the dependent variable of communication behaviour on MAC plants is operationalised by a sub-division into two categories: communication on MAC plants for health promotion and illness prevention, and communication on MAC plants for treatment, so that a clear and differentiated analysis and explanation of the resulting patterns of reported communication behaviour on MAC plants can be obtained. In combination, the dependent factors in Blocks 7 and 8 present the overall patterns of communication behaviour - as reported by respondents over the previous twelve-month period of time in the research area - on MAC plant knowledge and practice, not only for health promotion and illness prevention, but also for the treatment of illness.

Table 3.7: Block 7: Dependent factors of communication behaviour of MAC plants for healthpromotion & illness prevention: concepts, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Dependent factors of communication on MAC plants at the individual level communication on MAC plant knowledge and practice level of communication ‘little’, ‘average’, ‘much’.

Table 3.7 presents the composition of dependent factors of communication behaviour on MAC plants for health promotion and illness prevention in Block 7 in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level.

Table 3.8: Block 8: Dependent factors of communication behaviour on MAC plants for treatment: concepts, variables, indicators and categories.

Concept Variable Indicator Category

Dependent factors of communication on MAC plants at the individual level communication on MAC plant knowledge and practice level of communiction ‘little’, ‘average’, ‘much’

Table 3.8 presents the composition of communication behaviour on MAC plants for treatment in terms of variables, indicators and categories of the model at the individual level. In the final analysis, the dependent variables of communication on MAC plants for health promotion and illness prevention, and the communication on MAC plants for treatment in Blocks 7 and 8 are joined to affirm the concept of integrated communication on MAC plants for health promotion and illness prevention and MAC plants for treatment.

The presentation of the results of the execution of Phase 2, including the preparation, exploration and the situational analysis, followed by the execution of Phase 3 concerning the qualitative study, is further explained in Chapter V.

In addition, the description of the quantitative surveys is presented in Chapter VIII. After the elaboration of the methodological inputs into the conceptual model of this study in Lembang, it is feasible to document, analyse and explain the relationships and interactions among the various blocks of independent and intervening variables in relation with the blocks of dependent variables of communication behaviour in the model.

First, however, the next Chapter IV presents a sociographic description of the research setting of the study in Lembang, West Java.

Notes

1. While the term factor mostly refers to a characteristic of individuals or systems, in this context it is often regarded to predispose, enable or intervene in human behaviour. The related variable or set of variables is assumed to be equivalent in the context of analytical or model-related methodologies, such as the socio-demographic factor of ‘age’ of a respondent transforms into the variable ‘age’ in the analytical model.

2. As Slikkerveer (2006: 24) indicates: ‘The etic perspective relies upon the extrinsic concepts and categories that have meaning for scientific observers (e.g. per capita energy consumption)’.

3. The complementarity of the historical and contemporary approaches to the reconstruction and understanding of agricultural agro-systems has been aptly demonstrated by Wigboldus and Slikkerveer (1991), who present their new approaches from Wageningen and Leiden in applying the ethnosystems methodology to the study of agricultural development in Kenya, East Africa. In this approach special attention is paid to processes and changes in land-use and agricultural production, plants, crops and cropping, tools and tillage, vegetation and soil types in conjunction with the indigenous agricultural knowledge systems. For a further assessment of the quantitative study and analysis of traditional agricultural systems in East Africa, see also Leakey and Slikkerveer (1991) and the INDAKS Report (1994).

4. The eight ‘blocks’ of factors represented by the concepts, variables and indicators have been formed in accordance with the specifications and definitions, as further elaborated in the Questionnaire (2005). Following the methodological achievements made in the quantitative approaches in ethnoscience with regard to the understanding of human behaviour, the multivariate model of the study in Lembang is built on eight categories or ‘blocks’, as indicated in Figure 3.1.