Communication and Media
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://repository.chuka.ac.ke/handle/chuka/314
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Awareness and Utilization of Electronic Resources by Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Members in Universities:A Case of Chuka University(IJSSAH, 2018-06-25) Nyaboke ,Onsinyo,Charity,Mbugua,,Ngereki,AnthonyThestudysoughttoinvestigatetheawarenessandutilizationofelectronicresourcesbyacademicstaffintheHumanitiesandSocialSciencesFacultyatChukaUniversity,Kenya.Thepurposeoftheinvestigationwastoinquireabouttherespondents’ appreciationoftheresources,levelofutilizationbasedonavailabilityandaccess,benefitsderivedfromusageaswellaschallengesencountered,asaresultofusage.Thestudyadoptedthedescriptivesurveyresearchdesign.Thefindingsrevealedthat82%oftherespondentswereawareoftheelectronicresourcessubscribedtobytheUniversityandthatand86%oftherespondentsutilizedtheresourcestwoorthreetimesaweek.Thestudyidentifiedinconsistentinternetconnectivity,Lackofcomputerskills,slownetwork,poweroutageandirrelevantelectronicinformationresourcesashindrancestotheutilizationoftheseelectronicresources.ThestudyrecommendsenhancementofInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)networkorbandwidth,increasingthenumberofInformationandCommunicationTechnologies,provisionoffacultyspecificusertrainingandinformationliteracyinstruction,andincreasingmarketingstrategiesItem The Study of Academic Procrastınation levels of the Students of High School in Terms of Some Variables(SAS Publishers, 2018-10-30) Kurkcu,RecepThe aims of thisstudyisto determinetheacademicprocrastination levelsof the hıgh school students and analyze this behavior according to the variables, gender, doingsports,gradelevelandage.Thisresearchisadescriptivestudyinwhich qualitative research techniques are applied. The hıgh school students studying in state high schools in Tokat and Giresun constitute the population of this study. The sample of the study consists of 561 students (232 female and 329 male) studying in different schools participated in this study. The personal information form and “Procrastination Tendency Scale” which was developed by Aitken (1982), and adapted into Turkish by Balkıs (2006) were used as data collecting means in the research in order to determine theknowledgeaboutthedemographicalcharacteristicsofthehıghschoolstudents. SPSS 20 software package was used in the solution of the data. The average points of theacademicprocrastinationtendenciesofhıghschoolstudentsaresignificantly differentiatedbasedonthevariablesofgender,doingsports,gradelevelandage. However,theacademicprocrastinationtendenciesofhıghschoolstudentshaven’t shown a significant diversity based on the schools at which they are studyingItem Mushroom as A Strategy to Reduce Food Insecurity inTharaka Nthi County(Chuka University, 2019-01-18) Anne,SandeFood insecurity has negatively affected livelihoods both in rural and urban communities especiallyin Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Some communities are victims of food insecurity due to unsustainable dietary choices. Mushrooms can be part of the solution to world’s food shortage as well as health problems. The popularity of the mushroom has been growing in many parts of Kenya. Although mushroom has high value, no market in Tharaka Nthi County provides the produce for sale. Preliminary surveys were conducted in Chuka, Tharaka and Maara and it was noted that the wild edible mushroomtypes were highlyexistent in this County in March and November, but the community seemed not to understand the usefulness of the product in food and nutrition security. Only two large hotels in the County were observed as utilizing mushroom flour for making appetizer. Generally the mushroom was indicated as not popular in Tharaka Nthi County because of; lack of knowledge on food, nutritional and medicinal value, fear for poisonous nature, unpalatable taste, high perish ability, lack of knowledge on value addition and preparation. Some of the suggestions given for enhancing utilisation of thisproduct in the communities were; education on howto distinguishbetweenpoisonous and non poisonous mushrooms,sensitization by advertisement through media, use of entertainment in drama, songs, poems among others, fortification of mushroom with other foods especially children’s food, commercialization of mushroom by experts, exchange program through cultural workshops and seminars to enhance training of various groups on how to prepare mushroom,training of women and youth groups, use of medical prescriptions, introduction of cultivated mushroom in the area.Item Usage and Perceived Risks of Commercial Websites in Kenya(IJHSSI, 2018-12) Nabea,Henry NkoruCommercial websites are a form of internet advertising which is formed by companies as an advertising tool hosting many forms of online advertisement to promote products and services. Researchers and practitioners have equally agreed on the abilities of a commercial website as an advertising instrument that offers unlimited potential and benefits. This study sought to investigate consumers’ uses and gratifications obtained from commercial websites advertising in Kenya. The study employed descriptive research design. Purposive sampling procedure was used to sample Nairobi. Random sampling was used to sample Kenyan 384 commercial websites users with a from a target population of one million users. A pilot study was carried in Thika town to establish reliability and validity of the research instruments. The researcher used CronbachAlpha co-efficient to test the reliability of the instruments. A reliability co-efficient of 0.985 was obtained from thequestionnaires.Descriptivestatistics wasusedtoevaluatecollecteddatausingcategoriesbasedonresearch objectives using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0.The research established that the strongest reason users have for visiting commercial websites is to share media such as pictures, videos, music and blogs. Six categories of reasons for using commercial websites were identified as socialization, information seeking, convenience, entertainment, relaxation and passing time. The challenges faced bycommercial websites users identified in this study were slow loading, clutter, high costs, fraud, identity theft, and complexity of use. The reasons as to why consumers avoid certain commercial websites were found to beimmorality, addiction,risk of loss of money, manipulation and poor advertisements. The study recommends that commercial websites should include social share and follow buttons to encourage social interactions from of online buyers to ensure business sites take full advantage of the ever increasing social media traffic in Kenya and that commercial websites should work on mobile phone optimization because of increased Smartphone usage in Kenya. This study is also of the recommendation that websites should be kept consistent in order to improve readability and that company webmasters must ensure websites are safe from vulnerabilities.Item AUDIENCE PERCEPTION OF VERNACULAR TELEVISION CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF BAITE TV IN MERU, KENYA(Chuka University, 2019-09) NKANATHA, JOHN KIMATHITelevision is today the most pervasive mass medium worldwide. The contribution and influence of mass media in the daily lives of audiences cannot be gainsaid. Vernacular television channels are a new phenomenon in the Kenyan media landscape having been introduced in 2011. While mainstream media use the two official languages, and target a bigger national audience, vernacular TV stations are unique in the content of programmes and the choice of language used in their broadcasts. The TV stations’ are community based where the indigenous language is used. Other than the traditional roles of media, the contribution of vernacular TV in social development especially in Kenya, has barely been studied. The study examined the audience perception of the role played by Baite TV, a vernacular TV station based in Meru County, Kenya, in the social development of the community. It examined how and whether the station is an effective means of fostering development within the community that it serves. The study focused on four objectives: to assess the role played by content in Baite TV Station programmes, to examine the strategies used by Baite TV Station to effect social development to assess the coverage and reach of Baite TV programmes, to establish how the audience perception Baite TV programmes. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in this study. Questionnaires and an interview schedule were used to collect data from adult viewers aged 18 years and above and from media practitioners and owners. The study was conducted in four purposively selected sub-counties in Meru County. Purposive sampling was used to get the respondents. The study was grounded on the Agenda Setting and Uses and Gratification theories. The key findings were that besides the primary functions of television, vernacular television can be used to mobilize the community to pool their resources and implement projects that can improve the social development of the community. Other findings were that vernacular television is accessible to viewers across socio-economic barriers. Unlike mainstream media which are urban based, vernacular TVs are rural based and provide grassroot support to communities in their villages. Due to their proximity, they are in constant contact with the community, they are accepted by the community and the community participates in implementation of projects. The community values vernacular TVs for their direct involvement in the community’s social development. Vernacular TVs reach the communities in their localities and using the local language, identify their needs and prioritize the projects that will improve the living conditions of the people. This study contributes to knowledge by showing other functional roles of vernacular TVs including promoting social development, upholding culture and uniting the people. This study focused on the role played by vernacular television medium in social development. Further research can be conducted to ascertain roles other than the four that the media play and other aspects of involvement by vernacular television. This study focused on one vernacular television station based in Meru County due to its unique approach to solving problems afflicting the society. Studies can focus on other stations and in other counties to ascertain their contribution to social development. During this study it emerged that vernacular television stations have many operational challenges when compared to state funded and mainstream media. A study can be done to bring out all the challenges and propose possible mitigations to surmount the challenges. There is need to find out the reason for the low intake of technology in the Meru area yet the emphasis today is on information communication and technology for development.Item Consumers’ Uses and Gratifications of Commercial Websites Advertising in Kenya: A Case of Nairobi(Chuka University, 2019-09) Nabea, Henry NkoruCommercial websites can be considered as ways of promoting businesses whereby companies use online advertising in order to focus on ways of increasing the sales of a service or a product. Practitioners and researchers are in unison by indicating that such websites have many potentials in the business arena. Numerous studies done on purposes and gratifications are in traditional media and internet general use. The knowledge relating to usage and gratifications of commercial websites advertising in Kenya remains scanty. This research addressed this gap by applying Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) as a structure to analyze usage and gratifications of business websites in Nairobi, Kenya. Therefore, this study aims at analyzing consumers’ usage of commercial websites, gratifications gained from these websites and the challenges experienced by the users while online. This study applied descriptive research approach to gain knowledge of underlying consumers’ usage and gratifications of Kenyan commercial websites advertising. It focused on Nairobi the capital city, which was purposely selected and preferred because of its well-developed communication infrastructure; electricity supply, fibre optic cable internet connectivity and has the highest number of internet (4G) users with 85% of all Facebook users in Kenya residing in Nairobi. This study used selective purposive sampling procedure as it allowed a deeper understanding of the research objectives. The sampling frame consisted of Nairobi’s commercial websites users with a sample size of 384 respondents from a target population of one million users. Structured questionnaires were used in collecting primary data distributed to commercial web users in cyber cafes, academic institutions, and offices in the Central Business District. Descriptive statistics was used to evaluate collected data using categories based on research objectives using SPSS. This study established that the most common reason users offered for visiting commercial websites was to share media such as pictures, videos, music and blogs. Six categories of reasons for using commercial websites were identified as socialization, information seeking, convenience, entertainment, relaxation and passing time. This research also found that the most widely held gratification obtained from using commercial websites was to share media content, such as pictures, videos, music and blogs. This is classified under socialization. The other gratifications obtained were categorized as information, convenience, entertainment, and relaxation and passing time. The challenges faced by commercial websites users identified in this study were slow loading, clutter, high costs, fraud, identity theft, and complexity of use. The reasons as to why consumers avoid certain commercial websites were found to be immorality, addiction, risk of loss of money, manipulation and poor advertisements. The research findings suggests useful guidelines and commendations for companies in search of establishing a presence on the web, as well as web-based businesses. It also offers an understanding of consumers’ usage and fulfilments of commercial web advertising. This study will benefit online businesses, online researchers, webmasters, e-entrepreneurs and e-marketers on how best to persuade and serve clients through management of online advertising platforms.