the Female Body GOVERNING

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(PCI, 2000, p. 9). Combined with a country-specifi c legal and ethical
framework “derived from the country’s national constitution, relevant
national and international laws, and the United Nations documents to
which the country is a signatory,” this formative research provides “an
assessment of health attitudes and behaviors; the status of women and
gender relations; media access and uses; and the culture, lifestyle, and
social beliefs of various communities within each country” (PCI, 2000,
pp. 9–10). This information is then coded into a “values grid,” which
becomes the actual guide for character and plot development.
In the third phase of program development, a creative team is
assembled in the host country, with the task of creating story lines and
characters. Radio and television scriptwriters are recruited, among
whom are “staff writers at local stations, individuals recruited from
university theatre or creative writing departments, or people from
the local community” (PCI, 2000, p. 15). Their task is to translate the
information contained in the values grid into a “creative and inspiring
serial drama” (p. 15). This is not an autonomous project, however. PCI’s
“professional facilitators” provide training and instruction to these
local artistic teams to ensure that program development follows the PCI
methodology (pp. 15-16). 3
Once a soap opera is produced, media partners in the host country
take responsibility for broadcasting. This is not the end of the development
process, however. The fourth phase involves incorporating
audience feedback through monitoring research. By taking into account
the audience’s reaction to these serial dramas, the dramas are adapted to
increase audience share or to enhance the effectiveness of the message.
The fi nal phase of PCI’s process is not necessarily related to program
development, but is instead intended to measure its effectiveness. Impact
evaluations, examples of which include the fi eld research on Twende na
Wakati, function as both a measure of program effectiveness as well as
the rationale for reproducing this strategy in other countries (Jato et
al., 1999; Mohammed, 2001; Rogers et al., 1999; Swalehe et al., 1995;
Vaughn & Rogers, 2000; Vaughn et al., 2000). Indeed, PCI’s promotional
packet includes full-text copies of two such studies (Law & Singhal, 1999;
Rogers et al., 1999), and their promotional literature refers frequently
to the positive conclusions of the studies.
Yet, methodological criticisms have been raised concerning the media
impact studies of soap operas and education-entertainment (McKinley &
Jensen, 2003; Sherry, 1997; Starosta, 1994). In particular, McKinley and
Jensen (2003) note that “ the continued quest for quantifi able effects
of short term media interventions within development communication,
particularly health communication, runs counter to contemporary medi-