Duration: 10/01/2005 to 09/30/2011

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Statement of Issues and Justification

Need by Stakeholders. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2003; 2004), women comprised 49% of the U.S. workforce in 2003. Among these working women are three critical but under-studied sub-populations: female ranchers and farmers, female professionals, and female immigrants. Since the late 1970s, all three of these groups have increased in size and importance. The percentage of all farmers who are women more than doubled in the last 25 years, rising from 5% in 1978 to over 11% in 2002 (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2002). Around 55% of all professional workers are female in the United States, up from 44% in 1970 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2003). Finally, in 2001, 55% of the more than 1 million immigrants admitted to the United States were female (Office of Immigration Statistics, 2001).

These groups are playing increasingly vital economic roles in their communities. Yet, lacking role models and social blueprints, each group must forge unique pathways toward work, family, and personal fulfillment. (See the detailed descriptions in the literature review section that provides the impetus for studying these groups.) Among the few sources of information and guidance available to such groups are popular and local media (Covert, 2003). In relying on such media for guidance, however, working women often confront stereotypical portrayals of women (Wood, 2002). For example, portrayals of women comes from magazines, which sometimes address topics such as work and finances, but most often focus on physical appearance, weight loss, cooking, and personal relationships. Indeed, in a content analysis of mainstream magazines, Covert (2003) reported that there are few magazines for working women from which to choose. As such, most working women must rely on general-interest women's magazines for information about work and family, the content of which often perpetuates traditional gender roles and norms. In addition, local radio and television programming and the explosion of the Internet have also become sources of information. These sources, however, have not been studied to the extent of magazines and other print media.

Statement of the Problem and Purpose. Despite substantial research on the gendered content of certain media, few studies have undertaken an in-depth look at specific groups of women and their use of media materials for guidance in work and non-work life. In other words, it is simply unknown whether the messages embedded in popular and local media (e.g. magazines, radio, Internet, etc.) are applicable or helpful to the three sub-populations of interest. The purpose of the proposed research is to:

*Identify the questions, challenges, and needs of these three target populations related to work, family and personal lives

*Determine the media messages that they receive in the areas of work, family, and healthy lifestyles

*Assess the extent to which these messages help or hurt in the struggle to achieve healthy work, family, and personal lives.

Importance of Proposed Project. For most people, pursuing healthy work, family, and personal lives can be a challenge. Borrowing from the field of positive psychology, the technical team defines "healthiness" as the extent to which people are able to flourish, or achieve happiness, well-being, healthy relationships, and satisfying work lives (Keyes & Haidt, 2003). To achieve such flourishing, many people seek guidance from family members, friends, and sometimes professionals. What distinguishes the sub-populations of interest to us here, however, is that they are forging new pathways toward economic, family and personal fulfillment. Female ranchers and farmers, professionals, and immigrants may find themselves in new economic roles, new household structures, and even new communities. Lacking family and friends that have experienced such roles, and being underserved in programming and services, these women must seek out alternative sources of information and guidance.

The media is one such resource. Indeed, it may be among the only sources of information and advice on meeting the challenges that arise in the struggle to flourish in everyday life. Yet researchers do not know how effective the media is in addressing the needs and issues of these groups. By identifying the issues of these target groups and assessing the extent to which the media addresses these issues, the proposed research will be of benefit not only to these women, but also the diverse workplaces, families, and communities to which they so actively contribute.

Technical Feasibility. Together, many participants in this group of researchers have studied issues of work and family life for a number of years. As such, the group has a very effective working relationship and network in place to pursue collaborative research. This group of family therapy, business, child development, and family studies experts will provide a multidisciplinary consideration of the issues critical to this project. Further, the group has already collaborated in conducting a pilot project to develop a common instrument for evaluating the messages embedded in popular media (Zvonkovic, Bryant, Mannon & Bailey, 2004). Several new participants have been added to this project with expertise in media programming and Extension, as well as specific content related to work and family lives. Given the considerable experience in working with communities (e.g. family farmers, Spanish speaking immigrants, professionals, and blue collar workers), this group of researchers is ideally positioned to access target populations, study their needs, and apply the findings of this project to assist target populations.

Advantages of a Multi-State Effort. Addressing an issue as multifaceted as work, family, and personal flourishing of three distinct and complex sub-populations requires an interdisciplinary research team. The technical committee includes a family relationships scholar, a marriage and family therapist, an organizational behavior specialist, and Extension service specialists. In addition, the committee consists of professionals with expertise in studying immigrant communities (Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming), female farmers (Montana, Wyoming), and professional women (New Mexico, Oregon, Minnesota, Florida). The research team also has methodological skills in conducting focus groups, performing content analysis, and undertaking research among Spanish-speaking populations.

A second advantage of a multi-state project is that the target populations reside throughout these states. A multi-state effort allows us to conduct research on these dispersed groups to serve the needs of important communities, as well as explore geographical differences. Perhaps most importantly, a multi-state research project enables us to pool the data and efforts to more effectively communicate with the media and make information more applicable and helpful to the women of interest in this project.

Impacts. The most critical potential impact is to make the information that reaches the target groups more relevant and helpful in their efforts to flourish in work, family, and personal life. To do this, the researchers need to determine the issues and questions these women seek answers to when turning to the media, and effectively communicate these issues and questions to editors. The technical team has chosen to focus on the media not only because it is an important source of information for these women, but also because it is a place where the team can effectively intervene to better meet the needs of these women. By focusing on the media, the technical team can help the media, Extension, and others focus on the stated issues that confront the target populations. The team can also help the target groups themselves by ensuring that more applicable information reach them.

Related, Current and Previous Work

The proposed research has three critical and related components: (1) a focus on three under-served and critical sub-populations, (2) an interest in healthy lifestyles for these sub-populations, and (3) a concern about media messages and their applicability to these target populations. This review of literature will address research on the three target populations; it will highlight studies of healthy lifestyles and media content, respectively; and it will describe the populations of interest.

Achieving Personal Fulfillment in the Face of Increased Demands. The three sub-populations, alongside the general U.S. population, confront a number of challenges in managing healthy work, family and personal lives. Although the Gross Domestic Product increased steadily during the last half of the 20th century, social problems in the United States have intensified (Miringoff & Miringoff, 1999). Between 1970 and 1996, there were steady increases in rates of child abuse, child poverty, and adolescent suicide. During that same period, the number of people uninsured for health care increased, rates of violent crimes increased, and real wages diminished. Consumer debt continues to be high for Americans. Finally, some scholars suggest that marriages today have only a 50% chance of surviving for a lifetime.

These changes occurred at the same time that women's participation in paid work (especially among the middle class) increased, including mothers of young children (Perry-Jenkins, Repetti, & Crouter, 2000; Schorr, 2003). For example, couples in which partners' weekly work hours together exceeded 100 hours comprised 18% of childless couples and 12% of couples with children in 2000 (Jacobs & Gerson, 2004. Furthermore, working couples are increasingly less likely to take vacation, and more likely to work weekends and evenings (Jacobs & Gerson, 2004; Presser, 2004). Increased working hours have come at a paradoxical time in modern U.S. culture, as today's parents experience heightened pressure to become more visible, to be more interactive, and to guide their children's lives to a greater extent than previously (Arendell, 2001; Garey, 1999; Lareau, 2003). Most Americans feel intense pressure for time, with for example, 40% of working parents saying they feel always rushed (Robinson & Godbey, 1997). In polls, most Americans acknowledge that something is wrong with and/or missing from their life (Myers, 2000; Schorr, 1997). Part of this something missing is a sense of authentic fulfillment, or living a life that matters (Keyes & Haidt, 2003). Indeed, integrating work, family and personal fulfillment is illusory to many Americans and it is critical to help more people achieve fulfillment, an endeavor too long neglected by social science researchers.

Defined in the social science literature, personal fulfillment is neither the absence of things wrong nor the absence of illness, but rather the presence of mental health, meaningful engagement in life, and contributions to the well-being of society. According to Seligman (2003), it is about what builds character and what makes life worth living. Finding joy and meaning in daily life are critical components of authentic fulfillment. Nakamura and Csikzentmihalyi (2003) refer to this as vital engagement. For example, people who view their work as a vocation, or a calling, report both higher work satisfaction and higher satisfaction with life in general than those who view their work as a career or as a job (Wrzesniewski et al., 1999). There are no shortcuts to fulfillment (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Myers and Diener (1995), for example, demonstrate that material wealth brings diminishing returns in the area of subjective well-being.

From an analysis of consumer choices and environment, Schwartz (2004) has recently articulated a distinction between how people approach the choices they are confronted with: there are maximizers, who strive to make the best choice, and who incidentally spend quite a lot of time and stress in making their choices, as well as the risk of feeling empty and deflated after their choices are made; and there are satisficers, whose goal is just to make a satisfactory choice, for whom choosing takes less time and for whom stress and the deflated feeling after selection is less of a problem. Of relevance here is the fact that adults are faced with more important, but increasingly fleeting, consumer choices; including how to spend their time on a daily basis. It may be that how people manage these choices is related to their sense of balance and fulfillment in their lives.

The problem today is not too little information on how to accomplish the various roles (worker, parent, intimate partner, caretaker of self) but rather, how to make choices between different aspects of one's life as one strives to do the activities that she is told to do to maximum effectiveness, especially given the variety of roles one holds and the time demands placed on one at work. In this new situation, where do people turn to get answers to this question? How useful are the sources women turn to? The technical team wishes to explore how women view the messages they see in media regarding how they should engage in work, in family, and in personal life. The team argues that media can play an important role by examining recurring themes, and exploring how people can develop meaningful solutions and fulfillment in their lives.

Media. The issue of authentic fulfillment is particularly acute for working women who commonly find balancing devoting time and attention to work, family and personal life difficult to achieve. Among the sources of guidance that many women turn to in their efforts to find balance and meaning in life are popular and local media outlets. These may include general interest women's magazines (e.g. Good Housekeeping), as well as print media targeted toward specific sub-populations (e.g. Working Woman). They may also include newspapers, radio, Extension materials, and the Internet. Most studies of the media and its female readership have focused on popular magazines and book genres that enjoy nation-wide distribution networks.

Among the more well-known studies in this regard are content analyses of popular magazines that focus on media portrayals of women's roles. Looking at general interest women's magazines over the past 30 years, Demarest and Garner (1992) found that despite a decline in articles focusing on women in traditional roles (e.g. homemakers), most magazines continued to profile and accentuate these roles. Analyses of past and contemporary women's magazines have addressed emotion work in marriages (Cancian & Gordon, 1988), friendship and intimacy (Leman, 1980), the mechanization of housework (Fox, 1990), attitudes toward motherhood (Etaugh, Williams & Carlson, 1996), and maternal employment (Johnston & Swanson, 2003). Among these, Johnston and Swanson (2003) found that magazines often perpetuated negative myths about at-home mothers as confused, overwhelmed, and interested in superficial topics. Finally, as cultural studies researchers point out, women may be portrayed by magazines in conflicting and contradictory ways (Mukerji & Schudson, 1991; Radway, 1991, 1997).

Another area of research has looked at women's reading of self-help books (Hochschild, 2003a; Simonds, 1992; Starker, 1989). Simonds (1992) reported that women felt that their perspectives on their relationships were validated through their readings of self-help books, and that these readings gave them added incentive to make desired changes in their lives. More cynical, Starker (1989) cautioned against women and men attempting to follow recommendations in self-help books, which could cause them and their relationships harm. Looking at another literature genre, Radway (1991) found that female readers of romance novels found escape from their daily care-giving responsibilities by identifying with the adventures of strong, intelligent women who successfully provoked male heroes to be caring and nurturing.

A useful model of how popular media is connected to people's daily lives comes from Griswold (1994). Her cultural diamond model (Figure 1) positions cultural objects (e.g. magazines) at the bottom of the diamond; the creators of the object (e.g. magazine editors) in the left corner; the social world (e.g. social norms and ideologies) at the top of the diamond; and the receiver (e.g. women readers) in the right corner. Advantages of the cultural diamond model include the fact that it places cultural objects in a social context; it situates the reader in an active position; and it is able to capture how these forces come together to actively create such cultural objects as popular magazines. To illustrate: popular media are embedded in the business industry and topics covered are evaluated according to their potential to sell (Andrews, 2003; Ehrenreich & English, 1978; Radway, 1991, 1997; Steinem, 1995). Recognizing the business aspects of a magazine's production suggests that an action research project should include an understanding of the individuals involved on the business end and provide results and suggestions that are in line with their needs and aims.

Figure 1: Griswold's (1994) Cultural Diamond Model (Please see attachment for complete fugures)


Figure 2 depicts how the cultural diamond model is conceptualized in this project. The readers of the media are women in the three sub-groups the technical team has identified. The team is keenly interested in the components of the media that address work, family, and personal lives, so these elements are placed inside the diamond. Ultimately, the project will enable the team to examine the potential for media to facilitate women's attempts to integrate the work, family, and personal components of their lives, and to provide evidence from women's voices about how the media support them or fail them as they attempt to find joy and meaning in their lives. Little scholarly research has emerged on the role of newer, more targeted media, regarding how women's lives and solutions to their concerns are portrayed. It seems clear, however, that sources such as local radio, television, local newspapers, and the Internet are being used by women.


Figure 2: Griswold's (1994) Cultural Diamond Model Applied to Women and the Media (Please see attachment for full figures)


Female Ranchers and Farmers. In the United States, female ranchers and farmers have increased from 128,000 to 238,000 between 1978 and 2002, or from 5% to 11% of all farmers (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2002). Farming in the United States has traditionally been an enterprise controlled by men. As such, men are assumed to be the farmer and women are assumed to be the farmwife. As women assume the role of farmer, they transgress traditional gender roles, as well as the traditional work cultures and ideologies that define farming in the United States (Trauger, 2004). Given that the role of farmer is a non-traditional one, women must confront an industry that may not recognize their talents, viewpoints or need to integrate work, family, and personal fulfillment.

The barriers female farmers face raises many questions about how they gain information and expertise to enter this occupation in the first place and to farm successfully in the long run. Leckie (1996) argues that since the traditional occupational inheritance and training in farming families favors men, women who farm are often ill-prepared for the task facing them. As a result, women who own and operate their own farms lose valuable time and money trying to discover the knowledge not passed on to them when they were younger. The fact that many female farmers do not have the same knowledge or skill level as male farmers can reinforce the social stigma of women in farming, making it difficult for them to gain credibility and assistance.

Shortall (1999) points out that the agricultural media continues to portray farming as a male occupation. More specifically, she found that women are much less likely to be featured in agriculturally-related television or radio programs. Further, farming trade magazines and newspapers reinforce "farmer" and "farm wife" work roles. Brandth (1995) supported this point in an analysis of agriculture equipment advertisements, in which she found that women were far less likely to be shown operating or pictured with farming equipment. Thus, the existing literature suggests that the media is out of touch with the changing gender roles in agriculture. What are missing for these women are role models of other female farmers and ranchers, practical information on how to weave and balance work and family roles in the field of agriculture, and messages of personal fulfillment in their chosen professional and family life.

Female Professionals. The Family and Work Institute (2002) reports that the proportion of married workers living in dual-earner couples has increased substantially over the past 25 years, from 66% in 1977 to 78% in 2002. During this same time, combined work hours for dual-earner couples with children rose from 81 hours a week to 91 hours a week. Dual-earner couples with the highest combined work hours per week tend to be highly educated and employed in the professional sector (Jacobs & Gerson, 2001). According to Hochschild (2003b), the increase in dual-earner couples and female professionals is nothing short of revolutionary. Yet combined with a traditional division of household labor, these trends create a number of challenges for professional working women, not the least of which is how to manage it all in a 24-hour day.

Comparing professional and working class mothers' attitudes toward work and motherhood, Walker (1990) found that professional women are pulled in two directions and face a consistent challenge in balancing career and family. That is, the professional women in her study were unable to resolve the dilemma in favor of one direction, whereas working class women's jobs did not require the same intensity of commitment. Etzion and Bailyn (1994) reported an additional dilemma facing professional women: the high emphasis on early career achievement, which coincides with the stage of early family formation. The simultaneity of both these critical stages results in high levels of stress and conflict for professional women. These challenges are not lost on single professional women either. Berg-Cross et al. (2004) found that many young women want to complete their higher education, achieve a professional position, and then set up a family. Faced with the inability to pursue a career and a family simultaneously, many of these women must make trade-offs that professional men do not face.

These dilemmas illustrate the significant social changes in America with regard to work and family life among professional women. Unfortunately, the popular media offers few answers and/or guidance with respect to these dilemmas. Zimmerman et al. (2001) point out that in terms of mass media, men continue to be portrayed as workers and women as sex objects. Despite women's inroads into professional occupations, most women's magazines continue to emphasize women's relationship to the private sphere of home and family, as well as the exacting standards of feminine beauty. Those magazines that do acknowledge female professionals tend to uphold the ideal of the "complete woman," who, according to Mannon (1997:87), should not pursue career success at the expense of her beauty nor be so preoccupied with work that she fails to prepare nutritious meals at home. This is the equivalent to "woman with the flying hair," the unachievable super mom portrayed by Hochschild (2003b), who manages career success and effective mothering without help. The idea of personal fulfillment for women is often portrayed as an unattainable goal in the media.

Latina Immigrants. Unlike most immigrant-receiving nations, the United States has experienced a predominantly female immigration flow at least since 1930 (Houston et al., 1984). That is, since 1930, female immigrants have annually outnumbered male immigrants to the United States. Following the 1965 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act, this sex-ratio has been largely due to family reunification efforts and the growth in the U.S. service sector, in which female migrants are typically employed (Donato & Tyree, 1986; Sassen, 1998). The majority of the post-1965 immigrants have originated from Latin America. Their process of migration has signaled enormous changes in gender roles and norms. Immigration, for example, has a decided and positive impact on Latina's labor force participation and their roles in the family (Pedraza, 1991). These impacts are felt among second-generation Latinas, as well.

Many of the challenges that Latinas face in the United States stem from the patriarchal cultures from which they originate, which can restrict them to traditional homemaking and childbearing roles. In addition, the cultural and language-adjustment they confront after arriving in the United States can complicate their social adjustment and labor force participation. Working Latinas are concentrated in such occupations as domestic service, garment manufacturing, and agricultural work (Pedraza, 1991). In their study of Mexican immigrant women, Guendelman and Perez-Itriago (1987) found that those who worked outside the home for wages established more cooperative roles with their husbands. Likewise, Hondagneu-Sotelo (1994) found that Mexican immigration to the United States tended to weaken family patriarchy, especially in the gender division of household labor and decision-making power in the family.

Among the few studies of how female immigrants utilize public media for decisions related to work, family and personal fulfillment is that of Rojas (2004), who analyzes Latinas' reactions to the portrayal of Latinas in the major Hispanic television networks. In this study, interview transcripts reflect Latinas' ambivalent and conflicted relationships with the television programs. To date, however, few studies have examined the content of media targeted at female immigrants, which is in part due to the fact that the mainstream media is still catching up to the demographic explosion in the U.S. foreign-born population. Of the three groups targeted in this study, immigrant women have the least media information on how they can weave work and family and achieve personal fulfillment.

CRIS Search. A CRIS search was conducted using these key words in various combinations: FARM WOMEN, PROFESSIONAL WOMEN, IMMIGRANT WOMEN, WORK, FAMILY, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, FULFILLMENT, MEDIA, DILEMMA AND INTEGRATION. The search yielded over 150 reports, none of which were devoted to studying fulfillment in the work, family, and personal lives of farm, professional, and immigrant women. Although W-1001 (Population Changes in Rural Communities) is studying growth and decline rates among immigrant and racial minorities, it does not investigate the media or work, family, and personal fulfillment. Some state projects have studied the target audiences: IOW03256 (agricultural women); ARZT-H-07-137 (professional women); MIN-52-066 and NEB-92-042 (immigrant and Latina women). None of these projects, however, study the media or the issue of fulfillment with respect to these target populations.

Objectives

1. Determine the major challenges facing the three target populations with respect to work, family, and personal fulfillment
   
2. Identify media and information sources used by the three target populations, and their perspectives on these media, to resolve and/or confront these challenges.
   
3. Examine and evaluate the messages and information that reach the three target populations through media and information outlets identified by focus groups.
   
4. Develop recommendations for adapting such messages and information to better address the needs of the three target populations..
   

Methods

The proposed investigation is multi-method, with the first method being qualitative focus group interviews of women in the three targeted groups. The second method will be a content analysis of different media. In this section, the method to address each objective is described separately. 1. To determine the major challenges facing the three target populations with respect to work, family, and personal fulfillment. To accomplish this objective, separate focus groups with women from the target groups will be conducted. Each participating state that addresses a particular population of women will conduct at least two focus groups of each targeted audience. Women will be recruited to participate in the groups via purposive sampling, following established guidelines for qualitative research methods (Berg, 1995; Krueger, 1998a; Krueger & Casey, 2000; Morgan, 1998a). The purpose of the focus groups is to understand the major issues facing the women in terms of work, family, and personal fulfillment, to determine what media sources women are accessing for information on work, family, and personal lives, and to ascertain the information women receive from these sources. Focus groups typically are composed of 7 to 10 participants and researchers use a minimum of three focus groups in a study (Krueger & Casey, 2000). Each participating station will facilitate at least two focus groups for each of their target audiences. The pooled data will be comprised of at least six focus groups for each of the targeted women's audiences: female farm/ranch owners, professional women, and immigrant women. Technical committee members have experience using this method and facilitating such groups. A limited number of questions would be posed to the group from a standardized protocol that will be used by all participating research stations (Kruger, 1998a). When conducting focus groups attention is paid to obtaining diverse voices and airing conflicting perspectives (Morgan, 1998b). Focus group participants will be sought using purposive sampling. The criteria for inclusion in each target group are as follows: *For all groups: females working 30 or more hours per week in a paid position for at least two continuous years. *Female farmers and ranchers: Women who operate a farm or ranch, either doing the work or making day-to-day decisions about such things as planting, harvesting, feeding, and marketing. The operator may be the owner, a member of the owner's household, a hired manager, or renter. To be considered a female operator, she must spend 50% or more of her work time during the year at farming or ranching. *Professional women: Women who have at least a bachelor's degree and are employed in a professional position such as physical, mathematical and engineering professionals; life science and health professionals; teaching professionals; and other professionals including business, legal, information, social science, artistic and religious professionals. *Latina immigrant women: Women who have been admitted for legal permanent residence in the United States (immigrants) and/or first or second generation immigrants from countries of birth in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Latin nations of the Caribbean. Protocol questions for the focus groups will be developed and refined through piloting with Extension Service clientele and professionals. Questions will elicit the primary concerns of participating women in the areas of paid work, romantic partnerships, parenting, and personal enrichment. The researchers will also inquire as to what women find rewarding or frustrating from reading popular media. In this way, women's perspectives about their paid work, romantic partnerships, parenting, and personal fulfillment, and how their path toward such fulfillment may be guided by media will be captured (Objectives 1 & 2). The focus group interviews will be audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts will be entered into the Qualrus qualitative software package. Subsequently, the data can be sorted and categorized by respondent, group, target population, state, and by media identified. Qualitative software enables a large quantity of transcribed material to be analyzed. Open-coding, where the researcher reads through transcripts to ascertain themes, will be used in analyzing the focus group data followed by axial-coding, where the researcher then pulls the themes together to form major and sub-categories (Berg, 1995). Multiple coders will be utilized in analyzing each interview. This will allow the researchers to test for reliability in coding (Berg, 1995; Krueger, 1998b). Discrepancies in coding will be resolved by the technical team. 2. Identify media and information sources used by the three target populations, and their perspectives on these media, to resolve and/or confront work, family and personal challenges. Via the same focus groups described in (1), the media and information sources that women in the target populations utilize will be determined. The method of the focus groups was already outlined in (1). For this objective, the technical team needs to establish a list of media to examine in depth and it wants to understand what women make of the messages in the media that they access, how these media sources make them feel, as well as what they perceive as helpful and what suggestions they would have. This line of inquiry follows the Griswold (1994) model of positioning women actively in their social world and as they read and interact with media. As part of the focus group question process, facilitators will ask which trade magazines, commercial magazines, newspapers, radio, television and Internet sources the women regularly utilize and what information they are seeking through this exposure. Information from the focus groups will generate a list of media sources used by the women which will then be explored using content analyses (Babbie, 2004; Berg, 1995). This information will also allow for rich descriptions of what women obtain from the media and how they feel these media help or hinder them in reaching a sense of fulfillment and balance in their work, family, and personal lives. This information will be analyzed qualitatively, to answer general questions such as how helpful are these messages to the women themselves. But the information will also be utilized to allow for careful selection of media to address objective 3 of the research proposal. Data files from the transcripts of each focus group composed of a particular target population will be examined altogether, though the state in which they were conducted and other background information about the community, the women's ages and ages of children will be preserved and may be useful for explanatory constructs and variation. Members of the technical team will examine the data from each target population and follow the following criteria to select media: A media outlet (such as a particular magazine, radio program, or television show) which more than 10% of the women in each target population mention. To specify, per each target population of women, there will be 6 focus groups across the different states; each group will be comprised of 7-10 women; yielding an N of between 42-60 women in each group (i.e. women farmers & ranchers; women professional workers; and Latina immigrant women). Depending on the final N of the focus groups, 10% of the women in each target population could mean 4-6 women. 3. To analyze the messages and information that reaches the three target populations through media and information outlets identified by focus groups. Analyzing these data will include analysis of the women's discussion about fulfillment in their lives, challenges and aides to enhancing their work, family, and personal lives, as well as specific information pointed toward media. Women's voices concerning how reading media affects them (both constructively and negatively) will be considered, and a list of helpful media, problematic media, as well as lists of media for each sub-population of interest will be established. Other themes and how these themes are organized will emerge through the qualitative analysis process. In social science journals, analyses of magazines and other popular media have generally followed a content analysis methodology. Content analysis is the study of recoded human communication (Babbie, 2004, p. 14). This method of inquiry guides this study of women's lives as portrayed by popular media. Two elements of media content are of particular interest in this methodological tradition: manifest content and latent content (Berg, 1995). Manifest content is more quantitative. It consists of counting the number of times a construct or idea appears in the communication, or categorizes a document along clearly delineated dimensions. Latent content is qualitative in that the analyst tries to uncover the underlying message (Berg, 1995). For example, the extent to which women's paid work is portrayed in the media is a manifest content analysis (Demerest & Garner, 1992), but analyzing the light in which it is portrayed (positive or negative) is a latent content analysis (Atkinson & Blackwelder, 1993; Johnston & Swanson, 2003). Berg (1995) suggests that content analyses include both manifest and latent analyses. As such, content analysis can offer a bridge between quantitative and qualitative approaches, drawing upon the strengths of both. Likewise, Seale (2003) discusses the need to pay particular attention to the value-laden linguistic choices made in popular media when writing about identities, such as motherhood and women's paid employment. Simply counting the number of articles that address these issues would not provide an accurate assessment of how these issues are presented in magazines. To some extent, recent analyses of magazine content have included both a manifest and latent analytic component. Atkinson and Blackwelder (1993), and LaRossa and colleagues (1991; 2001), for example, use both manifest and latent analyses in their investigations of attitudes toward father involvement, and the extent to which fathers are perceived as competent or incompetent. The social scientists who will conduct the proposed investigation have developed a template to code magazine data (Zvonkovic, Bryant, Mannon & Bailey, 2004). This template may be modified, however, based on the media sources women identify through the focus groups and on the qualitative themes that emerge through the focus groups. The template systematically addresses each program (such as in the case of radio/television) or article (as in the case of a magazine). For each segment of program or article, the content is analyzed by noting the focus (personal, intimate partner, parental, work, other), what type of authority (if any) was cited, the underlying source of the problem described, and suggestions for solutions to the problem (Dworkin & Wachs, 2004). This scheme allows researchers to track, for example, which media sources have a preponderance of segments concerning some topics (such as parenting) but virtually ignoring others (such as paid work). It also allows researchers to examine which media sources utilize research studies, marriage and family experts, or other personal testimonials in their segments. The topics covered and authorities referred show important information on how to intervene to improve the quality of information presented in these media. In terms of latent content, the template requires coders to note how applicable and suitable the recommendations and suggestions presented in the media source would be to women, specifically women in the groups to be studied. Also considered will be issues ignored in the articles; for example, most articles ignored the larger structural and societal issues in which inequalities and pressures on women operate, focusing instead on what women can change in their individual lives. The analysis of latent content also allows for contradictions in the messages of the media sources to be noted, which have been reported to be legion in this genre (Meyerwitz, 1994), in part due to the economic mission of commercial media to sell products (Steinem, 1995). In sum, the results will provide information leading to an assessment of how media targeted towards women is, according to women themselves, relevant to their lives or misses the mark. It will also include careful illumination of how the media may be contradictory and inappropriate for women with time, economic, and geographical limitations (such as professional women, Latina immigrant women, and farm or ranch owning women). For this content analysis, the most cited media outlets identified in the focus groups will be sampled. For example,if mainstream magazines (e.g., Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping) are used, in addition to other magazines representing specific populations, then all magazines identified will be sampled during the same months, to avoid seasonal biases. Because this research is interested in the messages women are currently receiving, the researchers would analyze all issues of a particular magazine over the past 2 years, rather than sample across broad spans of time. Using the template the technical team has designed, but revising it as necessary based on themes women raise in the focus groups, the team will analyze the sample of magazine issues to determine and evaluate the messages and information that actually reach the three target populations (Objective 3). For example, relying on cultural discourse literature (Griswald, 1994; Simonds, 1994), the researchers would juxtapose what women say they get out of magazines with what messages are latent in the magazines. This process will also be employed to study the other identified media forms. 4. Develop recommendations for adapting such messages and information to better address the needs of the three target populations. Through a process of team member assignments and electronic interaction, recommendations will be developed. The results of the multi-method analysis of the target groups' perspectives on the media and the content analysis of the media sources will be extended broadly. Research findings, implications and recommendations will be disseminated through: Extension publications for general and professional audiences, professional journal articles, presentations to professional, Extension and trade conferences, television and radio broadcasts, and workshops for the targeted groups. Additionally, the proposed project will share recommendations with professional media organizations, traditional media outlets, and organizations and journals that target the women studied in this project (Objective 4). PROJECT TIMELINE The timeline of the multi-state research project toward achieving the objectives is: Objective 1: Determine the major challenges facing the three target populations with respect to work, family, and personal fulfillment. *Develop a protocol for conducting and analyzing focus groups (year 1) *Conduct focus groups using common protocol (year2) *Analyze focus group data (year 3) Objective 2: Identify media and information sources used by the three target populations, and their perspectives on these media, to resolve and/or confront work, family and personal challenges. *Identify media and information sources for data obtained in focus groups (year 2) *Examine the target groups' perceptions of the messages conveyed through the identified media sources (year 3) Objective 3: Analyze the messages and information that reach the three target populations through media and information outlets identified by focus groups. *Conduct a content analysis of selected media using established protocol (year 4) Objective 4: Develop recommendations for adapting such messages and information to better address the needs of the three target populations. *Develop recommendations for making media messages relevant to target population (year 5) *Disseminate results and implications of the research project through identified outlets (year 5 and beyond)

Measurement of Progress and Results

Outputs

• Identification of work, family and personal fulfillment challenges facing female ranchers and farmers, female professionals and Latina immigrants
• Identification of media and information sources that female ranchers and farmers, female professionals and Latina immigrants utilize in balancing their work, family and personal lives
• Recommendations for media, business and communities on improving the work, family and personal lives of the target populations
• Analyzed results of the combined qualitative data sets.
• Dissemination of research findings at scientific meetings and through peer-reviewed journals
• Output 6; Development of materials for education and training of the target populations and professionals who work with them.

Outcomes or Projected Impacts

• The target populations will receive more usable and relevant media messages related to their work, family, and personal lives
• The targeted populations will express greater fulfillment in their work, family, and personal lives
• The target populations will receive enhanced educational and professional service from those who work with female ranchers and farmers, female professionals and Latina immigrants
• Members of the target populations will learn which media sources are of value to others in their respective group.
• Professionals in the academe, the Extension Service, agencies and clinical settings who work with female ranchers/farmers, professional women, and Latina immigrants will learn which media sources these groups utilize and focus information towards those sources
• Outcome/Impact 6; Stereotypical and non-relevant information will be reduced in those media sources utilized by the target populations; Outcome/Impact 7: Professionals in the academe, the Extension Service, agencies and clinical settings who work with female ranchers/farmers, professional women, and Latina immigrants will enhance their understanding of the challenges facing these groups and adjust their information and resources accordingly.

Milestones

(2006): The researchers will develop a protocol to use for the focus groups involving the three target populations.

(2007): Focus groups will be conducted.

(2008): The researchers will analyze the data from the focus groups and determine the media to be analyzed and finalize the template to be used for the media content analysis.

(2009): The actual content analysis, including finalizing the template to be used for the media content analysis, and evaluation will take place.

(2010): The researchers will develop recommendations sensitive to the needs of the target populations and editors, and disseminate recommendations to relevant media outlets.

Projected Participation

View Appendix E: Participation

Outreach Plan

Results of the project will be shared through a variety of venues. The W-167 project has a strong history of presenting results to research and lay audiences. Project staff will develop written materials and conduct presentations to general audiences, using the Extension Service as an outlet. Members of the team include a strong Extension Service presence, so outlets including more relevant Extension programming to the sub-populations of interest can be anticipated including Extension publications, broadcasts, and online educational information. Articles will be submitted to refereed journals and professional conference presentations in a variety of disciplines reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of this work. In the last year of the project, findings will be made available to media organizations and outlets.

Organization/Governance

The organization of the technical Committee will be in accordance with the Manual for Cooperative Regional Research SEA-CR/OD-1082. The Technical Committee will consist of an Administrator Advisor, a CSREES Representative and designated representatives from each participating experiment station. Annual meetings of the Technical Committee will be held where the progress of the project will be discussed and problems in facilitating this research will be addressed. At all meetings dissemination strategies, such as publications and presentations will be addressed as well.

Officers. All voting members of the Technical Committee are eligible for office regardless of sponsoring agency affiliation. The officers shall consist of a Chair and a Secretary. The Chair, in consultation with the Administrative Advisor, will notify the Technical Committee members of the time and place of meetings, prepare the agenda, and preside over meetings. The Chair and Secretary are responsible for the preparation of the annual report of the project. The Secretary also records the minutes of the Technical Committee meetings and performs other duties as assigned by the Technical Committee.

Subcommittees. An Executive Committee consisting of the Chair and other members of the Technical Committee may be designated to conduct the business of the committee between meetings and perform other duties as assigned by the technical assignments. These subcommittees may develop methods and procedures, review work assignments, prepare publications, etc.

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Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

FL, NM

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

Texas Tech University, University of New Mexico