BBC Media Action plans to conduct a survey in Uganda that aims to understand media consumption habits, exposure to particular mis/disinformation narratives, their impact and how this shapes trust and information-seeking behaviours.
Interested and qualified research agencies are invited to submit their technical and financial application in English, on Power Point or Microsoft Word format highlighting the detailed research methodology, relevant experience and confirming ability to meet the schedule and required deliverables.
Interested research agencies should send their proposals to [email protected] by 5 PM (EAT) on 14th March 2025. Please submit your proposal in PDF format and put “[Agency Name] Baseline survey proposal to BBC Media Action” as the title of the email. Only shortlisted agency will be notified.
For any enquiries, please email: Caroline Mwende, Research Manager - [email protected]
Please see the detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for further information.
BACKGROUND
1.1 BBC Media Action
BBC Media Action is an independent international charity established by the BBC with the aim of using media to support international development. It operates globally to raise awareness, influence attitudes and behaviour in communities, and enhance the capacity of media sectors in transitional countries. In partnership with civil society, local media, and other organisations, we produce communication programmes and trusted media to inform and engage communities. This helps to give people a voice, enabling them to understand their rights, responsibilities, and one another. In 2023, our reach extended to over 100 million people through local broadcast partners as well as online, mobile, and printed platforms along with interpersonal communication.
1.2 Project Background
The spread of information that is false or misleading – whether by word-of-mouth, media, or otherwise – is an age-old phenomenon. Advances in technology, increasing access to both traditional and social media, and changes in how people interact with information are propelling the spread of false information at a speed and scale not seen before. Whether it is mis/disinformation, rumours or simple misinterpretations, ‘information disorder’ is dividing people and undermining democracy. BBC Media Action is planning a survey to understand misinformation and disinformation in Uganda.
It is against this background that research agencies are invited to submit a proposal to conduct the quantitative survey in accordance with the guidelines outlined below. The proposal deadline is 14th March 2025.
Survey Design
2.1 Research Objectives
BBC Media Action plans to conduct a survey in Uganda that aims to understand media consumption habits, exposure to mis/disinformation narratives, their impact and how this shapes trust and information-seeking behaviours.
The specific objectives of this research will be to:
2.2 Expected use of findings
This data will provide a strong understanding of who is most vulnerable to mis- and disinformation in Uganda, their communication needs and gaps in understanding, for media practitioners to prioritise.
2.3 Permission to Conduct Research
BBC Media Action will work with the successful research agency to obtain relevant permission from the appropriate ethics body or government ministry. It is expected that relevant permission would have been obtained at least two weeks before the commencement of fieldwork. Agency should outline approach to seeking ethical approval.
The agency will be responsible for obtaining appropriate local authority approval to conduct fieldwork in each study district.
2.4 Research Methodology and Sampling
BBC Media Action proposes the use of quantitative research for this study. Please outline what data collection method(s) you propose and articulate any challenges and risks for the chosen methodology, and any suggestions you have to address these.
The target audience for this research focuses primarily on people who have access to and use the internet and traditional media (including radio). Please outline how this can be achieved.
The agency will specify their preferred sampling approach and a justification as to why that approach is the most appropriate. The agency will also indicate its proposed sample size and outline which population data will be used. The proposed sample size should be powerful enough to represent different demographic groups (including marginalised groups like people with disabilities) and locations.
The sampling frame should be based on detailed 2024 Uganda census data. If this is not the case, please explain why. Proposals should state clearly any districts/counties/municipalities where the agency does not have capacity to conduct fieldwork, or expects to exclude for security, accessibility, or other reasons. The agency should also include any weighting considerations and how this will be done. Please note that the final sampling strategy will be decided upon after discussions between BBC Media Action and the selected agency.
2.5 Instrument
The survey questionnaire will be designed by BBC Media Action, in consultation with the successful agency. The survey will be designed depending on the data collection method chosen; please state any maximum survey length accordingly. It is envisaged that this questionnaire will mainly include closed questions, agreement statements and a few open-ended questions, mostly with detailed code lists. We will, however, take learnings from the chosen agency on which types of questions work best according to the method chosen.
It may also include specific pieces of media content or mis/disinformation narratives that audiences would be exposed to in order to seek their views. For those who use the internet, this may be in the form of social media posts, or copies of this content to mimic what they might encounter online, for others it may be sufficient to state the narrative. To ensure ethical principles are applied, audiences will be told at the end of the questions whether the information they have seen was true or not. Please see ‘Ethical Control, Risks and Mitigation strategies’ for more information.
The agency will need to translate the questionnaire into various local languages. The agency will advise on the appropriate local languages to translate to. It is very important that the translations are carried out by native speakers, ensuring that the translated questionnaires are both easy to comprehend for the respondents as well as consistent with the original English version. BBC Media Action will thoroughly check the translated questionnaires.
The agency will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive pilot in order to adjust the questionnaire to ensure clarity and comprehension amongst research respondents. A pilot study should be conducted in a systematic manner, carefully investigating understanding and suitability of the questions in the questionnaire. BBC Media Action expects that the agency will demonstrate how it will ensure that the questionnaire is appropriate to the survey context, using the pilot to test this.
Agencies should outline their approach to conducting cognitive testing prior to the rollout of the fieldwork. BBC Media Action would provide the specific questions/concepts to be tested to evaluate the quality of the questions, and to understand whether the question gathers the intended information.
Sufficient time should be allowed between the pilot and launch of full fieldwork to enable feedback discussions and any revisions to the survey instrument or accompanying fieldworker guidelines as well as printing of questionnaires or edits to scripted questionnaires for CAPI (dependent on data collection approach).
2.6 Fieldwork
The agency will carry out fieldwork to a high standard within the agreed timeframe. In the proposal, the agency will provide a detailed timeline for fieldwork. The fieldwork is expected to have been completed by the 30th of April 2025. The proposal should also include how fieldwork will be overseen and quality controlled.
The agency will specify their preferred data collection approaches which can include but not limited to via Pen and Paper, electronic/CAPI, telephone or online. The agency should include details of the preferred data collection approaches as well as a detailed outline of agency’s expertise in this regard, including plans for quality control and staff training.
The agency will also provide appropriately timed updates as well as field reports with a breakdown of interviews completed by demographic and geographic criteria.
2.7 Quality Assurance
BBC Media Action is committed to undertaking research that is of the highest standard. BBC Media Action researchers will conduct a training session with the local agents who will carry out fieldwork. Where fieldwork is conducted face-to-face, BBC Media Action researchers will also travel to the areas where data is being collected to carry out regular spot checks and monitor the quality control of the data collection. This is standard practice for all surveys that BBC Media Action commissions and the agency and fieldwork staff should be aware of and comfortable with this degree of involvement.
The agency will also send the first 100 cases entered as an SPSS or MS Excel file to BBC Media Action for quality control not later than 3 days after fieldwork has commenced for checks and pause fieldwork for at least 2-3 days until the data is checked and approved (and corrected where need be) to ensure fieldwork is going as expected and data quality is good.
The agency will include in the proposal, its own plan for further quality control which will ensure the delivery of high-quality data.
2.8 Data Management and Analysis
BBC Media Action will provide a data entry protocol/codebook to the agency to clarify expectations for set-up of the SPSS file and approach to data entry. The agency will be responsible for translation of any open code responses into English. The agency will provide a clean and labelled (according to our specifications) dataset in Excel and SPSS format. We request that data entry occurs simultaneously with data collection.
The agency will provide a log report of how the data was cleaned alongside the clean dataset. The SPSS dataset will also contain labelled variables detailing all levels of cluster sampling. If any variables are derived by the agency, the agency will provide the syntax file to BBC Media Action. BBC Media Action will be responsible for constructing weights.
With the proposal, the agency will provide a data entry plan, outlining how many people will be allocated to this task, how quality control will be implemented and whether data will be processed locally or sent to an external data processor.
With the proposal, the agency will also provide a detailed data management plan, outlining how data collected will be moved or shared between field and agency office and BBC Media Action, the duration of data storage and process, how quality control will be implemented to ensure ethical compliance of confidentiality of respondents’ data etc.
The agency will also be expected to provide data tables, with cross breaks defined by BBC Media Action and a detailed methodological report.
After analysing these, BBC Media Action will talk to agency to agree on analysis/reporting areas. The agency will be responsible for this data analysis and presentation of key findings. However, the successful agency will do this after discussions with BBC Media Action to agree of key analysis areas in line with project objectives. The agency should include in the proposal its capacity and timeline to conduct this data analysis and reporting.
2.9 Project Management
The agency willprovide one point of contact for BBC Media Action, as well as a detailed description of the proposed project management structure and team to include project manager, recruiters, supervisors, translators, interviewers (clearly detailing gender and languages spoken) and data processor. Please provide CVs of key personnel (no more than one page per person).
2.10 Ethical Control, Risks and Mitigation strategies
All submitted proposals should include a section describing how the agency plans to meet and adhere to ethical protocols and quality control standards, including:
Researchers and agencies working with BBC Media Action need to adhere to a strict code of ethics and endeavour to address major concerns around consent, confidentiality, anonymity and the potential impact of the research on both those researched and researchers. When submitting the proposal, the agency needs to address the potential risks that could affect the overall operation of this research.
These potential risks include, but are not limited to, factors such as unfamiliarity and discomfort with the research format by the respondents (particularly if participatory methods are employed), potential harm to researchers and respondents during fieldwork, security risks to researchers and respondents during fieldwork, potential language barriers between the researchers and participants, etc. For each risk identified, the agency needs to state a clear mitigation strategy in the proposal.
Please note that this research is likely to involve exposing respondents to items of ‘news’ or information, some of which may be inaccurate, in order to understand the prevalence and effect of rumours and information disorder on audiences. This method requires that any and all such items, statements or narratives be ‘corrected’ at the end of every research engagement, with a clear, unambiguous and unbiased explanation so as not to leave the respondent with any false belief. BBC Media Action will provide all such stimulus material, as well as the necessary explanation and correction, however, agencies must be mindful of this method, ensuring that staff engaging with respondents are well-trained and experienced to deploy this method safely and ethically.
Deliverables
Deliverables from BBC Media Action will include:
Deliverables from the agency will include:
Each proposal should include:
- The process of obtaining any permissions necessary to carry out the research;
- The sampling strategy;
- Field interviewer training, supervision and fieldwork management;
- A description of deliverables.
Proposals should be no longer than 30 slides in PowerPoint or 20 pages in Word as a maximum. The proposal should be written in a font no smaller than 11 points. Annexes may be included with the proposal and will not count against the maximum slide/page limit; however, any attachments should contain only supporting detail as necessary.
Proposals submitted in response to this RFP should address the research objectives set out in this brief and should be written in English. Please submit your proposal in PDF format and put “[Agency Name]- Baseline survey proposal” as the title of the email.
The proposal should be emailed to: [email protected]
Confidentiality
All documents prepared during the study will be treated as BBC Media Action's property. The documents or any part, therefore, cannot be sold, used and reproduced in any manner without prior written approval of BBC Media Action. The contracted agency will submit all original documents, materials and data to BBC Media Action.
Safeguarding
This role may involve working with groups of vulnerable children, youth, and adults. For the successful candidate, mandatory training will be provided on BBC Media Action’s safeguarding policy and staff code of conduct. BBC Media Action operates a zero-tolerance policy concerning all forms of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. A police background check may form part of the recruitment process.
Privacy notice
To comply with our legal obligations and the requirements of our donors, BBC Media Action is required to check that the organisations and individuals with which it does business, are not subject to international sanctions or other such legal restrictions. To do this we may need to process personal data.OurPrivacy Noticesets out how we keep your data safe and protect your privacy.
Decision on Tenders
We will award this contract competitively and will make our decision on the basis of the following information. Overall assessment of proposals will be concerned with value for money, taking account of the cost and quality of each research proposal. In particular, assessment will focus on:
Questions about this Request for Proposals should be addressed to:[email protected]
NOTE: This is the first stage of the bidding process; only agencies who meet expected standards from this first stage will be contacted in the second stage.
Additional Requirements:
A summary profile outlining:
Also note that if considered for selection:
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: By 5PM (EAT) on 14th March 2025
NB: BBC Media Action has the right to cancel or amend the call for proposals if necessary
The proposal should be emailed to: [email protected]
Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on Globaljobs.org
