Audience Description:

Ethnic groups were studied as: research about a population from a specific ethnic or cultural group.

Findings by Outreach Theme

Findings by Essential BEPs

Study-Specific BEPs for Ethnic Groups

These study-specific Best Education Practices distill findings derived from the studies listed in the References below, which were identified using a meta-analysis technique.

Outreach Themes: BEPs are described by one or more of seven focus areas.

Outreach Themes	Research Recommendations
The Audience	Identify locally-specific or culturally-specific needs or problems related to water conservation and quality. These may not be what an expert would typically expect due to unique cultural or situational needs. For example, in a person-to-person outreach initiative about toxic substances in fish, African-Americans were most interested in risks to their health from eating contaminated fish. Caucasians were most interested in the levels of contamination in the fish.
Message content	No research available
Message delivery vehicle	No research available
Outreach strategy	Carefully tailor the water conservation message to address the specific circumstances of the target audience. Assure that intervention programs are relevant to the cultural milieu of the subgroup. Consider ethnic or culturally-related farm-structure differences when developing intervention strategies to bring about behavioral change. Focus outreach to farmers on farm efficiency and productivity, whatever the social characteristics of the farm group. But pay attention to unique factors of cultural groups, as well.
Public participation	No research available
Supporting and motivating professionals	No research available
Evaluation	No research available

Linking Study-Specific BEPs to Essential BEPs

Essential BEPs provide an overview of Best Education Practices derived from education theory and other meta-analysis studies. This table shows which Essential BEPs are highlighted by research about ethnic groups as a target audience. The entire collection of Essential BEPs is available on the Water Outreach website.

Education for:	The learning experience:
The Individual	Promotes active engagement and real world problem solving. Provides opportunities for extended effort and practice.
The Class or Group	Is designed to focus on a targeted audience and is built on an understanding of audiences skills and interests. Is relevant to and accessible by people with diverse backgrounds and influences.
Web-Based Learning	No relevant research findings
The Community	No relevant research findings
Beyond the Community	No relevant research findings

Supporting References

Burger, J., & Waishwell, L. (2001). Are we reaching the target audience? Evaluation of a fish fact sheet. The Science of the Total Environment, 277, 77-86.

Napier, T. L., & Sommers, D. G. (1996). Farm production systems of Mennonite and non-Mennonite land owner-operators in Ohio. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 51(1), 71-76.

Ryan, J., Mathew, K., Anda, M., & Yuen, E. (2001). Introduction of water conservation education packages: The opportunities and constraints affecting their success. Water Science and Technology, 44(6), 135-140.

Sommers, D. G., & Napier, T. L. (1993). Comparison of Amish and non-Amish farmers: A diffusion/farm-structure perspective. Rural Sociology, 58(1), 130-145.

Also see: Aquaculture Business target audience findings (Caffey & Kazmierczak, Jr., 1994).