Summary of methodology
Objectives:
The objective of the survey was to gather information on the radio listening habits of the South Africans over a 7-day period.
More specifically, the objectives covered:
• Radio stations listened to during a 7-day period.
• Times listened to each station, for each day of the week, for each quarter hour of the day from 00h00 to 24h00
• Radio stations listened to in the past 4 weeks
• Favourite radio stations
Universe:
As of 2009, SAARF expanded the AMPS/RAMS universe to include 15-year-olds.
The survey covers adults aged 15 years and older, who are living in the nine provinces of South Africa.
Method:
Radio self-completion diaries were placed with respondents to complete in their homes over a 7-day period, for which they were offered a small incentive.
Respondents were instructed on how to complete the SAARF RAMS Diary.
Sample design:
A probability sample stratified by area was drawn.
The sample was equally apportioned between males and females with the exception of mines, hostels and domestics. At each sampling point a cluster of two addresses was drawn.
In each household, the main respondent was selected by means of a random grid. Four calls were made before substitution could occur.
During the survey period, household "flooding" was implemented. In addition to placing a diary with the main respondent, supplementary diaries were placed and completed by all other members of the household aged 15 years and over.
As of 2009, the flooding methodology was expanded to include the small urban and rural areas.
The main advantage of flooding is to allow for reporting on a more robust sample. A total of 25 319 diaries were collected over the two fieldwork waves.
Fieldwork:
The large urban fieldwork for this third release wave of 2012 was conducted in 2 parts: the first part from mid-March to early May 2012, and the second from early May to end June 2012. The small urban/rural fieldwork for this release was conducted from the beginning of July to mid-December 2011.
The 2009-2013 SAARF RAMS contract was awarded solely to The Nielsen Company.
Fieldwork since 2009 has been conducted solely by Nielsen.
A 20% back-check was conducted on all interviewers.
All findings in the Radio Services report are based on adults 15 years and over.
Reporting is on the combination of the two waves of interviewing. Results were weighted up to total population.
Special Note: This SAARF RAMS release continues to use the population estimates updated according to the 2011 IHS Global Insights estimates. For any further information regarding population updates, please refer to the SAARF AMPS Jan 11-Dec 11 Technical Report.
Analysis of results was provided in total, and by demographic breakdowns as follows:
• Age
• Community size
• Sex
• Home language
• Household income
• Household purchaser
• Languages understood
• Languages spoken (Other)
• Level of Education
• Living Standards Measure
• Metropolitan area
• Population group
• Province
• Mothers' status
• Work status
In addition to the trended figures, the latest RAMS release also includes two additional columns:
a) After the % column (reflecting % of adults who listen to a particular station) is a +/- % column which indicates the possible range of this audience %, with a statistical certainty of 95%.
b) After the '000 column (reflecting a station's audience in thousands) is a +/- '000 column which indicates the possible range of this audience figure, with a statistical certainty of 95%.
There are some community radio stations with less than 100 diary keepers in their footprint areas. Users must keep these small sample sizes in mind when examining the data.
