Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present a point of view, albeit a somewhat academic point of view, on some of the problems of research into the process of communicating with farmers, and on some of the needed research in this field. In essence, valid research in a social science (as in any other science) must be based on a theoretical foundation. Only thus can its findings be applied in situations other than merely those in which the research was undertaken. The function of communication is primarily to initiate, modify or change human attitudes, motivations and actions. It is thus within the context of changing human activity, of social change in a grand, total sense or at a small-scale, micro level, that the process of communication can be fully appreciated.