| Abstrakt: |
Accurately identifying opinion leaders within agricultural communities is crucial for effective dissemination of agricultural innovations and improved farming practices. This study compares various identification methods, sociometric survey, key informant's method, self-designation and observation to highlight their respective advantages and limitations. The sociometric survey, while time-intensive, emerged as the most reliable method, identifying opinion leaders based on community nominations and social network metrics. The key informant's method, although practical, showed a 66 per cent overlap with sociometric results, indicating potential biases from informants. Self-designation revealed a subset of quasi-leaders who view themselves as influential but are not recognized by their peers, while the observation method proved less feasible due to time constraints and investigator familiarity with the community. The study also examined the socio-personal characteristics of identified opinion leaders, finding them to be older, better educated and wealthier in terms of landholding compared to the general farmer population. The application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) provided deeper insights into information dissemination patterns, revealing that opinion leaders rely more on formal sources like extension agents and universities and digital platforms such as smartphones and WhatsApp, whereas general farmers depend primarily on fellow farmers and input dealers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
