Inducing social change in developing communities : an international survey of expert advice

The present study is the first carried out by the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in its programme of research on " methods and problems of social development and planning at the local level". It is a study of the opinions of over 400 national and foreign experts who have worked under international or bilateral auspices on development projects in specific fields: agriculture, health, nutrition, adult education, home economics, and community development. In order to get a man ageable sample of the thousands of experts who have been working in these fields all over the world, we limited ourselves to those experts who had worked in thirteen specific countries from four areas of the world (Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Mediterranean area) and who, moreover, satisfied certain conditions which have been furt r explained in this book. The study was carried out in close cooperation with the Bureau of Social Affairs of the United Nations in view of the preparation of the 1965 Report on the World Social Situation. That Report devotes considerable attention to the problem of popular partici pation and motivation for development, and Part I places much reliance on findings of the present study. It was considered important to collect material on how the problem of obtaining participation of the local popu lation had been encountered and tackled in actual development projects.