Diffusion- Concepts related to diffusion

• Diffusion, Innovation, Innovativeness, Reinvention, Communication channels, Time, Social system

Diffusion: Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion is the special type of communication concerned with the spread of messages that are new ideas.
Innovation: An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption.
Technology: A technology is a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome. Technology usually has two components namely hardware and software.
Hardware: A hardware aspect consists of material or physical objects of the tool. For example computer hardware like CPU, Keyboard, Mouse etc.
Software: Software aspect consists of the information base for the tool for example computer software consists of the coded commands, instructions and other information aspects.
Innovativeness: Is the degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a social system.
Reinvention: Is the degree to which an innovation is changed or modified by a user in the process of its adoption and implementation.
Communication channels:
            Is the means by which messages get from one individual to another. The nature of the information-exchange relationship between the pair of individuals determines the conditions under which a source will or will not transmit the innovation to the receiver, and the effect of the transfer.
Time: Time is an important element in the diffusion process. In fact, most other behavioural science research is timeless in the sense that the time dimension is simply ignored. Time is an obvious aspect of any communication process, but most (non diffusion) communication research does not deal with it explicitly. Perhaps it is a fundamental concept that cannot be explained in terms of something more fundamental. Time does not exist independently of events, but it is an aspect of every activity.
Social system: A social system is a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal. A system has structure, defined as the patterned arrangements of the units in a system, which gives stability and regularity to individual behavior in a system. The social and communication structure of a system facilitates or impedes the diffusion of innovations in the system.
Social Change:
Is a process in which alteration that occurs in the structure and function of a social system. A social system may be family, community or village
Social structure:
            Social structure as the patterned arrangements of the units in a system.
Adoption:
            It is the decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available. In this stage the rural child may actually want to work on the computer the rural household decides to buy to the refrigerator or AC for use in the homes. If decision has been taken that they would not use the computer or buy the refrigerator or AC it is termed as rejection.
Rate of Adoption: it is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted by the member of a social system.
Localite: Sources of information within the social system like family, neighbors, friends and local leaders.
Cosmopolite: Sources of information outside the social system like mass media, extension functionaries and other change agents.
Homophily:    Is the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status etc. usually when individuals interact with others they tend to interact with those people who are most like himself or herself.
Heterophily: It is the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are dissimilar or different in their characteristics.
Consequences: Are the changes that occur to an individual or to a social system as a result of the adoption or rejection of an innovation.
Discontinuance: Discontinuance is the decision to reject an innovation after having previously adopted it.
Opinion leadership:   Is the degree to which an individual is able to influence informally other individuals’ attitudes or overt behavior in a desired way with relative frequency.
Change agent: Is an individual who attempts to influence client’s innovation-decisions in direction that is deemed desirable by a change agency.
Norms: Norms are the established behaviour patterns for the members of a social system.

Elements of Diffusion

• Innovation, Communication channels, Time, Social system, Optional, Collective, Authority, Contingent

Introduction
One of the most important functions of Extension is to bridge gap between research centers and the farmers/farm women for introduction of improved methods of agriculture. In other words successful communication is the main job of an extension worker. We have already considered the term communication and its elements in the units earlier discussed. An extension worker’s job does not end with merely informing the farmers about improved practices, he should ensure practical application (by the farmers) of the result of research and field trials. The efficiency Extension communication can be measured (a) by the speed or quickness with which the gap between what is known and what is done by the farmers is bridged. (b) by the number of new practices adopted; and (c) also by the number of farmers and communities that adopt the new practices.
While discharging the technology dissemination function by the extension workers, they are often faced with some of the following questions:

1. There is lag between what is known and what is done by most farmers. Why?
2. Where do most farmers get their new ideas?
3. In some villages, people seem to accept new ideas quickly and in others, nearly all the people are slow to take to new things. Why?
4. Some farmers accept new ideas and put them into practice faster than others. Why?
5. Some new ideas and practices are accepted quickly and with little apparent efforts, while others are accepted only after years of effort put forth by extension agencies. Why?

These questions have been focus of considerable research by the behavioural scientists in several countries including India. An understanding of the adoption and diffusion processes shall help the extension agents to accelerate the adoption of the innovations.

Diffusion and diffusion process
Diffusion
Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. It is a special type of communication, in that the messages are concerned with new ideas. It is this ‘newness’ of the idea in the message content of communication that gives diffusion its special character. The diffusion of innovations is essentially a social process in which subjectively perceived information about a new idea is communicated.
Diffusion is a special type of communication. Diffusion is the process by which innovations spread to the members of a social system. Diffusion studies concerned with messages that are new ideas, where as communication studies encompass all types of messages. More effective communication occurs when source and receiver are homophilious.

Diffusion process
Diffusion of innovations refers to the spread of those innovations through a population, and is simply the result of a host of individual adoption decisions. If individual adoption decisions are, to an extent, predictable, then the larger diffusion process is also predictable. It follows a pattern, and that element of predictability has substantial implications. Therefore the diffusion process can be explained with the terms given by Rogers as “the spread of a new idea from its source of invention or creation to its ultimate use of adopters”. The diffusion of innovations is essentially a social process in which subjectively perceived information about a new idea is communicated.

The four elements of diffusion as per the definition are
Innovation, Communication channels, Time and Social system

Innovation:
The innovation may represent a slight modification of or a significant departure from, the existing idea or practice.

• Is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption.
• If the idea seems new, it is an innovation.

It does not really matter whether the idea is objectively new i.e. it has recently been innovated or discovered. If the idea seems new to the individual, it is an innovation.
Newness is an innovation need not just involve new knowledge. Some are may have known about an innovation for some time but not yet developed a favourable or unfavourable attitude toward it, or have adopted or rejected it. The “newness” of an innovation may be expressed in terms of knowledge, persuasion or decision to adopt.

For example:

1. A computer is no longer an innovation for an urban child but for a rural child who has never seen a computer it is an innovation.
2. Similarly many rural women have never seen a refrigerator or a washing machine. Here it does not matter when these equipments were invented till the rural women gain knowledge and develop an attitude towards these items it is an innovation.
3. A new variety of crop may have been developed twenty years back but if the farmer has heard about it only today then it is an innovation for him.

An innovation is almost always a technology. A technology has bee defined as a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired out come which in simple terms means a technology is that which makes a job easier and more convinent and its outcome is almost certain. Usually technology consists of hardware and software.
Hardware is the physical aspect of the technology. For example a pen that you hold in your hand in the hardware.
Software is the information base for the tool. The basic principle of how the link flows in the pen and other aspects of the insertion of nib etc.

Communication Channels

• A communication channel is the means by which messages get from one individual to another.
• Mass media channels are all those means of transmitting messages that involve a mass medium such as radio, television, newspapers and so on, which enable a source of one or a few individuals to reach an audience of many.
• Interpersonal channels are more effective in persuading an individual to accept a new idea, especially if the interpersonal channel links two or more individuals who are similar in socio-economic status, education, or other important ways. Interpersonal channels involve a face-to-face exchange between two or more individuals.
• Most people depend mainly on subjective evaluation of an innovation, conveyed to them from individuals like themselves who have previously adopted the innovations. This dependence on the experience of near peers indicates that diffusions a social process and the heart of diffusions process consists of the modeling and imitation by potential adopters of their network partners who have adopted previously.
• More effective communication occurs when two or more individuals belong to the same groups, live or work near each other, and share the same interests (homophilous). More effective communication occurs in homophilous than heterophilous condition. 

Time
The third element in diffusion process is TIME.
The time is involved in diffusion in

1. The innovation – decision process
2. Innovativeness and
3. Innovation’s rate of adoption.

Social system: Is made up of interrelated and interdependent parts or units which constitute its structure. The social system in the Indian condition may be a village.
The innovation – decision process is the mental process through which as individual or other decision making unit passes from first knowledge of an innovation to forming an attitude towards the innovation, to a decision to adopt or reject, to implementation of the new idea, and to confirmation of this decision.

There are five steps in this process

(1) Knowledge- It occurs when the individual is exposed to the innovations existence and gains some understanding of how it functions.

(2) Persuasion- It occurs when the individual forms a favorable or unfavorable attitude toward the innovation.

(3) Decision – It occurs when the individual engages the activities which lead to a choice to adopt or reject the innovation.

(4) Implementation- It occurs in small scale.

(5) Confirmation- It occurs when the individual seeks reinforcement for the innovation decision he has made, but he may reverse his previous decision if exposed to conflicting messages about the innovation.
An individual seeks information at various stages in the innovation – decision process in order to decrease uncertainty about innovation’s expected consequences. The decision stage leads to adoption, a decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available, or (2) to rejection a decision not to adopt an innovation.

Optional innovation decisions:
Are choices to adopt or reject an innovation that are made by an individual independent of the decisions of the other members of the system.

Collective innovation decisions:
            Are choices to adopt or reject an innovation that are made by consensus among the members of a system.

Authority innovation decisions:
            Are choices to adopt or reject an innovation that are made by a relatively few individuals in a system who possess power, status, or technical expertise. The individual member of the system has little or no influence in the innovation-decision; he or she simply implements the decision.

Contingent innovation decisions:
            Are choices to adopt or reject that can be made only after a prior innovation-decision.