Post on 23-Jan-2023
The Perception Of Christian Voters In Changamwe On The
Involvement Of Their Clergy In Political Communication: A Study On
Source Credibility
by
Timothy Mwongela Muthusi
11-1679
A thesis presented to the School of Communication, Language and
Performing Arts
Of
Daystar University
Nairobi, Kenya
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in Communication
May 2018
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APPROVAL
THE PERCEPTION OF CHRISTIAN VOTERS IN CHANGAMWE ON
THE INVOLVEMENT OF THEIR CLERGY IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION:
A STUDY ON SOURCE CREDIBILITY
by
Timothy Mwongela Muthusi
11-1679
In accordance with the Daystar University policies, this thesis is submitted in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree.
Date:
Mjomba, Majalia, PhD,
1st
Supervisor
Rose Mwangi, MA,
2nd
Supervisor
Kinyia Mwithia, PhD,
HOD, Strategic & Organizational Communication
Levi Obonyo, PhD,
Dean, School of Communication
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DECLARATION
THE PERCEPTION OF CHRISTIAN VOTERS IN CHANGAMWE ON
THE INVOLVEMENT OF THEIR CLERGY IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION:
A STUDY ON SOURCE CREDIBILITY
I declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been submitted to any
other college or university for academic credit.
Signed: ____________________ Date: ________________________
Timothy Mwongela Muthusi
11-1679
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Great is the faithfulness of the Lord God my father. This work is substantially
a product of the unreserved commitment of my lecturers and supervisors. I am
grateful for the indelible input of my supervisors Dr. Mjomba Majalia, in whose class
I began to conceptualize this study, and Ms. Rose Mwangi, whose encouragement not
only during the writing of this thesis but throughout my time at Daystar University
was outstanding. With a lot of patience and generosity of ideas and time, my
supervisors helped me through from a forest of ideas to a specific concept of study.
Significant appreciation goes to Rev. Dr. Joseph Kim, Rev. Dr. Park and the
entire First Presbyterian Church in South Korea for their enormous financial support
through this program. I thank the leadership and members of AIC Chaani, Mombasa
for their financial input, patience and understanding when I took some time off church
duties to complete this work.
I am gratefully indebted to my parents Enoch Muthusi and Annah Kavindye
for all the sacrifices they made in my formative years of life to ensure that I was well
introduced to academic life. With meager resources and in the midst of notable
discouragements, they never gave up on me, and did all they could to lay the
academic foundation on which this work is built. My thankful heart as well reaches
out to all my lifetime teachers who believed in my academic ability and committed
themselves to nurturing it towards this achievement.
Much thanks to my wife Peninah Mueni for the moral and spiritual support
she provided to me during my time in Daystar University as I attended lectures and
during the research, compiling and writing of this work. I appreciate every prayer and
the constant encouragement to complete this document even when I felt overwhelmed
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by duties and demands around me. I also appreciate our children, Victor and
Annabelle, for they never complained when I told them I had some homework to do.
I acknowledge the input of my research assistants for the noble work of
distributing and collecting the administered questionnaires. I thank all respondents
who accepted to provide data that was used to answer the research questions for this
study. I also thank the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation
for the authorization to conduct this research. I appreciate the Daystar University
library staff for the facilitation of access to research material, especially the online
material while I was far from Nairobi and Athi River campuses.
I acknowledge the prayer, support, and understanding of all my colleague
pastors in AIC Mombasa West DCC: Daniel Kasiwa, Jackson Kaloki, Abednego
Satana, Patrick Mbithi, Peninah Mwongela, Faith Charo, Josephine Musau, and Ruth
Jackson. This also extends to colleagues in the AIC Pwani South Regional Church
Council and the Pwani International Christian College.
I also appreciate Jane Wambua-Yobera for her critical role in the editing of this
document. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the inspiration of Rev. Prof. Paul Mumo,
Dr. James W. Gustafson and his wife Eleanor, Rev. Dr. Vundi Nason, and Mrs.
Josephine Kang'eti. Their interest in my work coupled with a genuine desire for my
general progress kept me motivated towards completing this task. Thank you all very
much!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL ................................................................................................................... ii
DECLARATION........................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. vii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ....................................................... xi
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. xii
DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................ 1
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND to the study ............................................... 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1
Background to the Study ........................................................................................... 2
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................ 10
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................ 11
Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................... 11
Research Questions ................................................................................................. 12
Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 12
Justification of the Study ......................................................................................... 13
Limitations and Delimitations ................................................................................. 13
Assumptions of the Study ........................................................................................ 15
Scope of the Study ................................................................................................... 16
Definition of Terms ................................................................................................. 16
Summary ................................................................................................................. 17
CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................... 18
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................. 18
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 18
Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................... 18
General Literature Review ...................................................................................... 21
Empirical Literature Review ................................................................................... 26
Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................... 35
Discussion ............................................................................................................... 36
Summary ................................................................................................................. 37
CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................... 38
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY................................................................................. 38
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 38
Research Design ...................................................................................................... 38
Population ................................................................................................................ 39
Target Population ..................................................................................................... 39
Sample Size ............................................................................................................. 40
Sampling Technique ................................................................................................ 41
Data Collection Instruments .................................................................................... 43
Data Collection Procedures ..................................................................................... 44
Pretesting ................................................................................................................. 45
Data Analysis Plan ................................................................................................... 46
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Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................. 46
Summary ................................................................................................................. 47
CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................ 49
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION............................ 49
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 49
Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation ................................................................ 49
Summary of Key Findings ...................................................................................... 76
Summary ................................................................................................................. 78
CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................... 79
DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................... 79
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 79
Discussion of Key Findings .................................................................................... 79
Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 83
Recommendations ................................................................................................... 90
Areas for Further Research ...................................................................................... 92
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 93
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 98
Appendix A: Self-Administered Questionnaire ...................................................... 98
Appendix B: Daystar University Letter of Introduction ....................................... 102
Appendix C: Research Permit ............................................................................... 103
Appendix D: Letter of Authorization .................................................................... 105
Appendix E: Anti-Plagiarism Report ................................................................... 106
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Age of Respondents ..................................................................................... 50
Table 4.2: Gender of Respondents ............................................................................... 50
Table 4.3: Marital Status of Respondents .................................................................... 51
Table 4.4: Education Background of the Respondents ................................................ 52
Table 4.5: Occupation of the Respondents ................................................................... 53
Table 4.6: Respondents who were Registered Voters ................................................... 53
Table 4.7: Religion of the Respondents ........................................................................ 54
Table 4.8: Number of Times the Respondents Attended Church Worship Services ..... 54
Table 4.9: Number of Respondents who Voted During the August 2010 Referendum . 55
Table 4.10: How Respondents Voted During the August 2010 Constitutional
Referendum ................................................................................................ 56
Table 4.11: The Construct of Expertise in Political communication ........................... 57
Table 4.12: The Construct of Trustworthiness in Political communication ................ 58
Table 4.13: The Construct of Goodwill in Political communication ........................... 60
Table 4.14: The General Perception of Respondents on the Source Credibility of
Pastors as Communicators of Political Messages. .................................... 62
Table 4.15: The Construct of Expertise in Communicating Spiritual Messages ......... 63
Table 4.16: The Construct of Trustworthiness in Communicating Spiritual Messages
.................................................................................................................... 64
Table 4.17: The Construct of Goodwill in Communicating Spiritual Messages ......... 66
Table 4.18: General Perception on Pastors’ Communication of Spiritual Messages .. 67
Table 4.19: The Construct of Expertise in the Christian Clergy During the
Referendum ................................................................................................ 68
Table 4.20: The Construct of Trustworthiness in the Christian Clergy During the
Referendum ................................................................................................ 70
Table 4.21: The Construct of Goodwill in the Christian Clergy During the Referendum
.................................................................................................................... 71
Table 4.22: General Perception of Respondents on the Source Credibility of Pastors
as they Participated in the August 2010 Constitutional Referendum ........ 72
Table 4.23: General Overview of the Respondents' Approval of the Source Credibility
of Pastors ................................................................................................... 74
Table 4.24: Why Voters Were not Persuaded to Vote 'NO' During the 2010 Referendum
.................................................................................................................... 75
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1: The Factor Model of Source Credibility Theory ....................................... 21
Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework ............................................................................ 36
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
ACK: Anglican Church of Kenya
AIC: Africa Inland Church
CIA: Central Intelligence Agency
IDS: Institute for Development Studies
IEBC: Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission
KCLF: Kenya Christian Leaders Forum
KLCF: Kenya Leaders Constitutional Forum
KeNADA: Kenya National Data Archives
KNBS: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
KNDR: Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation
NCCK: National Council of Churches of Kenya
USA: United States of America
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ABSTRACT
This study sought to determine the perception of Changamwe Christian voters on the
involvement of their clergy in political communication. The objectives of the study
were to establish the extent to which Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency
perceived their clergy to be credible sources in the communication of spiritual
messages; to establish the extent to which the same voters perceived their clergy to be
credible sources in the communication of political messages; and to establish the
extent to which the voters perceived the source credibility of their clergy in the
communication of political messages to have contributed to the defeat of the “NO”
vote in the August 2010 constitutional referendum. The study used descriptive
research design and had a sample of 372 comprising respondents from one out of the
five Wards in Changamwe Constituency. Multistage sampling was applied in the
selection of the Ward of study and consequently the respondents. Questionnaire was
the research instrument of this study. For data analysis, Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20 was used. Some of the study findings were that
the Christian voters perceived their clergy to be credible sources of spiritual
messages; that Christian voters did not consider their clergy to be credible sources in
delivering political messages; and that lack of source credibility in political
communication on the part of the clergy contributed to the defeat of the “NO” vote in
the 2010 constitutional referendum. Some of the study’s recommendations regarding
the Christian clergy were that the clergy can work towards developing their source
credibility in constructs of expertise and trustworthiness in regard to political
communication, and that since the respondents rated the Christian clergy highly on
the construct of goodwill, the clergy may capitalize on this construct to increase their
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credibility as sources of political messages.
DEDICATION
In fatherly love I dedicate this work to our son, Victor Muuo, and to our
daughters, Annabelle Mutanu and Laina Maria. My prayer for you is that you may
grow to be credible sources of the holistic gospel message.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Introduction
Kenyans participated in a constitutional referendum in August, 2010. This
exercise brought the Kenyan Christian clergy into the political limelight as never
before. The referendum exercise required a ‘Yes’ vote for those who were in support
of the new constitution and a ‘No’ vote for those opposing it. In this historical
exercise, the ’Yes’ vote won with a landslide. The ’No’ vote was popularly
championed for by leading Christian clergy. With the 2010 constitutional referendum
as a reference point, and source credibility as the guiding view, this study interrogated
the perception of Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency of Mombasa County
on the involvement of their clergy in political communication.
This study sought to find out why, with 83% of the Kenyan population being
Christian (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], 2015; Kenya National Bureau of
Statistics [KNBS], 2010), the “YES” vote won quite decisively yet the Christian
clergy championed for the “NO” vote. Could it be that the Christian population does
not have faith in their clergy when it comes to political communication or that the
Christian clergy lack persuasion over their congregation? Could it be that the clergy
lack source credibility among the Christian community in Kenya? Aristotle pointed
source credibility as a crucial element in persuasion, Political communication
involves all kinds of communication carried out by political actors to accomplish
particular electoral processes (Prete, 2007). The aspect of source credibility in respect
to the dimensions of competence, trustworthiness and goodwill as far as the Christian
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clergy is concerned formed the core of this study.
The items discussed in this chapter include the study’s background, problem
statement, purpose, objectives, research questions, and significance. The chapter also
covers the study’s limitations and delimitations, assumptions, scope, as well as the
definition of terms,
Background to the Study
Political communication is a very central process in the determination of how
citizens are governed since it enables them to individually and collectively articulate
their interests, mediate their differences and exercise their rights and obligations
(Omosa, Njeru, Ontita, & Nyarwath, 2006). In the world over, the success or failure in
the political communication process will largely depend on the opinion leaders
involved. Whether an opinion leader has source credibility or not is a key determinant
of either success or failure in all forms of communication. The question of source
credibility has been a major concern for communication researchers and scholars
since the last half of the 20th century. Research on the concept of source credibility
began during the World War II when the United States government thought to use
propaganda and mind management to influence public opinions in support of war
efforts (Umeogu, 2012).
Over 2300 years ago, Aristotle laid the groundwork for successful
communication. Scholars credit him with the development of the concept of source
credibility in the rhetoric where he divided the means of persuasion to three categories
namely ethos, logos and pathos (Thompson, 2005). The goal of any persuasive
communication is to take the audience from point A, which is the starting point and
move them along to point B which is the objective. This shifting of attitude is called
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persuasion and is highly determined by the level of credibility in the source (Borg,
2004; Prete, 2007).
Recently, the concept of source credibility has become an area of interest for
research and has acquired other names and descriptions such as ethos, prestige,
charisma, and image. Through decades of study since the proposition of the source
credibility theory, several studies (Hilligoss & Rieh, 2008; Pornpitakpan, 2004;
Teven, 2008) have come up with the same constructs of credibility as Aristotle did
several centuries ago. Aristotle taught of good sense which is competence and good
character, and is perceived as trustworthiness, and goodwill - which is a
demonstration of a caring attitude or benevolence on the part of the speaker. All these
narrow down to the fact that for a message to be believable there has to be source
credibility.
Credibility is considered to be the judgments made by a message recipient
concerning the believability of a communicator (Callison, 2001). A favorable
speaker's ethos equals credibility and believability (Umeogu, 2012). Without source
credibility, persuasion can hardly occur. The ability to persuade and convince
effectively is directly proportional to how credible followers perceive the speaker to
be (Chong & Rogers, 2005). There is obvious uniformity in communication theories
that message receivers relate source credibility to the communicator's favorable
character or ethos that emits knowledge, moral standards, and goodwill towards the
message receivers (Hilligoss & Rieh, 2008).
Source credibility is something that exists in the listeners' minds, relates to the
person and refers to the sincerity that exudes from the individual (Borg, 2004). This
means that the sincerity of the speaker either gives or denies him the public speaking
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ethos (source credibility). Prete (2007) argued that a credible person is supposed to
have profound knowledge of a specific theme (expertise), to be reliable
(trustworthiness) and to lead to a process of identification with the audience
(goodwill). All the qualities that a communicator possesses, including his or her
personality, social group, knowledge, goodwill, and trustworthiness, shape the
message (Smith, 1992).
For political communication to achieve its principal objective of informing,
persuading, and acting, it needs to have a high degree of credibility (Prete, 2007).
When Christian clergy are involved in political communication, source credibility
becomes a subject of occasional debate for contemporary scholars and the general
public. According to Djupe and Gilbert (2003), early research on the involvement of
Christian clergy in political communication was concerned with what the clergy
thought and did politically. Djupe and Gilbert further stated that this research was
conducted with the assumption that communication by the clergy always affects the
people on the pews. Political communication by Christian clergy is fundamental to
our understanding of the relationships between religion and politics with the political
speech of the clergy being often identified as a key mechanism underlying
associations between religious variables, and public opinion and political participation
(Cavendish, 2001; Mulligan, 2006).
As asserted by Djupe and Calfano (2013), effective clergy communication will
overcome or avoid congregant defenses against dissonant political information. The
clergy are generally considered to be professional arbiters of values and absolute
truths. Their pronouncements therefore carry a lot of weight particularly among the
faithful, who believe that God, the ultimate source of credibility, speaks through
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religious leaders (Olson, 2009). The clergy may shape members' politics through the
priming of religious values, which may often occur during sermons or elite-led
presentations (Chong & Druckman, 2008; Sniderman & Theriault, 2004). According
to Sniderman and Theriault (2004), it is however important to note that the credibility
of political messages by the clergy is affected by a number of cue attributes which
include the strength of the message and whether the message is pitted against
competing arguments. Some clergy are often reported taking stands on political issues
such as urging congregants to vote, publicly discussing candidates, as well as
addressing a range of sociopolitical concerns such as scandals in government and
capital punishment (Woolfalk, 2012).
Occasionally, the clergy tend to have coherent worldviews making them
effective opinion leaders who can frame grievances in ways that express their
relevance to parishioners (Crawford & Olson, 2001; Wald & Calhoun-Brown, 2014).
Martin Luther King Junior, a Baptist preacher, is a classic example of a Christian
clergy who was involved in successful political communication (Gathogo, 2007).
Nevertheless, the credibility of Christian clergy as a source of political messages can
be a question of debate, attracting critical views. For instance, Reverend Billy
Graham, one of the most celebrated Christian clergy in the world, and whose voice in
American politics was heard for decades did not lack critics in reference to credibility
(Miller, 2011). His relationship with President Nixon drew considerable controversy
though he constantly urged God-fearing Americans to express their values through
political involvement (Miller, 2011).
Ward (2012) stated that during the 2012 American presidential campaigns, the
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association launched a major advertisement campaign
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urging Americans to vote for Biblical values. Although there was no name for a
particular candidate in the advertisement which appeared in the USA Today, in the
Wall Street Journal, and in other newspapers in the States, it was widely perceived
that the advertisements were in support of Mitt Romney who was opposed to same
sex marriage. The incumbent, President Obama supported same sex marriages. This
move elicited mixed reactions with some feeling that it was not Billy Graham’s
initiative but a strategy by his son Franklin who was seen to be more outspoken on
political matters than his father (Ward, 2012).
As pointed out by Carrigan (2014), some Christian clergy also at times raised
concerns in regard to Billy Graham's positions on political matters. For instance,
while commenting on the life and times of Billy Graham, Reverend Jesse Jackson
once expressed that Graham would have been more powerful (credible) had he used
his evangelistic rallies to support the struggle towards racial equality (Aikman, 2010).
Making reference to the years of President Reagan and into the administration of
George W. Bush, Miller (2011) observed that Billy Graham's tone differed so notably
from the headline pronouncements of Jerry Falwell, who ran a Christian political
lobby, and Pat Robertson, who at some point ran for president. Miller postulated that
few observers stayed attuned to Graham’s continued intimacy with the world of
politics. In regard to credibility, Miller further argued that though Graham has been
voted in as a favorite of many and is revered by many as a great evangelist and an
advisor to many American presidents, it is only when he became politically neutral
that he grew in this aspect of credibility. This would serve to confirm the assumption
that a notable paradox surrounds the involvement of Christian clergy in political
communication hence raising the question of source credibility in a louder and
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tougher tone.
In Kenya, involvement of Christian clergy in political communication has
similarly elicited mixed reactions from those who profess to be Christians as well
from others of different faiths. In Kenya's post independent history, a number of
prominent Christian clergy have been involved in political communication. They
include the late Bishop David Gitari, the third Primate and archbishop of the Anglican
Church of Kenya from 1997 to 2002; the late Reverend John Henry Okullu, Bishop of
Anglican Church of Kenya Maseno South diocese from 1971 to 1994); Zablon
Nthamburi, presiding bishop of the of the Methodist Church of Kenya from 1993 to
2002; Reverend Timothy Njoya, a retired minister of Presbyterian Church of East
Africa and a former chairman of Center for Democracy and Governance - Kenya; the
late Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge, the first Bishop of the Anglican Church of
Kenya - diocese of Eldoret; and Cardinal John Njue, the incumbent archbishop the
Roman Catholic church in Kenya (Gathogo, 2007). These Christian clergy are
influential figures who appear to have had source credibility; they against many odds,
succeeded in dismantling Kenya's one party and autocratic regime (Parsitau, 2012).
Oluoch (2006) quoted Reverend Okullu as having said that politics and
religion are the same thing for clergymen and that according to him (Okullu),
clergymen are concerned with the entire development of human beings, hence there is
no way politicians can keep them out of politics. Bishop Gitari spoke his political
mind through expository sermons which faithfully interpreted Biblical texts and
through this he came out as politically credible (Gathogo, 2007). Bishop Muge is
recorded in Kenyan history as one Kenyan Christian clergy who expressed the
goodwill construct of source credibility. He devoted his life entirely to advocacy and
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proclamation of social truth and believed in the power of the pulpit to transform and
reform the society (Parsitau, 2012), demonstrating to a great degree the construct of
trustworthiness and goodwill in source credibility.
The political debates in which the Kenyan Christian clergy discussed above
were involved in served to instruct a review of the constitutional framework of Kenya.
The exercise of writing a new constitution lasted almost two decades. A draft
constitution was subjected to a referendum in 2005 and again in 2010. these two
referendums were conducted with the aim of either adopting or rejecting the draft
constitution. The aim was for Kenya to have a new and better constitution. During
the 2010 referendum, the Kenyan Christian clergy took a leading role in opposing the
draft constitution. After the draft constitution was published and passed by parliament,
Canon Peter Karanja, the Secretary General of the National Council of Churches of
Kenya (NCCK), together with Cardinal John Njue, the head of the Roman Catholic
Church in Kenya, emerged as fierce critics of the proposed constitution (Mutua,
2010).
It is important to note here that the most of the earlier discussed fierce
Christian clergy were not key players in the 2010 constitution referendum process, for
by then some were either late, retired, or even defrocked. The key leaders were
Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop Eliud Wabukala, the then head of the Anglican
Church in Kenya; Bishop Mark Kariuki, the presiding Bishop of Deliverance
Churches worldwide; and Canon Peter Karanja; among others. Bishop David Gitari
and Reverend Njoya did however speak in favor of the draft constitution.
A coalition of Christian clergy from different denominations formed the
Kenyan Leaders Constitutional Forum (KLCF) to oppose the draft constitution right
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from its publication to the national referendum of August 2010 (Mutua, 2010). KLCF
mounted tremendous opposition to the draft, opposing the clauses on abortion,
homosexuality, and Kadhi's courts. Although these three contentious issues enshrined
in the draft constitution were not purely political, KLCF’s opposition of the draft
constitution set the agenda for a political contest. This was because the draft
constitution was being subjected to a referendum which was in essence a political
exercise. As such, any communication, either for or against the draft constitution
based on whichever item, would therefore, until the referendum exercise was over be
rightly defined as political communication.
The Kenyan Leaders Constitutional Forum organized nationwide public rallies
which were popularly referred to “Mega prayer rallies” (Parsitau, 2012). In these
events, KLCF used enormous resources and made use of mass media communication
technologies such as newspaper advertisements, radio and television announcements,
press releases, posters, and many others. The main aim of using this plethora of
channels and methods was to warn the Christians against voting for the draft
constitution which they described as poisonous and detrimental to the health of the
nation.
According to Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR, 2010), on
the referendum day there was a commendable and historical voter turnout of 72% and
the constitution received an overwhelming popular endorsement of 67% against a
disapproval rate of 31%. A Majority of the voters, whose greater fraction is made up
of Christians (considering the significantly large population of Christians in Kenya)
cast their votes in favor of the draft constitution. The political decision of a majority
of the Christian voters who formed the larger fraction of the voters was evidently a
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deviation from the instruction and expectation of their clergy. The referendum results
practically showed that the Christian clergy failed to convince the Christian voters to
take a common political direction; opposing the draft constitution. There was a big
discrepancy in the message sent through all accessible communication machinery by
the Christian clergy and the decision made at the ballot box by a majority of Christian
voters.
The outcome of the referendum, an historic defeat of the “NO” vote, became a
point of reference for raising questions about the credibility of the Christian leaders in
as far as their moral leadership in matters political was concerned (Parsitau, 2012).
This further put into question the clergy’s source credibility in political
communication. After the release of the results of the referendum, there were mixed
reactions from Christians in regard to the loss by the “NO” vote whose campaign was
mainly led by the Christian clergy.
This study sought to establish why the Christian voters were not persuaded to
follow the direction of their clergy. The study’s concentrated on determining if a gap
of source credibility could have existed as far as the Christian clergy and their
delivery of political messages was concerned. The study used descriptive research
design in which source credibility, with reference to the Christian clergy, was the
operational concept of study.
Statement of the Problem
Based on figures from CIA (2015) and KNBS (2010), an approximate of 83%
of Kenyans profess the Christian faith. The Christian clergy in Kenya are the leaders
of this large number of citizens and hence it is to be assumed that they have powerful
influence. During the 2010 constitution referendum, the said clergy came together and
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put up a very spirited campaign against the draft constitution yet despite all these the
“YES” vote carried the day with a significant majority of 67% (KNDR, 2010).
Despite the large number of following and prominent social standing, the
Christian clergy did not influence Christian voters enough to secure a win. Had the
Christian clergy received support from their followers, the ideal situation would have
been a win for the “NO” vote. The reality, as it appears was that although Christian
voters cast their votes, the direction of their voting was not hugely in favor of the
proposal given by their clergy. Ideally, if any speaker has source credibility, they will
persuade almost 100% and there shall be maximum effects. Considering that this was
not the case with the Kenyan Christian clergy in regard to the August 2010
referendum in Kenya, this study sought to find out why the Christian voters were not
persuaded to vote “NO” as urged by their clergy. Could it have been that the Christian
clergy lacked source credibility in political communication.
Purpose of the Study
This study sought to determine whether the Christian clergy in Kenya had
source credibility in terms of political communication.
Objectives of the Study
The following objectives guided the study:
1. To establish the extent to which Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency perceived their clergy to be credible sources in the
communication of spiritual messages.
2. To establish the extent to which Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency perceived their clergy to be credible sources in the
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communication of political messages.
3. To establish the extent to which Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency perceived the source credibility of their clergy in the
communication of political messages to have contributed to the defeat
of the “NO” vote in the August 2010 constitutional referendum.
Research Questions
The study sought to answer the following questions:
1. To what the extent did Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency
perceive their clergy to be credible sources in the communication of
spiritual messages?
2. To what extent did Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency
perceive their clergy to be credible sources in the communication of
political messages?
3. To what extent did Christian voters in Changamwe constituency
perceive the source credibility of their clergy in the communication of
political messages to have contributed to the defeat of the “NO” vote in
the August 2010 constitutional referendum.
Significance of the Study
The results of this study revealed the dimensions of source credibility in which
the Christian clergy should develop. The knowledge developed was considered useful
in helping the Christian clergy build their source credibility for greater usefulness in
communication beyond the pulpit. The Christian clergy are involved in holistic
ministry, which political communication is part of. It is hoped that this study’s
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findings would:
1. Help a great deal in neutralizing the natural dichotomy that has been
created between political communication and the communication of
spiritual messages by the Christian clergy, as perceived by the
Christian community.
2. Be instructive to both the Christian voters and their clergy. With the
gained knowledge, the Christian clergy would be helpful in the future
formulation, packaging, and delivery of political messages.
3. Inform policy makers and developers about the Christian voter
constituency’s understanding of political communication. This would
be quite informative on their choice of the sources to carry messages
that have political elements to Christian voters.
4. In the academic circles, add to as well as confirm existing facts
pertaining to source credibility.
Justification of the Study
This was a perception study focusing on the concept of source credibility
which is at the heart of any successful communication enterprise. The study
established that a source could be credible in one area but not in another. The urgency
and value of the study was considered real based on that since the August, 2010
constitutional referendum, much of what had been written were reports on how the
Christian clergy failed and how the “NO” vote lost. This study aimed at going deeper
into unearthing the underlying reasons that interfered with the call to reject the draft
constitution. Towards this, the study sought to find out if source credibility could have
been a key factor leading to the poor reception of the political message from the
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Christian clergy by the Christian voters.
Limitations and Delimitations
As a Christian faith ordained minister in Kenya, the researcher was part of the
Christian clergy in Changamwe Constituency, the location that was the study’s focus.
This was a factor which could have led to bias in the collection of data. This
limitation was mitigated by the use of research assistants who were not part of the
clergy and who had no personal interests in the entire process of the research. On
mitigating the same limitation, Chaani ward, where the researcher served, was
excluded during the sampling of the wards to be studied.
This was an academic exercise with political implications and it was
undertaken at a time when Kenya was preparing for a general election. There was an
experience of respondents' apathy resulting from the fear that the information being
collected may not have been genuinely meant for academic use but possibly for
negative political purposes. The research assistants were advised to provide a verbal
explanation to the respondents that the information that would be collected from them
was purely meant for academic purposes. On the self-administered questionnaire
which was used for the data collection, it was clarified that the information collected
was to be used purely for academic purposes.
The target population of the study was Christian voters yet not all of them
went to church regularly. While those who regularly attended church worship services
had an established relational contact with the Christian clergy, those without the habit
of regular church attendance lacked such contact. Based on this, some discrepancies
in the responses were expected. Since all these categories of Christians were involved
in the voting exercise, the self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all
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Christian voters whether they went to church regularly or not. All the registered voters
who had participated in voting during the August 2010 constitutional referendum and
who identified Christianity as the religious faith were engaged as respondents. The
researcher ensured that the information sought through the questionnaire allowed
room for examining the possible differences between the information provided by
those who attended church regularly and those who did not. Respondents were asked
to indicate how regularly they attended church worship services.
The research instruments used English language and technical terms which
were a challenge to some respondents. As a way of mitigation, the research assistants
were trained on how to, as need arose, provide ready explanations using the language
that the respondents could understand.
Assumptions of the Study
This study made some assumptions which included the following:
1. That the 2010 constitutional referendum was objective and that it was
conducted according to the laws and procedures governing electoral processes
in Kenya.
2. That the Christian clergy had an elaborate campaign strategy during the 2010
referendum.
3. That enough and willing Christian voters would be found to give answers to
the questions raised and that they would do it objectively.
4. That all respondents had access to the media and thus, they followed the
prominent Christian clergy and politicians who were regularly involved in
political communication and that they could remember the events before and
after the August 2010 referendum.
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5. That according to the Christian voters' understanding, there did exist a natural
separation between spiritual and political messages
Scope of the Study
This study revolved around source credibility in relation to the involvement of
the Christian clergy in political communication. Its core aim was to find out if the
Christian clergy had source credibility in political communication. The study’s
concern was the extent to which the Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency
perceived their clergy to be credible sources of political messages. The August 2010
constitutional referendum in Kenya was intentionally identified as a major exercise of
reference for the involvement of the Christian clergy in political communication.
Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency in Mombasa County were engaged as
respondents. The study focused on the respondents’ view of their clergy’s relay of
spiritual messages on the one hand and of the same clergy’s relay of political
messages on the other hand. The major dimensions for determining source credibility,
which were identified as expertise or competence, trustworthiness, and goodwill were
the main areas of interrogation in the study.
Definition of Terms
Christian voters: Douglas, Tenney, and Silva (2011) provided the Biblical
meaning of a Christian as one who is an adherent of Christ. In this study, Christian
voter is used to refer to any registered voter in Kenya who identifies with the
Christian faith, either by word or practice, or both.
Christian clergy: Anyone who is ordained to perform pastoral or sacerdotal
functions in the Christian church (Christian, n.d.). In this study, the term Christian
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Clergy, refers to any trained and appointed overseer of a Christian congregation or
congregations. In the questionnaire the title “Pastor” is used to refer to the Christian
clergy.
Source credibility: O’Keefe (1990) defined source credibility as the judgment
by a listener concerning the believability of a communicator. For the purpose of this
study, source credibility refers to the degree to which one can believe in, and act
according to what a speaker proposes.
Political communication: This is a process by which a nation’s leadership,
media, and citizenry exchange and confer meaning upon messages that relate to the
conduct of the public policy (Perloff, 1997). This study uses Perloff’s definition.
Political messages: Any purposeful communication about political matters
ranging from governance to electoral processes (McNair, 2011). In this study, the term
refers to any communicative behavior that focuses on influencing the electorate to
make political decisions.
Spiritual messages: In this study, the term ‘spiritual messages’ is used to refer
to the communication that the clergy make within the confines of Biblical content and
the admonition of humanity in regard to their walk with God, irrespective of their
training or careers, with the central focus being the spiritual life of the individual.
Summary
This chapter has provided the introduction and background to the study, the
statement of the problem, as well as the study’s purpose. Discussed also in the chapter
are the study’s: research objectives, research questions, justification, significance,
scope, assumptions, and limitations and delimitations. In the next chapter, the
theoretical and conceptual frameworks of the study, as well as literature review on the
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subject of source credibility, the clergy, and political communication are provided.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
In this chapter, the theoretical framework within which this research was
conducted is provided. General and empirical literature review on perception, the
Christian clergy, political communication, and source credibility are also articulated in
this chapter. The chapter also presents the study’s conceptual framework. At the end is
a discussion and summary of the entire chapter.
Theoretical Framework
A theory is a set of inter-related propositions that suggest and seek to explain
why events occur in the manner that they do. It is a way of framing an experience or
event (Hoover, 1984; K. A. Foss, Foss, & Griffin, 1999). Theories in communication
help in the effort made to understand and account for something and the way it
functions in the world. They simplify the complex nature of communication as a daily
occurrence as well as an academic discipline making it quite understandable. As
opined by Infante, Rancer, and Womack (2003), communication theories help us
organize and understand our communication experiences. Further, Infante et al. stated
that we use theories to organize a broad range of experiences into smaller categories
by paying attention to the common features of communication situations that we find
ourselves in and that such theories guide how we actually communicate, helping us
choose what communicative behaviors to study.
Source Credibility Theory
This study interrogated the perception of the audience, where in this case the
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audience is the Christian voters in Changamwe, on the source, where the source
herein is the Christian clergy. The source credibility theory states that people or
receivers are more likely to be persuaded when the source presents itself as credible.
Scholars have attributed the value of focus and straight forwardness to this theory. For
instance, Hilligoss and Rieh (2008) described the theory as an established one that
explains how communication persuasiveness is affected by the perceived credibility
of the source of that communication. This theory propounded by Hovland, Janis, and
Kelly in 1953 has a rich history in persuasion research (Tormala, Brinol, & Petty,
2005). A study by the proponents of this theory, in which they compared credible and
non-credible sources using the same persuasive message confirmed the assumption
that credible sources tend to create the desired impact on the audience (Pornpitakpan,
2004).
Communicators with high credibility in the eyes of message receivers tend to
have respect and their words are accepted more readily (Umeogu, 2012). Basically,
people are likely to be persuaded if the person doing the persuading is seen as being
credible, expert, and trustworthy. Source credibility affects the perceived validity of
information in a message (Fragale & Heath, 2004). In his philosophical analysis of the
source credibility theory, Umeogu (2012) identified three models attributed to the
theory. These models help to narrow the wide scope of the theory while making it
even a much more focused strategy to use when studying communication. The factor
model, which uses a covering laws approach, helps in determining to which extent the
receiver judges the source as credible. The functional model, which just like the factor
model uses a covering laws approach, views credibility as the degree to which a
source satisfies the individual needs. The constructivist model, uses a human action
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approach, and analyzes what the receiver does with the sources' proposal. This study
chose to use the factor model. To determine the extent to which the Christian voters
perceive their clergy as credible sources in political communication, the dimensions
of expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill were identified as the key factors foe
interrogation.
This study also looked at two other theories. The theory of reasoned action
proposed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen in 1980 as an improvement of the
information integration theory proposed by the same people in 1975 (Theory, n.d.).
The theory predicts that behavioral intent is created or caused by our attitudes and our
subjective norms. The second theory was the elaboration likelihood model of
persuasion developed by Richard Petty and John Caccioppo in 1980 (Kruglanski &
Van Lange, 2012). It is a dual process theory that describes the change of attitudes.
Source credibility theory was chosen to provide the framework for this study because
it provides a balanced focus on both the source and the audience, unlike the other two
theories which appeared to pay more attention to the audience.
After review and evaluation of literature on source credibility theory, A
summary based on the constructs that guided was prepared and is presented
diagrammatically in Figure 2.1.
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Figure 2.1: The Factor Model of Source Credibility Theory
Source: Author (2018)
General Literature Review
Perception and Source Credibility
Communication can only be said to have occurred when one mind has
influenced another so that the other mind understands what was in the first mind
(Lundstrom, 1990). This influence is about affecting the perception of the listener.
Severin and Tankard (2008) submitted that perception is the process by which we
interpret sensory data. It is about how individuals understand the information they
receive or register using their eyes, nose, fingertips or any other sensory organ.
Perception is thus a cognitive process that enables us to interpret or understand our
environment. It involves the way we view the world around us and adds meaning to
the information gathered via the sensory organs.
Since the days of Aristotle to most recently, scholars on credibility have
highlighted several dimensions of source credibility but the three classic ones adopted
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for use in this study are competence or expertise, trustworthiness or character, and
goodwill. These dimensions are not empirical realities but perceptual sources of
influence on the receiver which can be cultivated, managed or created (Cornan, Hess,
& Justus, 2006; Thweat & McCroskey, 1996). Credibility therefore is directly related
to perception where the receiver decides whether to believe or disregard a speaker
with regard to the three dimensions proposed by scholars. Selective perception which
is the tendency for people’s perception to be influenced by wants, needs, attitudes, and
other psychological factors plays a very important role in any sort of communication
(Severin & Tankard, 2008).
Individuals tend to expose themselves to those communications that are in
agreement with their existing attitudes and to avoid those that are not in agreement.
Individuals also tend to pay attention to those parts of a message that are consonant
with strongly held attitudes and behaviors. An attitude is an individual's predisposition
to behave in a particular way in response to given stimuli within his world (Thweat &
McCroskey, 1996). The focus may be a person, group, policy or product among
others. According to Severin and Tankard (2008), individuals also recall information
to be influenced by wants, needs, attitudes, and other psychological factors, It all boils
back to perception. Perception acts into two stages namely, the structural which is the
physical reception of signals by the sense organs; and the functional which is the
mental interpretation of those signals. Functional perception is usually the critical
element in achieving effective communication because it selects signals for conscious
recognition and discards others (Smith, 1992).
Perception is influenced and affected by several factors, the most significant
being our social orientation. It is a common experience that, seemingly private
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opinions and attitudes are maintained by an individual in conjunction with small
numbers of others with whom he is motivated to interact. Gustafson (1984) reckoned
that the characteristics of persons and communities are shaped and nourished by
symbols, myths, rites, and stories that they share and by the education they receive.
The way an individual speaker is perceived by the audience affects his or her
credibility. If an audience perceives a communicator as credible, they will be
influenced by him but if they do not perceive him as credible, then he shall have
minimal impact on their attitudes (McCroskey & Teven, 1999). Aristotle further stated
that source credibility is merely a subset of a much larger construct of a person's
perception. Source credibility is highly affected by attitude, where we tend to perceive
what we want to perceive, and what we want to perceive is something that agrees with
our mental constructs (Aristotle, trans. 2010)
Aristotle also argued that persuasion is accomplished by character whenever
the speech is held in such a way as to render the speaker worthy of credence
(Thompson, 2005). That is, if the speaker appears to be credible, the audience will
form the second order judgment that the propositions he puts forward are true and
credible. Aristotle further advised that the speaker must display practical intelligence,
a virtuous character, and goodwill. If the speaker displayed none of these, the
audience would doubt that he is able to give good advice at all. If he displays practical
intelligence without a virtuous character and goodwill, the audience would doubt if
his intentions and aims are good. If he displays practical intelligence and a virtuous
character without goodwill, the audience will still doubt whether the speaker gives the
best suggestion though he knows what it is. According to Knight (2007), Aristotle
concluded that if a speaker displays practical intelligence, a virtuous character, and
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goodwill, it cannot be rationally doubted that his or her suggestions are credible. The
speaker must accomplish the three constructs of expertise, trustworthiness, and
goodwill by what he says.
In his Rhetoric, Aristotle identified five main matters on which all men
deliberate and on which political speakers make speeches. These include ways and
means, war and peace, national defense, imports and exports, and legislation
(Aristotle, trans. 2010). In addition, Aristotle observed that in political speaking, the
orator urges the audience to do or not to do something. This boils back to the creation
of a perception. Knight (2007) observed that political speaking is concerned with the
future, that it is about things to be done after the speaker advises for or against. The
political orator aims at establishing either the expediency or harmfulness of a
proposed action. If he urges acceptance, he does so on grounds that the proposed
action will do good; if he urges rejection, it is on grounds that the action will do harm.
The orator brings every other point he or she makes, such as; whether the proposal is
just or unjust, honorable or dishonorable as subsidiary and relative to this main
consideration (Knight, 2007). In political communication, a decision is expected to be
made after the speech. It is therefore imperative that a political speech be persuasive.
The use of a persuasive speech is the art that leads to decisions that are in agreement
with the speaker's proposition.
Source Credibility and the Christian Clergy in Political
Communication in Kenya
According to Muhingi, Agonga, Mainye, Mong’are, & Maranga (2015), the
IDS report of June 2005 strongly asserted that development involves not just the
expansion of resources, skills and power in any given state, but also the political
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processes of the state or society bargaining over their distribution that occurs within it.
Perloff (1997) looked at political communication as a process by which a nation’s
leadership, media, and citizenry exchange and confer meaning upon messages that
relate to the conduct of the public policy. This process involves the exchange and
interpretation of messages. The World Bank annual report of 2006 indicated that the
impact of communication and information processes on societies of every kind was
going to increase rapidly in the coming decades and this included political
communication from all quarters.
Since the colonial days, the church in Kenya led by its clergy has been
involved in political communication. The mainline churches have had a long-standing
and chequered history of pushing for democratic and constitutional reforms,
especially during the 1980s and early 1990s. In Kenya, the churches have at different
times been at the forefront of a sustained campaign for constitutional reforms. From
the 1960s to the 1990s, the churches acted as the voice of the voiceless and the
conscience of the society (Gifford, 2009; Parsitau, 2012). During this time, the clergy
were involved in political communication, where from time to time they questioned
the one-party rule excesses from the pulpit. It is worth noting that the clergy spoke
with one voice as the men of the cloth and of honor.
Christian clergy have a status in the society. They have a position or place in
the social system and its attendant right and duties. Their status has a public value
attached to it (Grunlan & Mayers, 1988). By virtue of being religious leaders,
Christian clergy hold a status in the society. Such positions make the society deem
them as credible sources of information. However, the involvement of the clergy in
political communication seems to have always raised mixed reactions. A poll
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conducted in Kenya in 2012 on the preparedness of Kenya towards the 2012 general
election showed that a majority of the Kenyans were of the view that religious leaders
should stick to spiritual matters and shun politics since the latter is a dirty game
(Mutua, 2010). In the study, almost a third (64%) of the respondents expressed that
the clergy should stick to religious matters while according to 14.23%, religious
leaders had been overshadowed by politicians. The interesting result of the same poll
was that 55.8% of the participants believed that the clergy would influence the
outcome of the 2012 election.
According to the CIA (2015) and KNBS (2010), the 2009 population and
housing census showed that an approximate of 83% of all the citizens in Kenya were
professing Christians, a population under the influence of the Christian clergy. If the
clergy would have managed to convince this significant population to vote against the
draft constitution, the obvious expectation would be a win for the NO vote. KNDR
(2010) reported that the voter turnout on the 2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum
was 72%, where over 80% of the voters were Christians. It further reported that the
results of the referendum showed that the draft constitution received a popular
endorsement of 67% against a disapproval rate of 31%. Moreover, specific statistics
from KNDR indicated that Changamwe Constituency returned a very strong ‘YES’
verdict on the draft constitution with an overwhelming 73% voting in the affirmative,
and only 24% opposing. The overall voter turnout in Changamwe Constituency was
63% (KNDR, 2010).
Empirical Literature Review
Source Credibility in Communication
Source credibility is a concept that since the days of the Philosopher Aristotle
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has been scrutinized through the years. Aristotle referred to source credibility as ethos
(Aristotle, trans. 2010; Umeogu, 2012), viewed by McCraken (1989) as the image of
the source in the minds of the receivers. The source of a message contributes to the
persuasiveness of that message (Shimp, 2002). Aristotle also suggested that credibility
consists of intelligence, character, and goodwill as perceptual dimensions that act as
sources of influence on every receiver (Thweatt & McCroskey, 1996).
Credibility is considered to be the judgments made by a message recipient
concerning the believability of a communicator (Callison, 2001). As stated by Hogg
and Vaughan (2013), credibility is a perceived quality, one that people assign to the
communicator based on a number of elements. The postulation by Callison (2001)
and further elaborated by Hogg and Vaughan implies that source credibility is a
perception phenomenon whose origin lies with the receiver in the communication
process.
Levine and Stephenson (2007) espoused that source credibility is a description
of the image of a communicator held at a given time by a receiver, who can either be
one person or a group. It influences the receiver and arises from how the public view
or perceive a speaker. Aristotle emphasized that the elements which positively
influence source credibility are perceptual, especially expertise and trustworthiness
(Aristotle, trans. 2010). No message is received independent of the source. This is true
of political communication as argued by Richmond and McCroskey (as cited in
Teven, 2008), source credibility in a political communication context is a critical
factor in the selection of an opinion leader. The success or failure of any political
campaign or endeavor depends on how credible the voters perceive the candidate to
be. Researchers have found that sources having more credibility dimensions induce
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greater attitude change faster compared to those having less of those dimensions
(Dholakia, 1987; Umeogu, 2012). The credibility of any candidate is quite important
in determining the effectiveness of political advertising. Advertisements for
candidates with high credibility have a greater impact on influencing audiences and
potential votes (Druckman, Jacobs, & Ostermeier, 2004; Lee & Chang, 2011).
Key Constructs/Dimensions of Source Credibility
Contemporary research has supported what McCroskey and Young (1981)
proposed almost four decades ago; that source credibility is a very important element
in the communication process whether the goal of the communication effort is
persuasion or the generation of understanding. The receiver holds an initial attitude
towards the source and the topic. The source, through the message delivered,
expresses a particular attitude towards the topic and the two may be consistent or
inconsistent. A credible source of information makes for quicker and firmer decisions
(Gass & Seiter, 2014). A favorable speaker's ethos equals credibility and believability
(Aristotle, trans. 2010; Teven, 2008.). Aristotle asserted that a speech consists of three
things: the speaker, the subject that is treated in the speech, and the listener to whom
the speech is addressed (Umeogu, 2012). The speech can produce persuasion either
through the speaker, the emotional state of the listener, or the argument itself. The
hearer or listener determines the end of the speech. So far, there is a consistent
assertion among scholars that in communication, the extent of agreement is usually
higher when the statements are attributed to high status sources, that is sources whose
credibility is high.
The credible person is defined as an expert, one who is experienced, qualified,
intelligent, and skilled. Such a person is also trustworthy in that he is fair, honest,
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unselfish, careful in the choice of words, and disinclined to deceive (Hilligoss & Rieh,
2008). Just as our minds can deny a favorable reception to a person against whom
they are prejudiced; so can they receive a speech when they have been favorably
impressed by speaker. It is also obvious that all people are persuaded by
considerations of their interests and these interests lie in the maintenance of the
established order.
Even though one may be an expert, if he is not perceived as such by the
hearers his influence over them would have very minimal effects. This is because
credibility is context-dependent and an expert in one situation may be incompetent in
another (Gass & Seiter, 2014). Expertise is the perceived knowledge, skill, and
experience of the source. Hilligoss and Rieh (2008) held that expertise is an important
factor because it is closely related to user perceptions of the ability of a source to
provide information that is both accurate and valid. Hilligoss and Rieh further
indicated that expertise is closely related with trustworthiness in that when people find
that sources of information have expertise they will likely judge that information as
trustworthy.
The construct of expertise in a source is about competence, intelligence,
qualification, and authoritativeness gained from knowledge and experience
(McCroskey & Teven, 1999). It refers to the extent to which a speaker is perceived to
be capable of making correct assertions. Experts are usually considered highly
credible unless or until they are perceived as biased or self-serving. They are more
persuasive than non-experts. Same arguments carry more weight when delivered by
someone who presumably knows all the facts. Lack of integrity can cancel out the
positive impact of expertise. The construct of trustworthiness refers to the honesty and
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believability of a source (Shimp, 2002). It is about the degree to which an audience
perceives the assertions made by a communicator to be valid because they are
perceived to be honest, sincere, and objective (McCraken, 1989). Trustworthiness is
about being honest and unbiased.
McCroskey and Teven (1999) observed that the construct of goodwill refers to
the friendly disposition, benevolence, kindness, and a sense of caring in the source. It
is about the speaker’s intention towards the receiver. The three constructs or
dimensions of expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill are not empirical realities but
perceptions that can be created, managed and cultivated (Cornan et al., 2006). As
indicated by Hogg and Vaughan (2013), other perceptual elements of credibility are
integrity, sound judgment, relational sensitivity, and likeability. In fact, credibility can
be seen to be a mixture of trustworthiness, expertise, and attractiveness (Levin &
Stephenson, 2007).
Source Credibility in Political Communication
A political contest is in essence a contest on credibility and the audience will
vote for the person they perceive to be most credible (Chong & Rogers, 2005). The
success or failure of any political campaign or endeavor depends on how credible the
voters perceive the candidate or opinion leader to be (Thweat & McCroskey, 1996). A
credible source of information makes for quicker and firmer decisions (Gass & Seiter,
2014). As posited by Fjalkowski (2014), leaders can increase or decrease the utility of
politicians based on credibility. Aristotle espoused that the source of a message
contributes to the persuasiveness of that message (Teven, 2008). Since the voters
determine what credibility is, the strategy for the politician is to find out what the
audience wants and identify himself with those wants and needs.
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The Christian Clergy and Political Communication
Credibility is considered to be the judgments made by a message recipient
concerning the believability of a communicator (Callison, 2001). As proposed by
Umeogu (2012), a favorable speaker's ethos equals credibility and believability
because the ability to persuade and convince effectively is directly proportional to
how credible most of the followers perceive the speaker to be. Generally, and as
observed by several communication scholars, religious leaders are often prominent on
a range of social, economic, and religious issues as far as opinion leadership is
concerned (Umeogu, 2012). It is not strange for many people to look up to their
religious leaders or clergy on difficult and religious matters. This being the case, these
opinion leaders have the ability to sway the opinion of their members or followers.
Ideally, the basic expectation is that the clergy would be sources of communication
worthy of credence. It is highly expected that the opinions of a religious leader, when
and if rooted on scriptural or moral imperatives, will resonate more with the public
than if he they were based logic (Levine & Stephenson, 2007).
Recent studies have indicated that Christian churches in Kenya are not
credible and believable sources of political communication. This means that these
churches cannot be described as the voice(s) and conscience of the society or the
spokespersons of the poor and the vulnerable (Parsitau, 2012). The culmination of this
voiceless culture in the part of the mainline church clergy became increasingly
evident during the post-election crisis which gripped the country after the disputed
elections in late 2007 and early 2008 (Mutua, 2008; Parsetau, 2012). The clergy was
largely accused of the abdication of their prophetic call and voice to speak against
bloodletting, injustice, and rape. They were seen to have failed to give the badly
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needed moral direction.
Cavendish (2001) posited that political communication by Christian clergy is
fundamental to our understanding of the relationships between religion and politics.
This is because the political speech of the clergy is core to relating and unearthing
underlying associations between religious variables, public opinion, and political
participation. This understanding was espoused further by Djupe and Calfano (2013)
with the assertion that effective clergy communication will overcome or avoid
congregants’ defenses against dissonant political information. The clergy may shape
members' politics through the priming of religious values, which may often occur
during sermons or elite-led presentations (Sniderman & Theriault, 2004).
The Tensions in the Involvement of the Christian Clergy in Political communication
Occasionally, the clergy tend to have coherent worldviews making them
effective opinion leaders who can frame grievances in ways that express their
relevance to parishioners (Crawford & Olson, 2001; Wald & Calhoun-Brown, 2014).
They are part of the key political and social elite as far as opinion leadership and
direction is concerned (Smidt, 2003). For instance, as highlighted by Gathongo
(2007), Martin Luther King Junior, a Baptist preacher, is a classic example of a
Christian clergy who was involved in successful political communication. However,
scholars do not fully agree on the matter of Christian clergy being credible sources of
political messages. Djupe and Calfano (2013) opined that at times Christian clergy are
found to have less credibility when they communicate political rather than spiritual
messages.
As intimated by Gurbo (2013), separation of the church and state is considered
a prerequisite of a modern state as it promotes democracy, tolerance and pluralism,
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since the society is not compelled to the dominance of one religion or denomination.
Community members also systematically misperceive the validity of political cues
that the Christian clergy can provide based on the direction of their attitudes and issue
of importance (Djupe & Gilbert, 2008). In the same breath, Krosnick et al. (as cited in
Djupe and Gilbert, 2008) argued that the influence of congregation leaders is limited
by a number of factors which are based on the receiver characteristics and involve
members projecting their own views onto the clergy.
Sniderman and Theriault (2004) observed that it is worth noting that the
credibility of political messages by the Christian clergy is affected by a number of cue
attributes which include the strength of the message and whether the message is pitted
against competing arguments. This concept was reported by Dholakia (1987) while
reporting the common findings of researchers that sources with more credibility
dimensions induce greater attitude change faster compared to those having less of
those dimensions. Therefore, for there to be a maximum effect of the political
communication by the Christian clergy, the clergy must be perceived by their
audience to be credible. According to Fragale and Heath (2004), source credibility
affects the perceived validity of information in a message.
Communicators with high credibility in the eyes of message receivers tend to
gain respect and their words are accepted more readily (Umeogu, 2012). However, it
is not always the case that every time that Christian clergy are not perceived as
credible sources of political messages, the result is a lack of the desired impact on the
audience (Pornpitakpan, 2004). Scholars appreciate the paradox that the clergy find
themselves in when they (clergy) are involved in political communication. Although a
religious leader may be a credible authority, he is not necessarily an appropriate figure
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to argue an issue from a material viewpoint, as it is the case in political
communication (Umeogu, 2012). Religious leaders, including pastors and bishops,
speak out on public issues through sermons, newsletters, and other public statements
and are perceived by their religious constituencies as offering cues on sociopolitical
issues in a highly selective fashion (Leege & Kellstedt, 1993). The clergy actively
participate in both direct and indirect political cues giving, as well as in a myriad of
other political activities (Guth, Green, Smidt, & Kellstedt, 1997).
The clergy have several qualities that give them the potential of political
influence for their congregations. This would be because they like engaging more in
ideological thinking, are more aware of the moral dimensions of the problems in the
society and are able to frame these societal problems (Smidt, 2003). The clergy also
garner high levels of respect and trust from their congregations and are positioned to
create, transmit, and maintain group norms and attitudes (Wald, Owen & Hill, 1988).
All these are pointers that, by virtue of their position, the clergy are able to possess
resources and an opportunity to give political cues or political communication leading
to action. The overarching question is whether the position, resourcefulness, and
opportunity of the Christian clergy can qualify them to be credible sources in political
communication.
With all factors held constant, credibility levels would always determine the
outcome of every communication endeavor. The review of literature makes it clear
that credibility is the product of the interplay of different constructs. The most
prominent of all is expertise (competence), trustworthiness (honesty) and goodwill
(benevolence). The dimensions add up to give the sum total of the level of credibility
that the recipients of a message would have about a speaker. These constructs are
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perceptual and not empirical.
There is a direct link between credibility and perception. Credibility would
only be awarded according to what the hearers think about the source. The perception
of the hearers on the speaker in regard to expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill,
would determine whether they would pay attention, retain what he says or even act on
it. The rating of the level of credibility of any speaker or source can only be done by
the hearers or listeners. It is about how the source presents itself to the listeners. What
the recipients know about the speaker can also determine if he would affect their
attitude or not.
It is evident that there are gaps in regard to the involvement of the Christian
clergy in political communication. Both the general and empirical research show that
there are some areas of concern that require urgent attention. The theoretical and
conceptual frameworks developed and adopted for this study helped to determine if
that could have been a credibility gap.
Conceptual Framework
A conceptual framework is a schematic representation of a research problem
that includes a network of concepts (factors or variables) and exhibits the flow and
direction of their relationships (Chandran, 2004). It is a flow chart that exhibits which
concepts are related to which others. How we understand something is greatly
depended on our friends as well as our personal perception and intelligence.
Information is seldom directly acted upon by an individual, when received it is
normally processed through interpersonal networks (Smith, 1992). With this
understanding on conceptualization, the researcher sought to find out how the
Christian voters as individuals and members of the society who composed the
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population of study perceived political messages delivered by their clergy in the midst
of other political communication machinery.
Figure 2.2 presents the conceptual framework developed as a representation of
the relationship between the Christian clergy as the source of political messages and
the Christian voters as the receivers of the same.
Figure 2.2: Conceptual Framework
Source: Author (2018)
Discussion
In the development of the conceptual framework, the political messages by the
Political communication
Source - Christian clergy
Independent Variable
Political communication
Receiver - Christian voter
Dependent Variable
Political communication
Sources-Career politicians,
Political analysts and commentators,
Family and significant others
Intervening Variables
Perception questions
1. Are you an expert?
2. Can I trust what you say?
3.Do I see, sense or perceive goodwill
in what you say?
Political decision
made
By the Christian voter
Level of credibility
indicator
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clergy were taken as the independent variable because they would either influence or
not influence the receiver. On the other hand, the perception of the political messages
from the Christian clergy by the Christian voters was treated as the dependent variable
because it was considered to be either influenced or not by the clergy’s political
messages. Family background, career politicians, the media, among others were
identified as intervening variables.
Also demonstrated in Figure 2.2 is the relationship between perception and
source credibility since the two affected each other proportionally. Perception on the
source would be equal to credibility. The answers given by the receiver on the
perception questions regarding the source would determine the level of credibility
hence the communication effects realized. High level of credibility would mean
maximum communication effects while low level would mean minimum or no
communication effects.
Summary
This chapter has interacted, reviewed, and evaluated what scholars have
written on perception and source credibility as it relates to Christian clergy and to
political communication. In the chapter, source credibility theory has been identified
as the theory guiding the study. General review of literature covering the central
aspects of source credibility in political communication among the clergy; and
empirical literature review on the fraction of Christians in Kenya, as well as important
statistical details of the referendum have also been discussed. In addition, a
conceptual framework highlighting the key variables informing this study has been
provided. The next chapter discusses the study’s research methodology.
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter discusses the study’s research design, population, target
population, sample size, the sampling technique, data collection instruments, data
collection procedures, pretesting of instruments, and data analysis plan. The ethical
considerations in this research are also discussed in this chapter.
Research Design
This study used descriptive research design which is also called survey
research. Putting into consideration research concepts presented by Kothari (2004),
the research design sought to systematically solve the research problem by providing
an operational framework within which meaning of data was extracted so that it
would be more clearly understood. At its core, the main purpose of this study was to
collect data that would be used to gauge the credibility of the Christian clergy in
regard to political communication. Borrowing more research concepts from Okeke &
Wyk (2015), the descriptive research design also provided a practical framework that
would be used to search for answers to the research questions. Within this framework,
the data collected was used to determine and report the level of source credibility of
the Christian clergy in regard to political communication as perceived by Christian
voters. It also provided a basis for the comparison of the levels of source credibility of
the clergy regarding political communication and communication on spiritual matters.
The research questions raised were mainly concerned with what was going on in the
minds of Christian voters as far as the involvement of the Christian clergy in political
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communication was concerned.
Population
The population identified for this study was the Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency in Mombasa County in Kenya. Changamwe Constituency is a
cosmopolitan area with heterogeneous population of both local as well as from
upcountry citizens (KNBS, 2010). It is both a residential and industrial area located
on the mainland area West of Mombasa Island. According to KNBS (2010), the 2009
Kenya population census results revealed that the entire Changamwe Constituency
covers an area of 16 km2 and is home to an approximate population of 132,692 people
distributed in five county wards. KNBS reported the population distribution in the
wards as follows: Port Reitz (31,720); Kipevu (29,100); Airport (31,721); Chagamwe
(11,013); and Chaani (29,138).
Target Population
O. M. Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) articulated that the size of the population
should be accessible and that it must have the characteristics required for the study.
The key characteristics of the participants who were chosen to provide the sample
were that they had to be Christians who were registered voters in Kenya and who had
participated in voting during the August 2010 constitutional referendum.
According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Kenya
Today, 2012), there were (in 2012), 58,038 registered voters in Changamwe
Constituency distributed in the various wards as follows: Port Reitz Ward (11,828);
Kipevu Ward (8,785); Airport Ward (10,860); Changamwe Ward (13,409); and Chaani
Ward (13,156). A survey done in the Kenyan Coast by Ipsos revealed that in
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Mombasa County, 59% of the population was Christian while 41% was Islam (Wolf,
Muthoka, & Ireri, 2013). In determining the approximate number of Christian voters
out of the 58,038 registered voters, this study worked with 59% since Changamwe
Constituency lies within Mombasa which is part of the Coast. 59% of 58,038 is 34,
242.42. The study’s target population was therefore 34,242.42.
Sample Size
Scholars such as Kothari (2004) and Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) have
postulated that the smaller the sampling size, the bigger the sampling error and so it is
important to get a sample that is as big as possible. To determine the most
representative sample size free from extreme errors, the researcher used the following
formula.
n = z2
pq
d2
“n” is the desired sample size because the desired target population is greater
than 10,000. “z” is the standard normal deviation at the required confidence level. “p”
is the proportion in the target population estimated to have the characteristics being
measured. “q” is 1-p. “d” is the level of statistical significance set (Mugenda and
Mugenda, 2003).
The calculation was as follows
p = 34, 242.42 x 100
58,038
p = 59%
p = 0.59
z = 1.96
q = (1 – 0.59)
= 0.41
d = 0.05
n = z2
pq
d2
Therefore n = (1.96)2 (0.59) (0.41)
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(0.05)2
n= 3.8416 x 0.59 x 0.41
0.0025
n = 0.92928304
0.0025
n = 371.713216
The representative sample size for the study was therefore determined to be
372 Christian voters.
Sampling Technique
Sampling in research provides information about groups that are too large to
study as they are (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003). At the time of this study, the entire
Changamwe Constituency had five county wards namely Airport, Port Reitz, Chaani,
Kipevu, and Changamwe. The researcher endeavored to ensure that the selected
portion represented the target population adequately. Multistage sampling was
employed to 372 Christian voters from Changamwe constituency. This was done
using both probability and non-probability sampling.
Sampling the Ward of Study
Probability sampling was used to identify the county ward for study. Simple
random sampling was used to pick one county ward out of the five county wards in
Changamwe constituency. This gave all the county wards equal chances of being
selected while ensuring that the possibility of bias was eliminated and that a
representative sample was obtained as advised by Orodho (2009) and Du Plooy
(2009). Numbers were assigned to the county wards found. Chaani Ward was
intentionally left out of this process since the researcher worked and resided there.
This was done so as to avoid researcher bias. Numbers one (1) to four (4) were
assigned to each county ward. The numbers were then mixed vigorously and then one
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of them was picked. Number three (3) was the number picked, and it represented Port
Reitz Ward. The county ward represented by the picked number then became the ward
of study.
Sampling the Individual Respondents
After Port Reitz ward was identified as the ward of study, systematic sampling
was used to identify the houses of Christian voters to be selected as respondents.
Christian voters living in all types of residential houses within Port Reitz ward were
included in this study to ensure the representation of all social classes of Christian as
to increase the external validity and reduce extremes in the study results.
The respondents were picked from every fifth house. This was a deliberate and
considered decision since there was no list available to show the number of houses
where Christian voters in Port Reitz ward lived. Saifuddun (2009) advised that where
such a list does not exist, the researcher makes a decision on the nth
position and the
rest of the sample is selected using that predetermined pattern. If such a list was
available, the formula proposed by Du Plooy (2009) would have been used to get the
nth
house.
The formula is:
Population size = Sampling interval
Desired sample size
While in the fifth house, purposive sampling was used to choose only
Christian voters to fill the questionnaire. Scholars in the field of research have agreed
that the underlying assumption of purposive sampling is that, with good judgment and
appropriate strategy, a researcher can handpick the cases to be included in the sample
and thus develop a sample that meets the predestined criterion of importance. If the
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fifth house was not composed of Christians research assistants were advised to
consider, as the fifth house, the most immediate house where Christians were found.
The key characteristics of respondents required for this study was that they should be
Christians who were registered voters in Kenya and who participated in voting during
the August 2010 constitutional referendum. Convenience or accidental sampling
applied, where only those found in the houses on the day of distributing the
questionnaires and were willing to participate, were issued with the self-administered
questionnaires to fill.
Data was collected from every willing Christian voter who was found in the
house and who had voted during the August 2010 constitutional referendum. Data
collection was not limited to those who attended church services on a regular basis.
The study intentionally focused on every voter who identified themselves as Christian
whether they attended church regularly or rarely because they all cast votes and they
identified with Christianity as their religion. On the questionnaire, respondents were
required to indicate how regularly they attended church worship services so as to
increase the reliability and the validity of the data collected.
Data Collection Instruments
Political communication scholars employ the use of questionnaire in research
as a primary tool for assessing attitudes, cognition, and behaviors relevant to both
politics and communication (Bennet & Iyengar, 2008). A Questionnaire explores
research questions which cover personal experiences, perceptions, opinions, attitudes,
and reported behaviors (Harrison & Startin, 2001). Guided by these postulations, the
sole data collection instrument used in this study was a structured self-administered
questionnaire.
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The questionnaire was designed and tailored with the research questions in
focus and it had four sections. Section A was concerned with demographic
information; Section B raised questions on the perceptions that Christian voters had
on the involvement of Pastors in delivering political messages; Section C raised
questions on the perceptions that Christian voters had on the involvement of Pastors
in delivering spiritual messages; and Section D interrogated issues concerning the
August 2010 constitutional referendum. The last question in section D was an open-
ended one that gave an opportunity to the respondents to express their views (in
writing) on why the Christian clergy lost in the August, 2010 constitutional
referendum. The questions in section B, C, and D were mainly tailored to measure the
variables of expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill. These three latter sections in the
self-administered questionnaire focused on the three objectives of the study. The
matters raised in them concerned the source credibility of Christian clergy in the
communication of either political or spiritual messages.
The use of a questionnaire targeted the generation of the qualitative and
quantitative data which was the central purpose of this work. In a structured manner,
a copy of the self-administered questionnaire was given to each individual who met
the sampling criteria and who was willing to participate in the exercise to fill.
Data Collection Procedures
Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire which was
developed by researcher. It was pretested before it was used for the collection of the
final data. Only the research assistants were engaged in the collection of data to avoid
researcher bias on the part of the researcher who was part of the Christian clergy. Five
research assistants facilitated the distribution, follow-up and collection of the self-
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administered questionnaires. Before the process of distributing the questionnaire
copies begun, the researcher guided the research assistants on how to build rapport
with the respondents, and also oriented them to the content of the questionnaire.
The questionnaires were distributed in the evenings on work days and during
the day on Saturdays and Sundays at the homes of the respondents. Only respondents
who were registered Christian voters and had participated in the August 2010
constitutional referendum were involved in filling the questionnaire. Responses from
those who had filled the questionnaire without meeting the criteria were not
considered during data analysis and reporting. The questionnaire was designed to be
completed in one sitting but some of the respondents asked to be given more time to
complete and return the questionnaire on a later date. This was allowed and the
research assistants made a follow-up to pick the filled copies of the questionnaire.
However, not all of them returned their copies, while some returned them totally
blank. After 265 copies of the questionnaire copies, which accounted for 71.23% of
those distributed, were completed and returned, the data collected was immediately
organized for analysis.
Pretesting
According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003), 1-10% of the sample size can be
used for pretesting. For this study, the questionnaire was pretested on 20 respondents,
accounting for 5% of the study sample of 372. Copies of the questionnaire were
distributed randomly among twenty Christian voters from Changamwe Ward which
was within Changamwe Constituency but was not part of the wards in the study
sample. Respondents were required to fill in the questionnaire in one sitting.
After the pretest, some questions that lacked clarity were rewritten using better
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and simpler wording. This was done to ensure that the questions were stated clearly
and had same meaning to all respondents, and also to spare the researcher high costs
in terms of money and time, in the event where lack of credibility in the collected data
could lead to the researcher going back to the field. The pretest was also done to save
the quality of data and results from any possible seriously damaging effects as advised
by Harrison and Startin (2001). The data collected in the pretesting process was not
used in the final reporting.
Data Analysis Plan
After 265 out of the 372 distributed copies of the self-administered
questionnaire were returned, the data was cleaned up by checking if the filling in had
been appropriately done. The copies not appropriately filled, as well as those filled by
people who were either not registered Christian voters or/and had not participated in
the August 2010 constitutional referendum were considered spoiled. Only the copies
filled registered voters who had voted in the August 2010 referendum were coded and
used for reporting. All raw data was entered into the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS), version 20) for analysis. The analysis was presented in tables. The
data obtained was both numerical and descriptive. The numerical data was presented
in percentages in tables and an interpretation was made. An explanation was provided
for both the numerical and the descriptive data.
The main descriptive statistics developed from this study were the measures of
distribution which included percentages and frequencies (Mugenda & Mugenda,
2003). All these were calculated in a bid to measure the extent to which the
respondents attributed source credibility to Christian clergy in political
communication.
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Ethical Considerations
This was a study that elicited mixed reactions due to the political aspect in it
and therefore, the researcher made the following deliberate efforts so as to ensure that
the research process was free from prejudice and bias:
1. Chaani Ward, where the researcher served was deliberately excluded in
the process of obtaining a sample for the study.
2. The researcher clarified on the questionnaire that although he was part
of the Christian clergy serving within Changamwe Constituency, he
was a student at Daystar University and was therefore collecting the
data for academic use only.
3. Permission to conduct research was sought from Daystar University,
and from the National Commission for Science, Technology and
Innovation (NACOSTI).
4. Proper care was taken to ensure that the questionnaire questions were
fair and to the best less personalized. To ensure this, the questionnaire
was subjected to a pretest after which necessary modifications were
made.
5. To ensure anonymity, no respondent was required to disclose their
name before or after filling the questionnaire.
6. All the data collected was kept in confidence and used only for the
purposes of this study.
Summary
This chapter has focused on the research methodology used in determining the
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perception of Christian voters on the involvement of their clergy in political
communication. In the chapter, the study’s research design, the population, and the
sample size have been identified. The data collection instrument, data collection and
analysis procedures, pretesting, and the study’s ethical considerations have also been
discussed.
The next chapter covers the presentation, analysis, and interpretation of the
collected data.
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CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION
Introduction
In this chapter, the collected data is presented, analyzed, and interpreted. The
study used a self-administered questionnaire as its research instrument. The analysis
of the data was presented in tables. An explanation regarding the information in each
table was provided. Since much of the quantitative data represented measures
distributed among respondents, it was presented in percentages. When providing
explanation on the information in each table, reference was made to the percentages
as they were while at other times the fraction they represented was used.
Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation
Response Rate
A total of 372 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, out of which 265
were completed and returned. This represented a 71.23% response rate. Out of the 265
copies, only 231 were used for analysis and reporting. The 231 copies were selected
after a data cleaning and coding exercise which ensured the accuracy of the filled in
data and represented a 62.09% response rate.
In addition, the 231 questionnaires used for reporting also represented 87.17%
of those which were returned. According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003), a
response rate of 50% is adequate for analysis and reporting, whereas 60% is good,
70% and over is very good. Consequently, the response rate in this study was very
good for data analysis, interpretation and reporting.
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Demographic Information of the Respondents
Age of Respondents
The ages of respondents were provided in ranges. The respondents as per the
age brackets were as follows: 18-25 years (2.6%), 26-35 (45.5%), 36-45 years
(33.8%), 46-55 (14.3%), and above 55 years (3.9%). The highest percentage of the
respondents was that within the age bracket of 26-35 years, followed by those in the
36-45 years age bracket. These findings are presented in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1: Age of Respondents
Age bracket Frequency Percent Valid percent
18-25 6 2.6 2.6
26-35 105 45.4 45.4
36-45 78 33.8 33.8
46-55 33 14.3 14.3
Above 55 9 3.9 3.9
Total 231 100 100
According to the results shown in Table 4.1, The highest percentage of the
respondents was that within the age bracket of 26-35 years. This could be an
indication that that the youth represented the highest voting age in Changamwe
Constituency
Gender of Respondents
As presented in Table 4.2, the male respondents represented 67.1% while their
female counterparts represented 32.9%, hence the majority of the respondents were
male.
Table 4.2: Gender of Respondents
Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Male 155 67.1 67.1
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Female 76 32.9 32.9
Total 231 100 100
These results could be attributed to the fact that the research was conducted
within the city where most of the male respondents live (away from their spouses).
This is so considering that according to Table 4.3, 74% of the respondents reported to
be married.
Marital Status of Respondents
In Table 4.3, the marital statuses of the respondents are provided. Only 18.6%
of the respondents were single. The highest number of respondents (74%) were
married. Those who reported to be widowed were 5.6%, while the divorced and
separated accounted for the smallest percentage; at 0.9% each.
Table 4.3: Marital Status of Respondents
Category Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Single 43 18.6 18.6
Married 171 74 74
Widowed 13 5.6 5.6
Divorced 2 0.9 0.9
Separated 2 0.9 0.9
Total 231 100 100
A comparison of the age brackets of the respondents (as shown in Table 4.1)
with their marital status (shown in Table 4.3) confirmed that a majority of the
respondents were married.
Education Level of Respondents
The findings presented in Table 4.4 reveal that: 10.4% of the respondents had
primary education, 13.9% had secondary education, while 24.2% had college
education. The findings also show that 19.9% had a degree, 24.2% had a diploma,
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while 5.6% had a certificate. Only 1.7% of the respondents reported to have other
levels of qualification which included either PhD or Master’s. Some also indicated
that they had dropped out of school.
Table 4.4: Education Background of the Respondents
Level Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Primary 24 10.4 10.4
Secondary 32 13.9 13.9
College 56 24.2 24.2
Degree 46 19.9 19.9
Diploma 56 24.2 24.2
Certificate 13 5.6 5.6
Other 4 1.7 1.7
Total 231 100 100
Approximately 88% of the respondents reported to have secondary education
and above. No wonder the majority of the respondents were in the city for the purpose
of making a living; some were employed, others in business, while others were job
seekers, which would require some good level of education. This is an indication that
those who were engaged in this study had considerable literacy levels.
Occupation of Respondents
As outlined in Table 4.5, 9.1% of the respondents were civil servants, 8.2%
worked in the banking industry, 34.2% were self-employed, while 21.2% reported to
work in the private sector. In addition, 7.4% of the respondents reported to be
Christian workers, 4.3% worked as educationists, 1.3% worked as technicians, while
3.0% were medical practitioners. Those in the category of others (either unemployed
or working in the informal (Jua-kali) sector) were 11.3%.
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Table 4.5: Occupation of the Respondents
Occupation Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Civil Servant 21 9.1 9.1
Banking Industry 19 8.2 8.2
Self Employed 79 34.2 34.2
Private Sector 49 21.2 21.2
Christian Worker 17 7.4 7.4
Educationist 10 4.3 4.3
Technician 3 1.3 1.3
Medical Practitioner 7 3 3
Other 26 11.3 11.3
Total 231 100 100
Therefore, according to the responses the highest number of respondents
(34.2%) were self-employed followed by those working in the private sector.
Respondents and their Voter Registration Status
As demonstrated in Table 4.6, 100% of the respondents reported to have
registered as voters in Kenya. This was so because every self-administered
questionnaire filled by a respondent who was not a registered voter in Kenya was not
used in reporting. This was pre-planned as a key exercise in the data analysis plan to
ensure reliability and external validity of the results that were reported.
Table 4.6: Respondents who were Registered Voters
A registered voter Frequency Percent Valid Percent
YES 231 100 100
NO 0 0 0
Total 231 100 100
Religion of Respondents
As reported in Table 4.7, all respondents who participated in this study
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reported to be Christians. In this study, a Christian simply referred to anyone who
identified with the Christian faith either by word, practice, or both. The reason for this
was that the target population was Christian voters. The study was therefore
intentionally designed to only sample Christians.
Table 4.7: Religion of the Respondents
Are you a Christian? Frequency Percent Valid Percent
YES 231 100 100
NO 0 0 0
Total 231 100 100
Frequency of Church Attendance
According to the results displayed in Table 4.8, 6.9% of the respondents
reported attending church only once per month, 10% attended church twice each
month, 22.1% attended at least thrice in a month, while those who reported to attend
church every Sunday stood at 53.7%. In addition, only 1.3% of respondents reported
never attending church, while 6.1% were in the category of others (daily, often, and
Saturday).
Table 4.8: Number of Times the Respondents Attended Church Worship Services
Times Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Once 16 6.9 6.9
Twice 23 10 10
Thrice 51 22.1 22.1
Every Sunday 124 53.7 53.7
Never 3 1.7 1.7
Other 14 6.1 6.1
Total 231 100 100
It can be noted that majority of the respondents (53.7%) reported to attend
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church every Sunday. All Christians, whether they attended church or not were
allowed to participate in the study as respondents. This finding was a pointer to the
fact that those who were willing to participate in this study were those who were
frequent church attendees. This added to the strength of the findings because it would
mean that a majority of the respondents had frequent contact with the Christian clergy
who were the key object of study. This in a sense contributed towards the reliability
and validity of the findings of the study.
Respondents who Voted in the 2010 Referendum
The figures presented in Table 4.9 indicate that all of the respondents reported
to have voted in the 2010 constitutional referendum. Having voted in the August 2010
referendum in Kenya was a key characteristic of the population of study. Any
questionnaire where the data indicated that a respondent had not voted in the
constitutional referendum was dropped and hence was not used in reporting. This was
pre-planned as a key exercise in the data analysis plan to ensure reliability and
external validity of the results that were reported.
Table 4.9: Number of Respondents who Voted During the August 2010 Referendum
Did you vote? Frequency Percent Valid Percent
YES 231 100 100
NO 0 0 0
Total 231 100 100
The Manner of Voting by Respondents in the August 2010 Referendum
The results displayed in Table 4.10 show that most of the respondents (64.9%)
reported that they voted ‘YES, with’ only 35.1% reporting to have voted ‘NO’.
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Table 4.10: How Respondents Voted During the August 2010 Constitutional
Referendum
Side voted Frequency Percent Valid Percent
YES” 150 64.9 64.9
NO” 81 35.1 35.1
Total 231 100 100
The findings presented in Table 4.10 clearly reveal that a majority of the
respondents voted for the new constitution in the referendum, this despite all of them
identifying with the Christian faith and a majority of them indicating that they
attended church every Sunday (see Table 4.8).
Involvement of Pastors in the Communication of Political Messages
The Construct of Expertise in Political communication
Findings on the construct of expertise as pertains to the Christian clergy in
political communication were as provided in Table 4.11. Pertaining to this construct,
two questions were asked. Through the questions, the study sought to interrogate the
experience and knowledge of pastors on political issues. These two (experience and
knowledge) are key components used to determine the expertise or competence of a
source. The statement questions read as follows:
1. Pastors in Kenya are politically experienced. Responses on this statement are
indicated under the initials “PEx 1” in Table 4.11.
2. Pastors have wide knowledge about political issues in the country. Responses
on this statement are indicated under the initials “PEx 2” in Table 4.11.
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Table 4.11: The Construct of Expertise in Political communication
Response Frequency
(PEx 1)
Percent
(PEx 1)
Frequency
(PEx 2)
Percent
(PEx 2)
Average Percent
(%PEx
1+%PEx2) /2
YES 85 36.8 109 47.2 42
NO 113 48.9 87 37.7 43.3
I don't know 33 14.3 35 15.2 14.7
Total 231 100 231 100 100
An analysis of the response to each statement is provided and the average of
both is calculated and shown in Table 4.11. The average provides the figures used to
make conclusions in this study. The Figures (as outlined in Table 4.11) indicate that
36.8% of the respondents reported that pastors were experienced in communicating
political messages, while according to 47.2% the pastors were politically
knowledgeable. This translates to an average of 42% of the respondents who felt
pastors in Kenya had expertise in political communication.
A significant number (48.9%) reported that pastors were not experienced in
communicating political messages. Regarding knowledge on political issues, 37.7%
reported that pastors were not politically knowledgeable. This translates to an average
of 43.3% of the respondents who held the view that pastors were not experts in
political communication. Some (14.3%) indicated that they did not know if pastors
were politically experienced. In addition, 15.2% indicated that they did not know if
pastors had political knowledge. An average of 14.7% did not know if pastors were
experts or not when it comes to political communication.
The Construct of Trustworthiness in Political Communication
Two questions were asked on the dimension of trustworthiness with the goal
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of determining the extent to which the respondents found the political statements of
pastors honest, sincere, and unbiased. The findings on this construct of
trustworthiness are provided in Table 4.12. The statement questions were:
1. Every political opinion given by the pastors can be trusted. This statement is
indicated using the initials “PTr 1” in Table 4.12
2. We should always vote for candidates who are pastors. This statement is
indicated using the initials “PTr 2” in Table 4.12.
An analysis of the response to each statement is provided and the average of
both is calculated and shown in Table 4.12. The average provided the figures that
were used to make conclusions in this study.
Table 4.12: The Construct of Trustworthiness in Political communication
Answer Frequency
(PTr 1)
Percent
(PTr 1)
Frequency
(PTr 2)
Percent
(PTr 2)
Average Percent
(%PTr
1+%PTr2) /2
YES 40 17.3 25 10.8 14
NO 164 71 186 80.5 75.8
I don't know 27 11.7 20 8.7 10.2
Total 231 100 231 100 100
The figures presented in Table 4.12 show that 17.3% of the respondents
reported that the political opinion of pastors could be trusted, while according to
10.8%, pastors should always be voted for. In reference to both statements, an average
of 14% of the respondents felt that in regard to political communication, pastors were
trustworthy.
A majority of the respondents (71%) were of the view that the pastors’
political opinion could not be trusted. However, an even bigger number (80.5%)
expressed that pastors should not always be voted for. This means that an average of
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approximately 75.8% of the respondents were of the opinion that pastors did not pass
the test of trustworthiness in political communication. The figures also indicated that
11.7% of the pastors did not know if the pastors were politically trustworthy. Others
(8.7%) expressed that they did not know whether to always vote for candidates who
were pastors or not. An average of 10.2% indicated that they did not know if the
pastors could be trusted or not when it comes to political communication.
Generally, a majority of the respondents strongly reported that pastors could
not to be trusted in communicating political messages. There was a very big gap of
approximately 60% between those who perceived the pastors to be trustworthy
communicators of political messages and those who did not.
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The Construct of Goodwill in Political Communication
Just like the other two constructs, two questions were asked on the dimension
of goodwill in political communication as it pertains to the Christian clergy. The
questions focused on determining the extent to which the respondents perceived the
political statements of pastors to be caring, well intentioned, and benevolent. The
analysis of the responses on the dimension of goodwill is provided in Table 4.13. The
following were the statements questions raised:
1. Pastors get involved in political issues because they care about the welfare of
the citizens. In Table 4.13, this statement is indicated using the initials
“PGo1”.
2. Pastors who get involved in politics have the best interest of the voters in their
hearts. In Table 4.13, this statement is indicated using the initials “PGo2”.
The response to each statement is analyzed and provided. The average of both
is calculated and shown in Table 4.13. This average provides the figures used to make
conclusions in this study.
Table 4.13: The Construct of Goodwill in Political communication
Answer Frequency
(PGo 1)
%age
(PGo 1)
Frequency
(PGo2)
%age
(PGo 2)
Average
Percentage
(%PGo
1+%PGo2) /2
YES 104 45 77 33.3 39.1
NO 92 39.8 109 47.2 43.5
I don't know 35 15.2 45 19.5 17.4
Total 231 100 231 100 100
A considerable number of the respondents (45%) affirmed that pastors got
involved in politics because they cared about the voters’ welfare. With regard to the
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second statement, 33.3% of the respondents felt that pastors involved in politics had
the best interest of the voters in their hearts. This translates to an average of 39.1% of
the respondents who attributed goodwill in political communication to Pastors.
At the same time, 39.8% of the respondents expressed that pastors involved in
politics did not care about the welfare of the citizens, while as per 47.2%, pastors
engaged in political communication did not have the best interest of voters in their
hearts. This means that an average of approximately 43.5% of the respondents were of
the opinion that pastors were not motivated by goodwill when they got involved in
political communication. An average of 17.4% of the respondents expressed that they
did not know if pastors in political communication had goodwill at the core. Some
15.2% indicated that they did not know whether pastors involved in politics cared
about their welfare or not, while 19.5% did not know whether pastors had the voters
interest at heart or not.
The figures shown in Table 4.13 confirm that a majority of the respondents,
(43.5%) found the pastors lacking goodwill in political communication. It is however
good to take notice of the 39.1% respondents who attributed goodwill to the pastors.
The difference between those who found pastors to be of goodwill and those who did
not was small (4.4% margin), that is 43.5% (respondents who did not perceive
goodwill in the pastors) minus 39.1% (respondents who perceived goodwill in the
pastors).
General Perception on the Involvement of Pastors in Political Communication
In Table 4.14, a summary of the general perception by respondents on the
involvement of the pastors in political communication is presented.
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Table 4.14: The General Perception of Respondents on the Source Credibility of
Pastors as Communicators of Political Messages.
Construct “YES” Average Percent
Expertise or competence 42
Trustworthiness or Good character 14
Goodwill or noble intentions 39.1
Average of respondents who find the Pastors to be
credible sources of political messages
31.7
According to the figures displayed in Table 4,14, 42% of the respondents
viewed the pastors as experts in the communication of political messages. Only 14%
perceived the pastors as trustworthy. On the other hand, 39.1% of the respondents
credited the pastors with goodwill and benevolence. Generally, up to approximately a
third (31.7%) of the respondents found the pastors to be credible sources of political
messages.
Involvement of Pastors in Communicating Spiritual messages
The Construct of Expertise in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Two questions were asked in relation to the construct of pastors’ expertise in
communicating spiritual messages. The questions dwelt on the professional
credentials and Biblical knowledge of the pastors. These two aspects are considered
central ingredients for building up the expertise or competence of a source. The
statement questions were as follows:
1. Pastors in Kenya are well trained in matters concerning Christian living. The
responses on this statement are indicated under the initials “SExp1” in Table
4.15.
2. Pastors in Kenya have wide knowledge of Bible content. The responses on this
statement are indicated under the initials “SExp2” in Table 4.15.
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The findings on the construct of expertise in the communication of political
messages by the Christian clergy are provided in Table 4.15. An analysis of the
response to each statement is provided and the average of both is calculated and
shown in the same table. The average provides the figures used to make conclusions
in this study.
Table 4.15: The Construct of Expertise in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Answer Frequency
(SExp1)
%age
(SExp1)
Frequency
(SExp2)
%age
(SExp2)
Average Percentage
(%SExp1+%SExp2) /2
YES 140 60.6 133 57.6 59.1
NO 60 26 63 27.3 26.6
I don't know 31 13.4 35 15.2 14.3
Total 231 100 231 100 100
As shown in Table 4.15, a significant number of the respondents (60.6%)
reported that pastors were well trained on Christian living, while according to 57.6%,
the pastors had wide knowledge of the Bible. These figures translate to an average of
59.1% of the respondents who attributed expertise in the communication of spiritual
messages to pastors.
In relation to training in Christian living, 26% of the respondents expressed
that pastors were not well trained, while 27.3% felt that the pastors did not have wide
knowledge of the Bible. This translates to an average of 26.6% of the respondents
who held the view that pastors were not experts in the communication of spiritual
messages. Those who indicated that they did not know if pastors were well trained on
spiritual matters were 13.4%. The fraction of the respondents who reported that they
did not know if pastors had wide Biblical knowledge was 15.2%. An average of
14.3% of the respondents said that they did not know if pastors were experts or not
when it comes to communicating spiritual messages.
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These results provide a basis for interpreting that a minority, accounting for
slightly a quarter of the respondents, held the view that pastors were not experts in
communicating spiritual messages. A significant number of the respondents (at
59.1%) felt that the pastors were competent in this regard.
The Construct of Trustworthiness in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Two questions were asked on the dimension of pastors’ trustworthiness in the
communication of spiritual messages. The questions focused on determining the
extent to which the respondents found the pastors honest and unbiased. The findings
on this construct regarding the Christian clergy and the communication of spiritual
messages are provided in Table 4.16. The statement questions were as below:
1. I must fully obey the pastor’s teaching regarding my walk with God.
Responses on this statement are indicated under the initials “STru1” in Table
4.16.
2. What pastors teach is inspired by God. Responses on this statement are
indicated under the initials “STru2” in Table 4.16.
An analysis of the response to each statement is provided and the average of
both is calculated and shown in the table. The average provides the figures used to
make conclusions in this study.
Table 4.16: The Construct of Trustworthiness in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Answer Frequency
(STru1)
Percent
(STru1)
Frequency
(STru2)
Percent
(STru2)
Average Percent
(%STru1+%STr
u2) /2
YES 140 60.6 131 56.7 58.7
NO 74 32 53 22.9 27.5
I don't know 17 7.4 47 20.3 13.8
Total 231 100 231 100 100
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Figures in Table 16, show that 60.6% of the respondents reported that
whatever the pastors say must be obeyed implying that it is trustworthy. On the
authenticity of the message delivered by pastors, 56.7% reported that pastors are
inspired by God again insinuating that to a good extent, their message is trustworthy.
For both statements, an average of 58.7% credits the dimension of trustworthiness to
pastors when they are involved in the communication of spiritual messages.
Another fraction composed of 32% of the respondents reported that whatever
the pastors says must not be obeyed while 22.9% reported that pastors are not inspired
by God. This means that an average of approximately 27.5% of the respondents
perceive that pastors do not pass the test of trustworthiness in communicating spiritual
messages. Those who did not know if whatever the pastors say must be obeyed were
7.4%. Those who did not know whether what pastors said was inspired by God
accounted for 20.3% of the respondents. An average of 13.8% of the participants did
not know if pastors can be trusted or not when it comes to the communication of
spiritual messages.
Generally, slightly a quarter of the respondents reported that pastors were not
to be trusted in communicating spiritual messages. Over half of the respondents
perceived the direct opposite and accorded pastors the construct of trustworthiness in
the communication of spiritual messages.
The Construct of Goodwill in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Two questions were asked on the dimension of goodwill in the communication
of spiritual messages as pertains the Christian clergy. The questions focused on
determining the extent to which the respondents perceived the statements and actions
of pastors to be caring, noble, and selfless when they communicate spiritual messages.
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The analysis of the responses on this dimension are provided in Table 4.17. The
following were the statement questions raised:
1. Pastors preach and teach God's word because they care about my welfare. In
Table 4.17, this statement is indicated using the initials (SGoo1)
2. Pastors do counseling because they want the best out of the congregation. In
Table 4.17, this statement is indicated using the initials “SGoo2”
The response to each statement was analyzed and the results were as provided
in Table 4.17. The average of the responses from both statements was calculated and
the results are shown in the same table. This average provides the figures used to
make conclusions in this study.
Table 4.17: The Construct of Goodwill in Communicating Spiritual Messages
Response Frequency
(SGoo1)
Percent
(SGoo1)
Frequency
(SGoo2)
Percent
(SGoo2)
Average Percent
(%SGoo1+%SGoo2)/2
YES 139 60.2 176 76.2 68.2
NO 56 24.2 19 8.2 16.2
I don't
know
36 15.6 36 15.6 15.6
Total 231 100 231 100 100
A majority of the respondents (60.2%) were of the view that that pastors
taught about God because they cared about the voters’ welfare. On the second
statement, a larger fraction of participants (76.2%) expressed that pastors were
involved in counseling because they cared about the welfare of their congregation.
This translates to an average of 68.2% of the respondents who attributed goodwill to
pastors as far as the communication of spiritual messages is concerned.
Conversely, 24.2% of the respondents felt that it was not out of concern for the
welfare of their congregation that pastors taught the word of God. A small fraction
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(8.2%) of the respondents did not think that the reason behind the pastors’ practice of
counseling was the desire for the best out of their congregation. This means that an
average of approximately 16.2% of the respondents felt that pastors were not
motivated by goodwill when they communicated spiritual messages. An average of
15.6% indicated that they did not know if pastors possessed goodwill in
communicating spiritual messages.
General Perception on Pastors’ Communication of Spiritual Messages
A summary of the general perception by respondents with regard to the
pastors’ participation in the communication of spiritual messages is presented in Table
4.18.
Table 4.18: General Perception on Pastors’ Communication of Spiritual Messages
Construct “YES” Average Percent
Expertise or competence 59.1
Trustworthiness or Good character 58.7
Goodwill or noble intentions 68.2
Average of respondents who find the
Pastors to be credible sources of
spiritual messages
62
As per the figures provided in able 4.18, 59.1% of the respondents found the
pastors to be experts in the communication of spiritual messages. In addition, 58.7%
of the respondents perceived the pastors as trustworthy, with 68.2% crediting them
with goodwill and benevolence in the communication of spiritual messages. An
average of approximately two thirds (62%) of the respondents found the pastors to be
credible sources of spiritual messages. The number of respondents who felt that
pastors were credible sources of spiritual messages was almost double that of those
who were of the same view when it came to the pastors’ involvement in political
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communication.
Pastors’ Participation in Campaigning Against the Draft Constitution
This study also sought to establish whether Christian voters in Changamwe
constituency perceived that the source credibility of their clergy with regard to their
communication of political messages may have contributed to the defeat of the NO
vote in the August 2010 constitutional referendum. To achieve this goal, the
respondents were presented with statements that aimed at comparing and contrasting
the credibility of the Christian clergy and that of career politicians as sources of
political messages.
The Construct of Expertise in the Christian Clergy During the Referendum
The statement interrogating the expertise construct within the context of the
referendum stated that, “the politicians in the ’Yes’ camp during the August 2010
constitutional referendum were more politically experienced than the pastors in the
‘No’ camp”. The respondents were to either ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ with the statement or
indicate that they were ‘not sure’. The analysis of the results of the participants'
responses is presented in Table 4.19.
Table 4.19: The Construct of Expertise in the Christian Clergy During the
Referendum
Response Frequency Percent Valid Percent
Agree 127 55 55
Disagree 71 30.7 30.7
Not Sure 33 14.3 14.3
Total 231 100 100
This statement that “politicians in the ’Yes’ camp during the August 2010
constitutional referendum were more politically experienced than the pastors in the
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‘No’ camp” was affirmed by a majority (55%) of the respondents. Only 30.7% of the
respondents disagreed with the statement while the remaining 14.3% were not sure. It
is therefore clear that only a small number (30.7%) of the respondents perceived the
construct of expertise to have been present in the Christian clergy during the
referendum.
With over half of the participants accepting that the politicians in the “YES”
camp were more experienced than the pastors in the “NO” camp, it would be justified
to say that the Christian voters perceived the career politicians as possessing a greater
command of political matters compared to the clergy.
The Construct of Trustworthiness in the Christian Clergy During the
Referendum
Two statements were used to test the dimension of the trustworthiness of the
pastors in comparison with the career politicians in regard to the August 2010
referendum.
The first statement stated that, “pastors had sincere motives when they
campaigned in the 2010 constitutional referendum”. The statement is indicated using
the initials “RTr1” in Table 4.20. With this statement, the researcher sought to find out
the perception of the respondents on the honesty and sincerity of the Christian clergy
when they campaigned against the draft constitution. The second statement was,
“voters trusted politicians more than the pastors during the 2010 constitutional
referendum”. This statement is indicated using the initials “RTr2” in Table 4.20. The
statement compared the perception of the respondents on the pastors as they expressed
dissenting opinions on the same subject matter with the career politicians as they
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campaigned during the referendum.
The respondents’ take on both statements is presented in Table 4.20.
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Table 4.20: The Construct of Trustworthiness in the Christian Clergy During the
Referendum
Response Frequency
(RTr1)
Percent
(RTr1)
Frequency
(RTr2)
Percent
(RTr2)
Agree 132 57.1 176 76.2
Disagree 46 19.9 29 12.6
Not Sure 53 22.1 26 11.3
Total 231 100 231 100
On the first statement, a significant fraction of the respondents (57.1%)
agreed, only 19.9% of the registered disagreement, while 22.9% said they were not
sure. With regard to the second statement, a majority of the respondents (76.2%)
were in agreement, only 12.6% disagreed, while 11.3% indicated that they were not
sure. The responses to these two statements on the trustworthiness of the pastors in
relation to their participation in the referendum served two important functions. The
response to the first statement demonstrates the Christian voters’ initial perception on
their clergy's participation in the referendum. It submits that the political opinion of
the Christian clergy can be trusted. The response to the second statement demonstrates
the second order perception which is formed when the career politicians who are
deemed the experts are brought into the picture. The average of those respondents
who perceived trustworthiness in pastors was found to be approximately 34.9%. This
was arrived at by adding the percentage of those agreed that the pastors were sincere
(57.1%) to that of those who disagreed that voters trusted politicians more that their
pastors (12.6%), and then dividing the sum by two.
The Construct of Goodwill in the Christian Clergy During the Referendum
Two statements were used to measure the construct of goodwill or the
inclination to care in the pastors in comparison to the career politicians when they
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campaigned in the August 2010 referendum. The respondents’ position on both
statements is presented in Table 4.21.
The first statement on goodwill stated that, “pastors should have left the
politicians alone to address voters during the referendum”. In Table 4.21, this
statement is indicated using the initials “RGo1”. Through this statement, the study
examined what the respondents thought about pastors leaving the political platform to
the career politicians.
The second statement stated that, “unlike the pastors, politicians expressed the
best interest of Kenya when they campaigned for the draft constitution during the
referendum”. In Table 4.21, this statement is indicated using the initials “RGo2”.
Through this statement, the study contrasted the pastors and career politicians in
regard to their intentions during the August 2010 constitutional referendum. The
response on these two statements on the construct of goodwill regarding the pastors in
their communication during the referendum was used to determine the respondents’
perception on the whole phenomenon.
Table 4.21: The Construct of Goodwill in the Christian Clergy During the Referendum
Response Frequency
(RGo1)
Percent
(RGo1)
Frequency
(RGo2)
Percent
(RGo2)
Agree 39 16.9 65 28.1
Disagree 175 75.8 123 53.2
Not Sure 17 7.4 43 18.6
TOTAL 231 100 231 100
Regarding the first statement (RGo1). only 16.9% of the respondents agreed,
while 7.4% indicated that they were not sure. A substantial fraction of the respondents
(75.8%) disagreed with the statement. With such a large figure (75.8%) disagreeing
with the statement, it could be interpreted that the respondents considered the voice of
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the pastors to have been a voice of goodwill during the referendum. With regard to the
second statement (RGo2), most of the respondents (53.2%) disagreed, while only
28.1% agreed. Those who indicated that they were not sure of the validity of the
statement accounted for 18.6% of all the respondents.
The average of the respondents who perceived goodwill in the pastors as they
campaigned during the August 2010 constitutional referendum was 64.5%. This was
attained through adding the 75.8% who disagreed with the first statement to the
53.2% who disagreed with the second one and the dividing the sum by two.
The General Perception on Pastors Participating in the August 2010
Constitutional Referendum
In Table 4.22, a summary of the general perception by respondents with regard
to pastors participating in the August 2010 constitutional referendum where they
campaigned against the draft constitution is presented.
Table 4.22: General Perception of Respondents on the Source Credibility of Pastors
as they Participated in the August 2010 Constitutional Referendum
Construct Average percentage of respondents
who perceived the construct in
pastors during the referendum
Expertise or competence 30.7
Trustworthiness or good character 34.9
Goodwill or noble intentions 64.5
Average of respondents who perceived that
pastors possessed source credibility during the
August, 2010 referendum
43.4
As the figures shown in Table 4.22 illustrate, 30.7% of the respondents
reported that pastors were politically competent enough to participate in the
referendum. Those who found the pastors to be trustworthy accounted for 34.5%,
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64.5% perceived goodwill and benevolence in the pastors as they campaigned against
the draft constitution. The differences on the respondents' perception of the
participation of pastors in the referendum based on specific constructs are a bit
extreme.
The constructs perceived to be present in the pastors by the lowest number of
respondents were expertise and trustworthiness, with an average of 32.8%. On the
other hand, a significant number of the respondents (64.5%) perceived goodwill in the
pastors. The difference between the construct perceived in the pastors by the highest
number of respondents and those perceived by the lowest number was 31.7%; quite
significant. Based on this, it can be argued that armed with the construct of goodwill,
the clergy are in a position of authority to influence the political decisions of Christian
voters. In average, approximately 43.3% of the respondents perceived that the pastors
emitted some source credibility when they participated in the August 2010
constitutional referendum. This is a perception which could be viewed to earn the
Christian clergy some niche in political communication. The perception of the
Christian voters on the expertise and trustworthiness as core dimensions in source
credibility is what interfered most with the pastors' source credibility in the context of
the referendum.
General Overview of the Source Credibility of Pastors
Table 4.23 provides a general overview on the source credibility of pastors as
per the respondents of this study. The overview reflects how the respondents reported
about the three dimensions of measuring source credibility based on the contexts in
question. This study provided the following three contexts within which respondents
determined the source credibility of pastors: The communication of spiritual
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messages, the communication of political messages, and the August 2010
constitutional referendum. Pastors were perceived to be credible sources of messages
to different extents within each context.
Table 4.23: General Overview of the Respondents' Approval of the Source Credibility
of Pastors
Construct/Dimension Political messages Spiritual messages Referendum
context
Expertise/competence 42% approval 59.1% approval 30.7% approval
Trustworthiness 14% approval 58.7% approval 34.9% approval
Goodwill/Caring 39.1% approval 68.2% approval 64.5% approval
Average approval 31.7% approval 62% approval 43.4% approval
The highest number of respondents (average of 62%), perceived the clergy to
be credible sources of spiritual messages. In the context of the referendum,
participants felt that the pastors were to some extent credible sources of political
messages, thanks to the construct of goodwill (at 64.5%). An average of 43.4% of the
respondents perceived the pastors to have been credible speakers during the
referendum. The aspect of pastors as sources of political messages without reference
to a particular event received the least approval, with only an average 31.7% of the
respondents attributing source credibility to the pastors in this regard. Arranged in a
descending order, the respondents’ perception on the pastors' source credibility was as
follows: communication of spiritual messages (62%), participation in the referendum
(43.4%), and communication of political messages (31.7%).
According to the findings of this study, goodwill was presented as the
strongest construct of pastors in source credibility. An average of 57.3% of the
respondents perceived it across all the objectives of the study. The construct of
expertise follows with an average of 43.9% while trustworthiness comes last with an
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average of 35.7%. This could communicate that the Christian clergy need not to stay
away from political communication. The respondents confirm a perception of
goodwill across all the objectives, a source credibility construct which they do not
accord career politicians. This is indicative of the value of the Christian clergy’s voice
in the political sphere.
Why Voters Were Not Persuaded to Vote 'NO' During the
August 2010 Referendum
An open-ended question was provided at the end of the questionnaire
requesting the respondents to provide their thoughts on why the voters, including the
Christian ones were not persuaded to vote 'NO' during the August 2010 constitutional
referendum. The feedback is presented in Table 4.24.
Table 4.24: Why Voters Were not Persuaded to Vote 'NO' During the 2010 Referendum
Reason Reported Frequency Percent
No reason highlighted 41 17.75
Dispensation and posterity reasons 83 35.93
Politicians' influence reasons 61 26.41
Social and economic status reasons 49 21.21
Civic education reasons 45 19.48
Source credibility reasons 39 16.88
Only 82.25% of the 231 participants responded to this question, while 17.75%
left it blank. Some of those who responded provided several reasons while others only
provided one reason. As shown in Table 4.24, the reasons are grouped into five broad
categories.
The first category looked at dispensation and posterity reasons, focusing
mainly on the expected change and the benefits that were contained in the draft
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constitution. These reasons were reported by 35.93% of the respondents. The second
category looked at politicians' influence reasons in which the respondents attributed
the failure in persuasion to the influence of a particular politician or a group of
politicians. These reasons were reported by 26.41% of the respondents.
The third category was the social and economic status reasons which were
based on social standing, economic ability, and political affiliation and power. These
reasons were reported by 21.21% of the respondents. The fourth cluster looked at
civic education reasons which touched on knowledge and awareness on the content of
the draft constitution. Reasons in this category were mentioned by 19.48% of the
respondents. The last category looked at source credibility reasons which connected
with the constructs of expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill as far as the Christian
clergy were concerned. These reasons were reported by 16.88% of the respondents.
With reference to all the reasons highlighted in Table 4.24, it can be
interpreted that there was an extent to which the lack of source credibility in the
Christian clergy contributed to the defeat of the “NO” vote.
Summary of Key Findings
A majority of the respondents were of the view that the pastors were not
credible sources when it came to communicating political messages. of the
respondents (attribute such credibility to them. Only third 3(1.7%) of the respondents
considered the pastors as credible sources of political communication, hence the
pastors' performance as sources of political communication was dismal (see Table
4.23). Therefore, to a considerable extent, the lack of source credibility in terms of
political communication contributed to the defeat of the “NO” vote during the August
2010 referendum.
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The pastors were credible sources in the communication of spiritual messages.
An average of approximately two thirds (62%) of the respondents found the pastors to
be credible sources of spiritual messages (see Table 4.23). The number of respondents
who were of the view that the pastors were credible sources of spiritual messages was
almost double that of those who had the same view regarding the pastor’s
involvement in political communication. The pastors' performance as sources of
spiritual messages in these circumstances is therefore impressive.
There were extreme differences on the respondents' perception of the
participation of pastors in the referendum based on specific constructs. The lowest
constructs in this regard were expertise and trustworthiness at 30.7% and 34.5%
respectively, while the highest was goodwill at 64.5% (see Table 4.22). The difference
between the highest rated construct and the lowest rated ones was approximately
34%. Trustworthiness stands out as the dimension that interfered most with the
pastors’ credibility in the context of the referendum. The key observation here is that,
in the context of the referendum, an approximate average of less than half of
participants found the pastors to have been credible sources of political messages
during the referendum. There was however an impressive response on the construct of
goodwill as far as pastors were concerned.
Arranged in a descending order, the respondents’ approval of the pastors'
source credibility was as follows: communication of spiritual messages (62%),
participation in the referendum (43.4%), and communication of political messages
(31.7%). The credibility of the Christian clergy as communicators of spiritual
messages is hereby affirmed by the respondents. They are perceived to be custodians
and authorities of faith matters. However, that notwithstanding, the Christian clergy
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are also perceived to be an important voice in communicating political messages
within a context (in this case, this was the 2010 constitutional referendum), where
they clergy did better than in general situations. These observations suggest that the
Christian voters considered the Christian clergy more strongly as carriers of spiritual
messages as compared to their role as carriers of political messages. It would also be
unfair not to see that given a political context, the Christian voter would still want to
hear what the Christian clergy has to say about the matter of discussion.
According to the average responses, trustworthiness stands out as the
dimension that interfered most with the pastors' source credibility; with an approval of
34.5% (see Table 4.23). Except in the communication of political messages without a
context, the respondents rated the pastors highly in the construct of goodwill (see
Table 4.23).
Through the open-ended question that asked respondents to provide reasons as
to why voters, including Christian ones were not persuaded to vote “NO”, the study
revealed that, besides source credibility, there were other factors that shaped the
referendum debate and eventually the results (see Table 4.24)
Summary
In this chapter, the findings of the study as well as analysis and interpretation
of the findings have been presented. In the next chapter, a discussion of the study
findings, the study’s conclusions based on the findings and the study’s
recommendations will be provided. Suggestions for further research will also be
provided.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This study sought to determine whether the source credibility of the Christian
clergy as sources of political communication could have contributed to the defeat of
the “NO” vote in the constitutional referendum conducted in Kenya in August, 2010.
To this end, the constructs of competence (expertise), trustworthiness, and goodwill
were used to determine the extent to which Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency perceived their clergy to be credible sources in political communication.
The results of the referendum informed the premise for the problem statement of the
study.
The objectives of the study were: To establish the extent to which Christian
voters in Changamwe Constituency perceived their clergy to be credible sources in
the communication of spiritual messages; to establish the extent to which Christian
voters in Changamwe Constituency perceived their clergy to be credible sources in
the communication of political messages; and to establish the extent to which
Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency perceived the source credibility of their
clergy in the communication of political messages to have contributed to the defeat of
the “NO” vote in the August 2010 constitutional referendum
Discussion of Key Findings
The discussion of the findings was based on the study’s objectives.
The Clergy as Credible Sources in the Communication of Spiritual Messages
The findings indicated that Christian voters perceived their clergy to be
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credible sources of spiritual messages. On the three constructs of competence or
expertise, trustworthiness or character, and goodwill, the Christian clergy performed
impressively. There was a balance on the performance where the respondents
provided almost the same feedback in each of the three constructs. The majority of
the respondents expressed confidence in the knowledge and experience of the pastors
in the dissemination of biblical content hence finding them to have expertise. Further,
an almost equal majority also indicated that they found the pastors honest and
unbiased whenever they delivered messages whose motivation was purely biblical
hence finding them to have trustworthiness. A greater majority was convinced that the
motivation of pastors in communicating spiritual messages was care and noble
intentions, hence finding them to have goodwill. Thus, there is a basis to argue that to
a great extent the Christian voters attribute high source credibility to their clergy when
they are involved in communicating spiritual messages.
Adding to the findings regarding the first objective, the majority of the
Christian voters indicated that they would have no difficulty shifting their paradigms
when addressed by the pastors on the basis of scriptures and Christian moral practice.
These findings show that with reference to spiritual messages, Christian clergy are
practically confirmed to be sources of communication worthy of credence. Although a
small minority of the respondents expressed reservations and indifference, there was
no serious contention as far as the involvement of the Christian clergy in the
communication of spiritual messages is concerned.
The Clergy as Credible Sources in the Communication of Political Messages
According to the findings on research objective number two, Christian voters
did not perceive their clergy to be credible sources in delivering political messages.
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The same constructs of expertise, trustworthiness and goodwill were used to
determine this. There were big extremes as far as the performance in each of these
constructs was concerned. Respondents were not clear on the construct of expertise in
that, while some few respondents felt that the pastors had political knowledge, they at
the same time found them to be lacking in political experience. This means that the
respondents felt that the Christian clergy lacked competence or expertise in political
communication. On the construct of trustworthiness, the highest number of
respondents mentioned bias, with only less than a fifth indicating that the Christian
clergy were trustworthy. This could mean that the Christian clergy lacked
trustworthiness in political communication.
A majority of the respondents were not convinced that their pastors’
involvement in political communication was driven by noble intentions or
benevolence. This is an indication that according to the respondents, the Christian
clergy lacked goodwill in political communication. With these findings, this study
determined that the extent to which Christian voters perceived their clergy as credible
sources of political messages was quite low.
Source Credibility of Christian Clergy in Delivering Political Messages
During the Referendum
Regarding the third objective of this study, findings revealed that lack of
source credibility in political communication on the part of the Christian clergy was a
factor that led to the defeat of the “NO” vote. While the highest percentage of
respondents were positive concerning goodwill in the Christian clergy as they
communicated spiritual messages, when it came to political communication by the
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same clergy as they participated in the August 2010 referendum, only a few
respondents considered them to be experts or trustworthy. When a comparison was
done between the Christian clergy and the career politicians, over half of the
respondents perceived the career politicians to possess a greater command in political
communication expertise than the clergy. It is however important to underline that
Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency strongly opined that the Christian clergy
should be involved in political communication.
To increase the validity of the findings on the third objective, an open-ended
question was provided at the end of the questionnaire used for this study. The question
asked the respondents to provide their thoughts regarding why the voters, the
Christian ones included were not persuaded to vote 'NO' during the August 2010
constitutional referendum. The responses to this question indicated that besides source
credibility, other factors contributed to the lack of persuasion of the voters by the
Christian clergy. The researcher grouped the factors into five broad categories (as
outlined in Table 4.24 in Chapter Five).
These factors included: Dispensational and posterity reasons, mainly focusing
on change and the benefits that were contained in the draft constitution - such as
devolution and the human rights chapter; politicians' influence, focusing on reasons
which were attributed to a particular politician or a group of politicians; social and
economic status focusing on social standing, economic ability, and political affiliation
and power; civic education, focusing on knowledge and awareness on the content of
the draft constitution; and source credibility, which connected with the constructs of
expertise, trustworthiness and goodwill.
Christian Clergy’s Political Messages Role in the Defeat of the “NO” Vote
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The findings on the third objective of study established that Christian voters in
Changamwe constituency perceived that, to a notable extent, the lack of source
credibility of their clergy in political communication contributed to the defeat of the
“NO” vote in the August 2010 referendum. It is worth noting here that source
credibility was a key factor in determining the outcome of the referendum. There was
however, an interaction of other factors where source credibility was also included.
Generally, on the question of the perception of Christian voters in Changamwe
Constituency on the involvement of their clergy in political communication, the
findings indicated that, to a great extent, the respondents did not find their clergy to be
credible sources of political messages. The source credibility of the Christian clergy in
political communication according to the respondents was negatively affected in the
constructs of expertise and trustworthiness. Additionally, the findings revealed that the
construct of expertise was negatively affected by the lack of political experience. The
dimension of goodwill was perceived to be the source credibility strength of the
Christian clergy within the context of the August 2010 referendum.
Conclusion
It is significant that the respondents accorded their Christian clergy high
source credibility in the communication of spiritual messages. On the other hand, they
accorded them low source credibility in general political communication without
reference to a particular event. In the context of the referendum, the respondents
attributed some source credibility to the clergy. As observed by Levine and
Stephenson (2007), this study found these findings to communicate that it is highly
expected that the opinions of a religious leader when and if rooted on scriptural or
moral imperatives will resonate more with the public. The same concept was
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espoused by Umeogu (2012) that it is not strange for many people to look up to their
religious leaders or clergy on difficult and especially religious matters.
To a significant extent, the findings of this study demonstrated that source
credibility is always a description of the image held of a communicator (at a given
time) by a receiver who can either be one person or a group (Levine & Stephenson,
2007). The same respondents who attributed high source credibility to their clergy in
the communication of spiritual messages also attributed low credibility to the same
clergy when it came to political communication. This is in agreement with a previous
study by Djupe and Gilbert (2009) that determined that members of the community
more often than not systematically underestimate the validity of political cues that the
clergy can provide based on the direction of their attitude and the issue of importance.
When asked if they thought that the Christian clergy should have left the
referendum debate to the career politicians, over three quarters of the respondents
disagreed. This was in agreement with an observation by Mulligan (2006) that the
involvement of the Christian clergy in political communication is fundamental to the
understanding of the relationship between religion and politics. There was however, a
source credibility gap where in that respondents indicated that they did not trust their
clergy to offer political direction. This was in accordance with their responses based
on the constructs used in the study.
Nevertheless, the perceived credibility aspects that the respondents raised as
the reasons for their lack of trust in their clergy as credible sources of political
messages, appear to be justified by Smidt’s (2003) postulation that the clergy have
several qualities that give them the potential of political influence for their
congregations, but when the congregations perceive their political opinions to be self-
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serving they can easily disengage. The findings of this study established the
observation by Smidt so strongly considering that only less than a fifth of the
respondents perceived the Christian clergy to be trustworthy as far as political
communication was concerned. Referring to the August 2010 constitutional
referendum, only close to a third of the respondents attributed trustworthiness to the
pastors. This provides a basis to conclude that source credibility influences the
receiver and it arises from how the public views or perceives a speaker. Just as opined
by Umeogu (2012), it turns out that, although a religious leader may be a credible
authority, he is not necessarily an appropriate figure to argue an issue from a material
viewpoint, as it is the case in political communication.
However, the findings of the study and the observations made by Smidt (2003)
and Umeogu (2012) appear to be in contradiction with the assertions of other scholars
(Crawford & Olson, 2001; Wald & Calhoun-Brown, 2014) that clergy members tend
to have more coherent worldviews which make them effective opinion leaders who
can frame grievances in a way that makes them relevant to parishioners. The question
of effectiveness in leading on political opinion was not confirmed by respondents
hence the conclusion that the Christian voters in Changamwe did not find this present
in their clergy.
Olson (2009), while writing within the context of the clergy and political
communication, seemingly disagrees with these findings with the observation that the
pronouncements of the clergy do carry a lot of weight, particularly among the faithful,
who believe that God is the ultimate source of credibility and that He speaks through
religious leaders. The view of the Christian voters in Changamwe Constituency does
not align with that of Olson, especially on the matter of political communication.
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Against this background then, it would be a significant conclusion to make here that
political communication is highly context-dependent. The same speaker can be rated
differently by the same audience depending on the context of presentation.
In their recent study on ‘persuasion, social influence and compliance gaining’,
Gass and Seiter (2014) observed that credibility was context-dependent and that an
expert in one situation can be been found incompetent in another situation. The
findings of this study showed that a majority of the respondents expressed approval
on the competence of the Christian clergy in the communication of spiritual messages.
On the other hand, the respondents did not affirm the clergy’s competence as sources
of political messages. There is thus a premise here to agree with Richmond and
McCroskey (1999) as cited in Teven (2008) that it is practical that source credibility
in a political communication context is a critical factor.
The findings of this research show that source credibility was a key factor in
the defeat of the “NO” vote, which was championed by the Christian clergy. The
context of political communication during the August, 2010 referendum determined
the source credibility of the Christian clergy and hence the outcome of the “NO” vote
which they championed for. Still on the question of the referendum, political
communication and context, the respondents felt that the Christian clergy had tough
competing arguments pitted against the contentious issues they raised. However, the
arguments by career politicians shaped the context of communication. The career
politicians opined that there was room for amendment of the draft constitution in the
future and that the larger fraction of the constitution was worth adopting, among other
arguments. This augurs so well with prior political communication research which has
established that certain cue attributes which include the strength of a political message
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and whether it is pitted against competing arguments determine the success of
political communication (Sniderman and Theriaut, 2004).
In this circumstance, the political message of the Christian clergy was pitted
against competing arguments which to some extent caused their source credibility to
depreciate. As perceived by the Christian voters, the Christian clergy did not strongly
appeal in the dimensions of expertise and trustworthiness. This led to the failure in
tilting the 'NO' vote despite the large following of Christian voters that the Christian
clergy in Kenya enjoy. As observed by Knight (2007) if the speaker appears to be
credible, the audience will form the second order judgment that, the propositions put
forward by the speaker are true and credible. Aristotle advised that the speaker must
display practical intelligence which is expertise or competence, a virtuous character
which is about trustworthiness, and goodwill which is about a caring disposition and
exhibiting noble intentions. The receiver must perceive that the speaker has
accomplished the three constructs of expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill by what
he says.
This study brought out the perceptual nature of source credibility as something
that exists in the listeners' minds and relates to the speaker so clearly. This is as argued
by Borg (2004) that the credible speaker is supposed to have profound knowledge and
credentials on a specific theme thus qualifying him or her to be an expert. The concept
on the perceptual nature of source credibility is further expressed by Callison (2001)
who stated that credibility is all about the judgments made by a message recipient
concerning the believability of a communicator.
Findings through the three objectives of this study revealed what respondents
thought about the credibility of pastors as far as communication in each circumstance
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was concerned. Moreover, the subject and context of communication determined how
the respondents perceived the believability of the Christian clergy. This discovery
confirmed the observation made by Chong and Rogers (2005) that the ability to
persuade and convince effectively is directly proportional to how credible the
followers perceive the speaker to be. Thus, in this case the perception of the Christian
voters as receivers or followers is equal to the credibility of Christian clergy who are
the source or speakers. Basically, this study confirmed the link between credibility
and perception where source credibility can only be ascribed according to what the
hearers think about the source. As articulated by Severin and Tankard (2008), the
perception of the hearers is a critical factor in determining whether they would pay
attention to the speaker, retain what he says. or even act on it.
The conceptual framework used in this study raised perception questions that
the Christian voters could likely raise on the credibility of the clergy as sources of
political communication. As the dependent variable in the study, the perception of the
Christian voters determined the credibility of the Christian clergy who on the other
hand represented the independent variable. This worked out consistently with the
assertion by Fragale and Heath (2004) that source credibility affects the perceived
validity of information in a message.
Evidently, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, the findings of this study
revealed that to a considerable extent, the inability of the Christian clergy to persuade
large numbers of Christian voters to vote in favor of the 'NO' vote could be attributed
to the lack of source credibility in communicating political messages. This is in
agreement with what Umeogu’s (2012) assertion that a favorable speaker's ethos
equals credibility and believability. It also confirms that communicators with high
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credibility in the eyes of message receivers tend to have respect and their words are
accepted more readily, a view also held by Richmond, McCroskey, and Powell
(2012). Generally, people are likely to be persuaded if the person doing the
persuading is seen as being credible, an expert, as well as trustworthy.
The source credibility theory provided the theoretical framework for this
study. It states that people or receivers are more likely to be persuaded when the
source presents itself as credible. The theory assumes that credible sources tend to
create the desired impact on the audience (Pornpitakpan, 2004). The findings of this
study proved to be consistent with the source credibility theory. This was
demonstrated in that the Christian clergy could not persuade the voters during the
August 2010 constitutional referendum because they lacked source credibility in
political communication. This is further in agreement with the assertions made by
Hilligoss and Rieh (2008) that source credibility is an established theory that explains
how communication persuasiveness is affected by the perceived credibility of the
source of that communication.
Making reference to what earlier studies have revealed (Tormala et al., 2005),
the use of the source credibility theory in this research further established its value of
focus and straight forwardness, a characteristic which added to the theory's rich
history in persuasion research. The general thought developed from this study is in
agreement with what Teven’s (2008) suggestion that in the context of political
speaking, source credibility is a very critical factor in the selection of an opinion
leader, for the success or failure of any political campaign or endeavor depends on
how credible the voters perceive the candidate to be.
A majority of the Christian voters did not find their clergy to be credible
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sources of political messages. The average on expertise, trustworthiness, and goodwill
of the Christian clergy in political communication did not meet the threshold. The
study therefore makes the deduction that with this credibility deficit, the Christian
clergy could not influence Christian voters to tilt the 'NO' vote to secure a win.
Although Christian voters cast their votes, it was not in favor of the proposal given by
their clergy.
The summary to the conclusion of this research would be stated using the
postulation by Prete (2007) that, for political communication to achieve its principle
objective of informing, persuading, and acting, it needs to have a high degree of
credibility. The social standing of the Christian clergy and the service they offer to
God and humanity earn them a considerable degree of goodwill. According to this
study, the construct of goodwill stood out as the leading dimension when the general
source credibility of the Christian clergy was measured. Ironically, according to the
overall findings of the research, the construct of goodwill alone did not earn the
Christian clergy enough source credibility for maximum effects in political
communication.
Recommendations
Based on its findings, this study makes the following recommendations:
1. That Christian clergy could work towards developing their source credibility
in constructs of expertise and trustworthiness in regard to political
communication. This would help in making them credible sources of political
messages. In this regard, the Christian clergy can deliberately work on the
construct of expertise in political communication by increasing their political
knowledge through constant learning of the day to day dynamics and
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emerging trends in the political arena.
2. On the same construct of expertise, the Christian clergy would need to make a
deliberate effort in order to create the perception of competence in the minds
of the public (including the Christian voters). This they can do through
participating in more political forums so that they do not appear like strangers
in the field. To appear in more political forums for the clergy does not
necessarily mean that they become career politicians per se, but that they
would engage in political discussions more deliberately and frequently. This is
about expanding the consultative base on political matters affecting the
country to include those that they lead. It would also serve to enrich content
and create in the Christian voters a sense of ownership of the common press
statement that the clergy issue. Furthermore, it could contribute to giving the
clergy political experience.
3. The Christian clergy could purpose to develop on the construct of
trustworthiness by avoiding bias and being honest in their political
engagements. This can be a complicated process because of the general
public's perception of politics, but by being consistently true in their political
relationships and dealings, the Christian clergy can build political trust. The
general overview on the source credibility in the study showed that a majority
of the respondents did not attribute trustworthiness to their clergy. Thus, this is
an area whose attainment would require extra effort from the Christian clergy
if they are to emit honesty and unbiasedness.
4. Since the Christian clergy excel in the construct of goodwill according to the
study, they may capitalize on the construct of goodwill accorded to them by
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Christian voters. The average findings for each construct in all the research
questions revealed that compared to the other constructs, the respondents rated
the Christian Clergy highly on the construct of goodwill. It is therefore
recommended that the Christian clergy work towards maintaining this
goodwill. They can achieve this through consistently and continually growing
in their noble intentions and caring inclination.
Areas for Further Research
The findings of this study revealed that there are real gaps that exist within and
around the involvement of the Christian clergy in political communication. Some
have to do with the Christian clergy while others have to do with the Christian voters.
The study therefore suggests the following as possible areas for further research:
1. A related study focusing on the perception of Christian voters on the
involvement of their clergy in political communication can be carried
out in other constituencies or wider jurisdictions.
2. An investigation into how Christian clergy can be fruitfully involved in
political communication towards the accomplishment of their cultural
and ecclesiastical mandate.
3. A study focusing on how to bridge the gap on the existing perceptions
regarding involvement of Christian clergy in communicating both
spiritual and political messages.
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APPENDICES
Appendix A: Self-Administered Questionnaire
Dear Participant;
I am an ordained minister of the Africa Inland Church, Kenya and currently a Master
of Arts in Communication Student at Daystar University in Kenya. I am researching
on the topic The Perception of Changamwe Christian Voters on the Involvement of
Their Clergy in Political Communication – A Study on Source Credibility' as part of
my academic requirements. I humbly invite you to fill the questionnaire below to
provide important information needed for the research. All information shall be
received with appreciation, treated with confidence and its use shall be limited to this
study. Thank you for accepting to participate in this exercise.
Timothy MwongelaMuthusi
Do not write your name please.
If you did not vote during the August 2010 constitutional referendum, kindly
do not fill the questionnaire just return it.
SECTION A
Demographics.Kindly tick [ ] in the box that applies to you
1. Age
18-25 [ ] 26-35 [ ] 36-45 [ ] 46-55 [ ] Above 55[ ]
2. Gender
Male [ ] Female [ ]
3. Marital status
Single [ ] Married [ ] Widowed [ ] Divorced [ ] Separated [ ]
Other [ ]________________
4. Which is your highest educational level?
Primary [ ] Secondary [ ] College [ ] Degree [ ] Diploma [ ]
Certificate [ ] Other [ ]_____
5, What is your occupation?
Civil servant [ ] Banking industry [ ] Self-employed [ ] Private Sector [
] Christian Worker [ ] Educationist [ ] Technician [ ] Medical practitioner [ ]
Other [ ]___________
6. Are you a registered voter in Kenya?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
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7. Are you a Christian?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
8. How often do you go to church in a month?
Once [ ] Twice [ ] Thrice [ ] Every Sunday [ ] Never [ ]
Other [ ] ______________
9. Did you vote during the August, 2010 referendum?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
If your answer in number nine (9) above is 'NO' please do not proceed.
10 (a) During the August, 2010 referendum did you vote for 'YES' or for 'NO'
Yes [ ] No [ ]
10 (b) If you voted for 'YES', what influenced you to vote for 'YES'
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
__________________________
10 (c) If you voted for 'NO', what influenced you to vote for 'NO'
_______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
___________________________
SECTION B
The following are statements about the involvement of Pastors in
communicating political messages. If you agree, choose “Yes” and if you disagree
choose “No.” If you are not sure choose “I don't know”. Kindly tick [ ] your choice.
11. Pastors in Kenya are politically experienced.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
12. Pastors in Kenya have wide knowledge about the political issues in the
country.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
13. Every political opinion given by the Pastors can be trusted.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
14. We should always vote for candidates who are Pastors.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
15. Pastors get involved in political issues because they care about the welfare
of the citizens.
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Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
16. Pastors who get involved in politics have the best interest of the voters in
their hearts.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
SECTION C
The following are statements about the involvement of Pastors in
communicating Spiritual messages. If you agree, choose “Yes” and if you disagree
choose “No.” If you are not sure choose “I don't know”. Kindly tick [ ] your choice.
17. Pastors in Kenya are well trained in matters concerning Christian living.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
18. Pastors in Kenya have wide knowledge of Bible content.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
19. I must fully obey what Pastors teach regarding my walk with God.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
20. What Pastors teach is inspired by God.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
21. Pastors preach and teach God's word because they care about my welfare.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
22. Pastors do counseling because they want the best out of the congregation.
Yes [ ] No [ ] I don't know [ ]
SECTION D
The following statements are opinions about Pastors participating in
campaigning against the draft constitution in the 2010 referendum. Tick [ ] your
opinion about each statement.
23. Pastors had sincere motives when they campaigned in the 2010
constitutional referendum
Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Not sure [ ]
24. Politicians in the ‘Yes’ camp during the 2010 constitutional referendum
were more politically experienced than the Pastors in the ‘No’ camp.
Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Not sure [ ]
25. Voters trusted politicians more than the Pastors during the 2010
constitutional referendum.
Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Not sure [ ]
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26. Pastors should have left politicians alone to address voters during the
referendum.
Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Not sure [ ]
27. Unlike the Pastors, politicians expressed the best interest of Kenya when
they campaigned for the draft constitution during the referendum.
Agree [ ] Disagree [ ] Not sure [ ].
28. Why do you think voters were not persuaded to vote ‘NO’ during the
August 2010 constitutional referendum?
_________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Thank you for taking your time to fill this questionnaire. God bless you.
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Appendix B: Daystar University Letter of Introduction
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Appendix E: Anti-Plagiarism Report
by Timothy Muthusi
The Perception of Christian Voters in Changamwe on the Involvement of their
Clergy in Political Communication –
A Study on Source Credibility
Submission date: 10-Oct-2017 10:47PM (UTC+0300)
Submission ID: 860539405
File name: timothy_thesis_-doc.doc (326.5K)
Word count: 25837
Character count: 153919
SIMILARIT Y INDEX: 13%
INT ERNET SOURCES: 11%
PUBLICAT IONS: 7%
ST UDENT PAPERS: 7%
1
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