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Baseline survey data are integrated into an ethnographic understanding of locally situated knowledge to evaluate how radio entertainment—education regarding reproductive health is socially constructed in the riverine communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Focus group interviews, sustained participant observation, in—depth interviews, letters from radio listeners, and input from trained peer promoters complement the survey data. Employment of culturally sensitive, multiple methods makes findings more intelligible and coherent, provides practical wisdom for action, and heightens awareness of the joint ownership of ethical responsibilities on the part of the researcher and the researched.

[R]eproductive rights ... rest on the recognition of the basic right of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health . .. [taking] into account the needs of their living and future children and their responsibilities towards the community. The promotion of the responsible exercise of these rights for all people should be the fundamental basis for ... community-supported policies and programmes in the area of reproductive health.... Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994, Paragraph 7.3