Analysis Content as Method
What is Content Analysis?
Study of human artifacts (television, shows, magazines, web pages, etc.)
Can study the current time, or draw from archives to study a phenomenon over time or at
a historical moment
In communication research, content analysis is well suited to questions of how the
content of media might affect those who consume it
Recent example of content analysis: tweeting; trending topics which are what are important in
society
Content Analysis
Helps us to understand the classic communication question:
o Who says what, to whom, why, how and with what effect
How to Start a Content Analysis
What is your research question?
o Have to be clear bc whole research revolves with the research question. Have to
be able to operationalize everything
What is your unit of analysis?
o Looking at not the humans but what humans produce
How will you sample from the available range of artifacts?
How are you operationalizing your variables?
o Operationalizing: Defining in a specific way so there are no room for confusion
How will you code your findings?
o One of the most critical/ difficult part of the analysis
Why are Units of Analysis so Important
Reflects your research question
Guides your sampling strategy
Guides the creation of a codebook
Units of Analysis
Comparing German and Allied reports of WWII battle
o Unit of analysis: reports
Comparing mainstream and ethnic media coverage of immigration law changes
o U.A.: media coverage
Comparing university policies on affirmative action
o U.A.: policies
Sampling Austen and Bronte novels to compare descriptions of English culture
o U.A.: descriptionsnovels are samples
Applications
What is/ are the unit/s of analysis in Military Couples study?
Sampling Strategies
1. Tied in with units of analysis
2. Since you cant code everything, decide first:
What television stations/newspapers/ type of websites constitute your population?
Which sample makes the most sense
Application:
What is the population in the Military couples study?
o 259 individuals who participated in the study
What is the sample in the Military Couples study?
What sampling strategy did the authors use to collect the sample for the Military Couples
study?
o Volunteer study
Coding in Content Analysis
This is the tricky parthow to turn raw information into standardized, usable data
A codebook can look a lot like a surveyyou can have yes/no questions, scales,
frequency measures
o What info do you need? Law of parsimony
How deep do you want to go?
Manifest Content: What is easily viewed/ because recorded it is most obvious (ex. How
often certain words are mentioned)
*alcohol mentions*
Latent Content: Underlying meaning (ex. In what context are those words seen/heard
most often?
*What the alcohol mentions suggest*
Harder to standardize across coders
Conceptualization: Creating Coding Categories
Are you working from theory? The theory should help to suggest categories and coding
schemes (ex. Agenda setting more partner is irritating you, the more opportunities, the
more you have opportunities for negative outcomes)
Operationally define your termsbased on prior research. What do you mean by :
appearance, violence, and so on
Check for intercoder reliability, and revise your coding instrument
o Better to have a high intercoder reliability
Application:
How were the coding categories created for the Military Couples study?
o Open and axial coding. Step after axial coding; identifying major themes under
main areas
What were the coding categories for the Military Couples study?
o Changes in relationship; ten themes
o Uncertainty; 7 themes
o Partner interference; 8 themes
What is important about these themes?
Real world example: See Jane
Joint project between Daughters and Dads (national non-profit), Geena Davis, and faculty
at University of Southern Californias Annenberg School
More info: http://www.thegeenadavisinstitute.org/research.php
-look at gender portrayals in movies, cartoons. How many times men and women are seen as
leading roles
-she wanted good roles and had hard time finding them bc werent out there, also her daughter
was being exposed to bias cartoons teaching her daughter that she isnt worth as much as she is
may also affect little boys as well
See Jane: Major Findings
Two case studies [notes on Sakai]:
Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV
Gender On Screen and Behind the Camera in Family Films
Fewer than 1/3 were female roles
Females represent more sexual look
See Jane Spinoffs
Social marketing videos addressing gender stereotypes for kids
Strengths of Content Analysis
Cheapcan be conducted by a student on their own or in small groups
Unobtrusivethe subject doesnt change because it is being studied
More likely to be reliable/robust
Errors can be easily correctedthings came out wrong? You can go back and recode.
You cant go back and redistribute a survey
Processes can be studied over a long time period
Weaknesses of Content Analysis
Limited to recorded artifactsthere has to be something to study and code
Limited appropriatenessdepends on your research question