Content Analysis

Question 1

what is quantitative content analysis?

Answer 1

the systematic and replicable examination of symbols of communication or media materials for patterns

Question 2

what are characteristics of content analyses?

Answer 2

1) objective
2) systematic
3) focused on manifest content

Question 3

what is manifest content?

Answer 3

content that is observable

Question 4

T or F: when conducting content analyses, it is important to define measurable scoring units

Answer 4

True

Question 5

what are measurable scoring units?

Answer 5

the basic or standard unit or measurement

Question 6

what are different kind of measurable scoring units?

Answer 6

words, phrases, minutes, images, entire documents

Question 7

T or F: researchers are interested in the appearance of a phenomena of interest in a single document

Answer 7

True: ex - does a tweet contain at least one swear word

Question 8

T or F: content analyses do not require a sample from a population

Answer 8

False: difference is we’re sampling media artifacts/content rather than people

Question 9

T or F: content analyses require researchers to establish very clear/explicit definition of the behaviors/symbols of investigation

Answer 9

True

Question 10

What are the different kinds of content definitions?

Answer 10

constitutive and operational definitions

Question 11

what are constitutive definitions?

Answer 11

definitions found in dictionaries

Question 12

what are operational definitions?

Answer 12

states how one measures something and forces an explanation to how one understands or interprets a concept

Question 13

what are the uses of operational definitions?

Answer 13

• attitudes towards a brand
• website usability
• purchase intention
• organizations trust and reputation

Question 14

T or F: most content analyses require the use of two or more coders who review the sample/population of media materials

Answer 14

True: used to make judgements regarding the presence of a variable of interest

Question 15

T or F: operational definitions are used to generate a “codebook”

Answer 15

True

Question 16

what is a codebook?

Answer 16

the guide that coders use to code media content
- set of instructions

Question 17

T or F: quantitative content analyses require only one coder

Answer 17

False: requires at least two coders

Question 18

what is intercoder reliability?

Answer 18

when two or more independent coders agree on the coding of the content of interest with an application of the same coding scheme

Question 19

how is intercoder reliability demonstrated?

Answer 19

coders will jointly code a random subset of the overall sample

Question 20

what is the general rule of them for intercode reliability?

Answer 20

the subset equal 10% of the overall sample

Question 21

T or F: we need the coders to agree on 50% or more of the coded cases to claim intercoder reliability

Answer 21

False: need coders to agree on 70% or more of the coded cases

Question 22

how is intercoder reliability measured?

Answer 22

assessing the degree to which something is present or absent
- this yield nominal-level data
- ex: does this tweet contain name called?
0 = no, 1 = yes
- can use more than two categories

Question 23

T or F: it is possible to ask for interpretative/subjective evaluations

Answer 23

True, BUT these rarely result in intercoder reliability
- example: - 0 = non-violent, 1 = somewhat violent, 2 = violent, 3 = very violent

Question 24

what are the advantages of content analysis research?

Answer 24

1) unobtrusive
2) relatively inexpensive
3) deal with current events and topic of present-day interest
3) user material that is relatively easy to obtain and work with
4) yields data that can be quantified

Question 25

what are the disadvantages of content analysis research?

Answer 25

1) finding a representative sample can be difficult
2) obtaining reliability in coding can be difficult
3) defining terms operationally can be difficult

Question 26

what is content analysis research process?

Answer 26

1) select a topic
2) identify scoring units
3) create a sampling plan/sample
4) create operational definitions
5) assess inter-coder reliability
6) code entire sample