Content Analysis

Question 1

Give a definition of content analysis

Answer 1

An indirect observation of an artefact such as interview, magazine article or diary. This usually involves changing qualitative data into quantitative by identifying themes.

Question 2

What are the main features of content analysis

Answer 2

• indirect observation of an artefact
• involves identifying categories in an artefact
• turns descriptive qualitative data into quantitative data by counting the occurrences of the different categories
  Can also produce qualitative data
• artefacts usually sampled through opportunity

Question 3

What are the steps to designing a content analysis

Answer 3

1. Create an aim for the study and a hypothesis
2. Read/view the video or transcript
3. Identify themes/ create categories - these could be organised into a coding system
4. Re-read and tally every time each theme or category appears
5. Present the quantitative data in a graph/ table
6. Or describe how the categories are presented in the artefact

Question 4

Give 2 advantages of a content analysis

Answer 4

• high ecological validity as its based on real life communication therefore the findings can be generalised beyond the setting of the study to real life situations
• it’s easy to assess the reliability of the findings and conclusions because the researchers can access the same materials & use the coding system to assess consistency

Question 5

Name 2 disadvantages of content analysis

Answer 5

• potential for researcher bias as the judgement about applying the content of an artefact to certain categories is subjective and the researcher may have to interpret the content to confirm their hypothesis
• hard to establish cause and effect as it only describes the data and isn’t conducted under controlled experimental conditions therefore reducing internal validity