Content Analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

• research tool used to analyse the content of various forms of communication
• indirectly observed presence of certain words, images or concepts within communication

Question 2

how do you carry out a content analysis?

Answer 2

• the media is coded into categories
• researchers analyse presence of words, meanings, concepts and count frequency of occurrence and draw conclusions from the data
• analyses qualitative data into quantitative data

Question 3

what is a thematic analysis?

Answer 3

• another way of analysing qualitative data
• involved identifying themes present in data
• researcher does NOT quantify frequency of themes, just presence of themes

Question 4

what can you use thematic analysis for?

Answer 4

analysing unstructured or semi structured interviews. unstructured observations, diary/journal

Question 5

how do you carry out a thematic analysis?

Answer 5

• familiarise yourself with the data
• carry out initial coding of data by identifying behaviours/words/phrases that are considered important
• organise these into categories or themes