content analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

an observational research technique that enables indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce

Question 2

what forms of communication may be subject to content analysis?

Answer 2

• spoken interaction: conversation, speech, presentation
• written forms: texts, emails
• broader examples from media: books, magazines, TV programmes, films

Question 3

what is the aim of content analysis?

Answer 3

to summarise and describe this communication in a systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn

Question 4

what is coding?

Answer 4

initial stage of a content analysis when the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories

Question 5

why is coding needed?

Answer 5

some data sets to be analysed may be extremely large so there is a need to categorise this information into meaningful units

Question 6

how can coding be done? (eg.)

Answer 6

counting the number of times a particular word or phrase appears in the text

Question 7

what type of data does coding produce?

Answer 7

quantitative

Question 8

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 8

an inductive approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data, a theme, which will often emerge once the data has been coded

Question 9

what is a theme in content analysis?

Answer 9

any idea, explicit or implicit, that is recurrent

Question 10

what type of data does thematic analysis produce?

Answer 10

qualitative

Question 11

what does a researcher do after they are satisified with the themes they have developed?

Answer 11

• ensure they cover most aspects of the data they are analysing
• collect a new set of data to test the validity of the themes and categories
• assuming these explain the new data adequately, write up the final report, typically using direct quotes from the data to illustrate each theme

Question 12

evaluation: strengths of content analysis

Answer 12

• can circumnavigate many ethical issues normally associated with psychological research
• material that an analyst might want to study eg. TV adverts, films etc. may already exist within the public domain so there are no issues with obtaining permission
• high external validity
• may access data of a sensitive nature if authors consent to its use
• flexible; can produce qual and quan data depending on the aims of the research

Question 13

evaluation: limitations of content analysis

Answer 13

• people tend to be studied indirectly so communications they produce are usually analysed outside of the context it occurred
• danger that researcher may attribute opinions and motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended originally
• lack of objectivity, especially when more descriptive forms of thematic analysis are employed

Question 14

how are the limitations of content analyses attempted to be rectified?

Answer 14

• many modern analysts are clear about how their own biases and preconceptions influence the research process
• they often make reference to these as part of their final report