content analysis

Question 1

case studies

Answer 1

an in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event. These are usually unusual individuals or events, eg a person with a rare disorder or the sequence of events leading to the 2011 London riots. However they may also concentrate on more typical cases eg an elderly persons recollections of childhood.

Question 2

conducting a case study

Answer 2

usually uses/produces qualitative data. Researchers may construct a case history of the individual concerned using interviews questionnaires etc. they may even use experimental testing which would produce quantitative data. case studies tend to be longitudinal and may gather additional data from family etc

Question 3

content analysis

Answer 3

a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce eg texts emails tv film and other media. Type of observational research. The aim is to summarise and describe this communication so overall conclusions can be drawn

Question 4

coding and quantitative data- content analysis

Answer 4

coding is the initial stage of content analysis where the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories eg words, phrases. this produces quantitative data

Question 5

thematic analysis and qualitative data- content analysis

Answer 5

TA is an inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. Themes will often emerge once data has been coded. Likely to be more descriptive than coding.

Question 6

strength of case studies

Answer 6

they’re able to offer rich, detailed insights that may shed light on very unusual and atypical forms of behaviour. This may be preferred to the more superficial forms of data that may be collected from things such as questionnaires of experiments. They may also contribute to our understanding of “typical” functioning, eg case of HM revealed typical LTM processing. this is a strength because it means they may generate hypotheses for future study.

Question 7

limitation of case studies

Answer 7

generalisations of findings is an issue due to the small sample size used. Info that makes it into the final report is based on the subjective selection and interpretation of the researcher. Personal accounts from the ppt and their friends and family may be open to inaccuracy or memory decay. This means they lack validity.

Question 8

strength of content analysis

Answer 8

it is useful as it can circumnavigate (get around) ethical issues. Most of the material that an analyst may want to study eg films, newspapers etc already exists within the public domain. This means they are high in external validity and there are no issues with obtaining permission. Content analysis also produces both qualitative and quantitative data