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Content Analysis

Content Analysis
Multiple Definitions
Background
Applications and Procedure
An Illustration
Consistency within Diversity
Growth
Reliability
Validity

General Definitions
...a research technique that uses a set of procedures
to make valid inferences from text (Weber, 1990, p. 9)

A summarizing, quantitative analysis of messages relying on


scientific method and not limited to types of variables measured or
context of messages (Neuendorf, 2002)

"Any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically


identifying specified characteristics of messages (Holsti, 1969 p. 14)

Definitions (continued)

...technique for objective, systematic, & quantitative description of


manifest content communication ( Berelson, 1952, p. 18)

systematic, replicable data reduction technique, compressing many


words of text into content categories based on explicit rules of
coding (Stemler, 2001)

Close analysis of explicit and implicit messages of a text through


classification and evaluation of key concepts, symbols, and themes to
determine
meaning and explain its effect it on the audience (Reitz, 2004)

...systematic reading of texts and symbolic matter not necessarily from an


authors or user's perspective (Krippendorf, 2004, p. 3)

Essential Purpose
Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) what Channel (with) What
Effect? (Lasswell, 1948)

Goal of Content Analysis


To draw inferences about:

A text
To obtain documentary evidence about:
A sender
A message
A receiver (audience)

Procedures
Communication transmission model (manifest
content)
Semiotic model (latent content) of the signifier and
the signified

Historical Antecedents

Analysis of Texts
Researchers have analyzed texts since the start of
writing
Content analysis draws on Aristotelian principles of
textual analysis as described in Poetics
Subject of text
Creator
Audience
Purpose
Context
Ethos
Pathos

Analysis of Texts
Medieval Scholastics recognized latent meanings of words,
leading to categories
First documented content analysis:
18th century Sweden
Collection of religious hymns blamed for subverting orthodox state
church and inciting dissent
Words and symbols in songs were same as orthodox hymnal, but
occurred in different contexts (Dovring, 1951; Krippendorf, 2009)

Analysis of Texts
During early 20th century Weber studied content of newspapers
raising fundamental questions:
How do newspapers affect readers?
How do the contents of newspapers compare quantitatively over a
generation?

What is carried as news


What is carried as editorial
What is omitted

Weber is regarded as a pioneer in the sociology of the press

Psychological Analysis
Gordon Allport
Pioneer in personality theory
Analyzed Letters to Jenny (Diary)
Aimed to understand her experienced world by identifying
psychological traits as expressed in her letters and diaries
(Krippendorf & Bock, 2009)

Content Analysis
Topics

Content Analysis and Data


The Effect of Semantics on Public Opinion and Propaganda
Program Effectiveness
Readability of Text
Television Violence
Library Transactions
Characteristics of Reference Questions
Personality Traits
Determination of Authorship

Questions for Content Analysis

How are minority ethnic groups treated in short stories in popular


magazines? (Berelson, 1952)

How can communications be tested for propaganda elements?

What ways do motion pictures reflect popular feelings and desires?

What are the dominant images in Shakespeares plays?

What happens to a good book when it becomes a movie?

How do criteria used for program effectiveness reflect program


objectives?

How do attitudes reflect personality structure?

What domains are currently being studied in library and information


science?

A Quantitative Illustration

Research Problem:
What role does popular magazine fiction play in
affecting attitudes toward ethnic minorities?
(Berelson and Salter, 1946)

Hypotheses Asserted
Sympathetic characters are from the majority
Unsympathetic characters are from minorities and usually
unsympathetic and secondary
Social interaction between majority and minority groups
seldom occurs.
When interaction occurs, minority group in a subordinate position.

The problems of majority and minority groups differ


The majority has individual (personal) problems
The minority has social and economic problems
The goals of the majority (love, comfort) more approved than
goals of the minority (material gain).

Hypothesis and Categories


Hypotheses were translated into categories a priori assignation
The first hypothesis yielded 3 categories for analysis:
Ethnic identification of character
Role in the story
Level of approval (sympathy for character)

Other hypotheses provide more categories:

Socio-economic status of characters


Kind of interaction
Problems
Goals

After categories for the hypotheses are exhausted, they can be


addressed by potential data

Final Step in Analysis


Establish Categories
Determine Indicators (a priori)
First general category was ethnicity
Indicators of ethnicity rarely explicit
(i.e. He was Italian-American)
Indirect indicators of ethnicity conceived indicators involved names (i.e.
Antonio), language, appearance, memberships, etc.
Second category was characters role in story
Was the role major or minor?
Indicator was the space allotted to specific character

Third category was socio-economic level


Indicator included characteristics as occupation, education, income, possessions,
standard of living, etc.

After examining the stories other categories and indicators were noted. These
emergent categories extended the hypothesis (a posteriori)

Krippendorfs Six Procedural Questions

The Basic Steps


Which data are analyzed? (Unit of Analysis)
How are data defined? (Definition of Terms--these are the variables to
measure. Both internal and external validity come into play here.)
What is the population or unit from which the sampling data are drawn?
(Sampling Frame or Unit of Sampling)

What is the context relative to which the data are analyzed?

What are the boundaries of the analysis?

What is the target of inference?


Code Book - Coding Form

Comparison: Berelsons Study and


Krippendorfs 6 Questions
Krippendorf

Berelson

1. What data are analyzed?

1.

Units of analysis are words.

2. How are the data defined?

2.

Data defined by categories and


their indicators.

3. What is the population or unit


from which the sampling data are
drawn?

3.

Frame is fictional story in


popular magazine.

4. What is the context relative to


which the data are analyzed?

4.

Context involves attitudes


toward ethnicities.

5. What are the boundaries of the


analysis?

5.

Boundary is single story in


selection of magazines.

6. What is the target of inference?

6.

Do indicators support
hypothesis?

Two Methods
Qualitative and Quantitative Procedures

Content, System, Goals


The objective of content analysis is determining answers
to questions that the text implies explicitly and implicitly
It is a systematic technique of reading between the lines

Can this goal be attained most effectively with quantitative or


qualitative techniques?
Distinguishing feature between 2 approaches is starting
point:
hypothesis or grounded induction
methods of deriving categories
what depth of communication accepted as an indicator

Quantitative Procedures
Content analysis starts with the hypothesis
Categories derived from possibilities of hypothesis
Categories established a priori and indicators based on
manifest (surface) meaning

Qualitative Procedures
Qualitative approach derives categories after examining
document emergent coding
Factors in latent meanings of words or messages
Context and proximity suggest the intended
meaning of a message

Media: Qualitative Analysis


Narrative Analysis (focus on literary composition and structure)
Rhetorical Analysis examines properties of text; emphasis not on meaning,
but how meaning is conveyed)
Discourse Analysis examines manifest language in text language and
word
usage
Semiotic Analysis focus is on latent meanings and deep structures
Interpretive Analysis formation of theory from observation
Conversation Analysis used by social scientists in psychology,
communications and sociology
Critical Analysis analyzes media messages (how are groups
represented in media of all forms)

Consistency within Diversity


The definitions, uses, and techniques vary according to
whether the researcher conducts a quantitative study
or a qualitative study
Content analysis stipulates three core conditions for
qualitative or quantitative character of study

These central conditions include:


Objectivity
System
Generality (Holsti, 1969)

Objectivity (Holsti, 1969)


The test of objectivity is whether another researcher,
following identical procedures with the same data, can arrive
at a similar conclusion
Objectivity, in content analysis, means that explicit rules and procedures
guide the research process
For example, what criteria will be applied in formulating a category?
What criteria determines content unit (word, theme, webpage, animation,
imagery, kinds of imagery, narrative, dialogue, space, advertisements,
maps, transactions)?
Objectivity requires researcher explicitly state ground a category is
selected
and what rationale prompts one inference rather than an alternative

System
Systematic procedures facilitate objective, unbiased
selection of content and categories (Holsti, 1969)
Assigning firm rules to regulate inclusion & exclusion
of content and categories prevents researcher from
biased, self-serving selection
Rules preclude an analyst from intentional or
unintentional bias in selecting only content or category
supporting hypothesis, proposition, or self-interest.

Generality
Select content based on clear definitions for determining
content and categories fosters objectivity
Establish procedures for inclusion or exclusion of data -contributes towards consistency and systematic, impartial
selection
Promote principled, legitimate descriptive analysis with
systematic procedures provides a basis for generalizing
about the data collection

Relate data to an established theory or reasoned proposition


for data to be conclusive or meaningful

Thorny Issues
Quality & Quantity ~
Manifest Content and Latent Content

Arguments Refined

Quantitative and qualitative methods are different approaches to investigating same


problem

Must content analysis be defined by quantitative or qualitative methodologies?

Holsti (1969) holds that other measures besides quantitative frequency counts &
enumeration valid

Alternative method of quantifying data with greater refinement is contingency analysis


Contingency analysis codes presence or absence of a trait within document or unit of
sampling. Inferences derived from proximity of two or more units of analysis in sampling unit

The use of quantitative procedures or qualitative is not an either/or issue -- they can
interact

Restriction to quantitative analysis has been criticized on several grounds


Such restriction leads to bias in the problems to consider
It is also stated that qualitative methods can result in more meaningful or descriptive
inferences

Manifest and Latent Content

Considerations:
Must content analysis be restricted to manifest content or
surface meanings; elements physically present &
countable (Neuendorf, 2002 p. 23)
Holsti offers compelling example of limits of manifest
content.
Limit to manifest content would not yield this notion
Describes patient in mental hospital who states he is in
Switzerland. In this case, the patients meaning of Switzerland is
freedom. By stating he is in Switzerland, he is stating that he
wants freedom.
Latent content & meaning would provide the context whereby the
receiver of the message would understand the idiosyncratic
meaning.
Latent content need not be dismissed. However, as Holsti
emphasizes, it should be verified by independent evidence.

A Growing Trend
During early 20th century Max Weber applied techniques of content
analysis to journalism when he introduced the notion of studying
the sociology of the press (Weber, 1924)

Over 24 years -- 1971-1995, Riffe & Freitag (1997) noted six-fold


increase in number of content analyses appearing in journal, J&MC
Quarterly
Software applications and the WWW enable text & data analysis
Neuendorf (2002) reported more than 24 text content analysis
programs are available (THAT WAS 9 YEARS AGO)
Many electronic content analysis applications now available text,
audio, video

Reliability
Reliability measured basically in two ways (Stemler, 2001)
Stability (intra-rater reliability Does same coder get same results
again and again?
Reproducibility (inter-rater reliability) Do different coders, rating
the same text, get the same results?

Internal Validity
Internal validity is degree a procedure of measurement represents
the defined concept
Does the procedure measure what one intends to measure?
Research question determines what one intends to measure
In previous example, the concern was how individuals in majority
population and minority population were characterized in fictional stories
carried by popular magazines

Study valid if results of inquiry yield data related to this concern


and research question

External Validity
External validity or the ability to generalize to the wider
population, depends largely on the soundness of ones
sampling technique and sample
Need experimental controls or validity becomes serious
concern
Triangulation or independent corroboration is one means of
establishing validity
Another involves conducting same inquiry using another method of
inquiry formal experimental design employing surveys or
qualitative procedure with focus group/interviews

Flowchart: Qualitative

Bibliography
Allport. G. (1965). Letters from Jenny. In K. Krippendorff & M. Bock (Eds.), The content
analysis reader (p. 28-37). London: Sage. Print.
Holsti, O. R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities.
Reading, MA: Addision-Wesley Pub. Co. Retrieved from http://
www.questia.com
Krippendorf, K. (2003). Introduction to Content Analysis. CA: Sage. Print
Krippendorff, K. & Bock, M. A. (2009). The Content Analysis Reader. CA:
Sage. Print.
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. London: Sage.
Online resource: http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/content
Reitz, J. M. (2004). Dictionary for library and information science. CN: Libraries Unlimited.
(Print).
Riffe, D. & Freitag, A. (1997). A content analysis of content analyses: Twenty-five years of
Journalism Quarterly. J&MC, 74, 4, 873-882.

Bibliography (continued)
Stemler, S. (2001). An overview of content analysis. Practical Assessment,
Research and Evaluation, 7 (17). Retrieved from http://PAREonline.net
Weber, M. (1924). Toward a sociology of the press: An early proposal for
content analysis. In K. Krippendorff & M. Bock (Eds.), The content analysis
reader (p. 9-11). London: Sage. Print.
Weber, R. (1990). Basic Content Analysis. London: Sage. Print.

Thanks very much!


Florence M. Paisey, April 2011

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