Content Analysis

Much of sociological research entails the analysis of documents. Comparative/Historical Analysis Survey Returns Field Notes Transcripts Meta-Analysis

Some research makes “documents” the focus and even the TOPIC of study. A qualitative example: Thomas and Znaniecki’s study of Polish immigrants in the US entailed study of personal letters – Ceremonial letters (as eg substitution for wedding speech) – Informing letters (provided personal information) – Sentimental letters (strengthened family solidarity) – Literary letters (verse to sub for live reading or performance) – Business letters CONTENT ANALYSIS is the objective, systematic, and (usually) quantitative description of cultural documents.

Purposes of Content Analysis Hypothesis testing Describing trends Auditing Analysis of persuasion Analysis of style To relate audience attributes to messages To relate characteristics of source to messages To describe patterns of communication

Six Steps of Content Analysis 1. Exploration of Documents 2. Statement of Hypothesis 3. Sampling 4. Development of a Coding Scheme 5. Choice of Technique of Enumeration 6. Statistical Summary and Report

Sampling Sampling procedures for content analysis are the same as might be used for survey research or for any social research. The “sampling frame” comprises all documents of interest. Random sampling is preferable but systematic sampling can be used of the content is itself assumed to be random.

Coding “Coding” is a step in data reduction that is used in many research projects, and not only in content analysis. For example, qualitative interview transcripts are “coded.” Pre- vs Post-Coding (for eg survey research) Manifest vs Latent Coding (for eg content analysis and other documentary study)

Coding Categories and Units of Analysis Coding categories should reflect the purposes of the research and will ideally be exhaustive, mutually exclusive and independent. For Content Analysis, units of analysis (what is coded) can be individual words, qualities of human and nonhuman characters (age, appearance, ethnicity, etc) and “items” such as entire films, books, etc.

Techniques of Enumeration Appears or not Frequency Amount of space Intensity

Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Analysis Advantages: – Accessible – Nonreactive – Longitudinal – Large samples possible – Cheap Disadvantages: – Sources are almost always biassed – Selective survival – Incompleteness – Lack of availability for some projects – Lack of standard format – Coding difficulties/errors – Lack of comparability over time