1. New Media Research Methods
Week 9&10

2. Unobtrusive methods

3. Unobtrusive Research – Methods of studying social behavior without affecting it.
Example: Durkheim’s analysis of suicide
Types of Unobtrusive Research
Content Analysis
Analysis of Existing Statistics
Comparative and Historical Analysis

4. Content Analysis
Content Analysis – The study of recorded human communications (i.e., books, websites, paintings, laws).
Appropriate Topics
“Who says what, to whom, why, how, and with what effect?”

5. Sampling in Content Analysis
Units of Analysis

6. Identify the unit of analysis:
You are interested in how children’s literature portrays gender roles.
You are interested in popular film’s use of drugs and alcohol.
You are interested in sociology textbook’s definition of race.
You are interested in the content of Internet Blogs.

7. Sampling Techniques
Any conventional sampling technique may be used for content analysis.

8. Coding in Content Analysis
Coding – The process whereby raw data are transformed into standardized form suitable for machine processing and analysis.
Coder Training: Reliability

9. Manifest Content – The concrete terms contained in a communication.
Latent Content – The underlying meaning of communication.

10. Conceptualization and the Creation of Code Categories
Operational Definition
Levels of Measurement
Counting and Record Keeping
The end product of coding must be numerical.
Record keeping must distinguish between units of analysis and units of observation.
Record from the base from which the counting is done.

11. Major steps in executing a content analysis study
1. Propose and test research hypotheses and/or research questions
2. Define the sampling population and select a sample
3. Secure the access to the sampled content
4. Operationally define the coding categories and the unit of analysis

12. 5. Coding instrument development
6. Coding training and coding protocol
7. Ensure the pilot inter-coder reliability
8. Implement the actual coding procedure
9. Compute the final inter-coder reliability

13. Illustrations of Content Analysis
Peng, W., Liu, M., & Mou, Y. (2008). Do aggressive people play violent computer games in a more aggressive way? Individual difference and idiosyncratic game-playing experience. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(2),

14. Strengths of Content Analysis
Economy of time and money
Allowing for the correction of errors
Permits the study of processes occurring over time
Research has little (if any) effect on subjects
Reliability
Weaknesses of Content Analysis
Time and energy consuming in ensuring reliability and validity
Limited to recorded communications
Validity: Generalizability concern: different operational definitions across studies