CS235 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Content Analysis, Un Women, Inter-Rater Reliability
Week 8 Content Analysis
Objectives:
● Understand how to conduct content analysis
● Recognize the way to ensure validity and reliability of a content analysis study
● Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the method
Keywords:
● Manifest content
● Latent content
● Coding scheme
● Units of analysis
● Inter-coder reliability
Content Analysis
● A hybrid of quantitative and qualitative methods of categorizing and comparing
messages in specific contexts
● Typically follows the discovery paradigm but could be used in interpretive research
● Fairly weak in terms of causation
● Shows patterns (can shed light on some correlations)
It’s about patterns and relationships!
● Used to identify and quantify the presence of patterns and relationships within texts in
objective manner
● (count how many times words or topics appear in sample)
Key Steps
1. Develop research question(s),
2. Locate / access data
3. Decide sample / sampling method
4. Identify the unit of analysis
5. Develop the coding scheme (sometimes called coding frame/book/sheet)
6. Pilot-test the coding scheme and check reliability
7. Apply the coding scheme to content
1. Research Questions
● Descriptive claims
● Explanatory claims
● Predictive claims
● Interpretive claims
2. What can be analyzed with content analysis?
● Virtually any form of texts and cultural artifacts
○ Newspaper articles, magazines, songs, photos, ads, graffiti, archives,
survey and interview data, etc…
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Recognize the way to ensure validity and reliability of a content analysis study. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of the method. A hybrid of quantitative and qualitative methods of categorizing and comparing messages in specific contexts. Typically follows the discovery paradigm but could be used in interpretive research. Shows patterns (can shed light on some correlations) Used to identify and quantify the presence of patterns and relationships within texts in objective manner (count how many times words or topics appear in sample) Virtually any form of texts and cultural artifacts. Newspaper articles, magazines, songs, photos, ads, graffiti, archives, survey and interview data, etc . Content analysis of harry potter music, coding sheet. Homelessness coverage in canadian newspapers, cross sectional, descriptive content analysis, both qualitative and quantitative approaches, check how they ensured inter-rater reliability: sample and sampling method. Message population: a well defined set of messages related to a specific research question. Categorical distinctions (must be mutually exhaustive and exclusive)
