2.1 Secondary resources - Content Analysis of The Mass Media in Social Research

Question 1

advantages Practical good way to make comparison betwenn…

Answer 1

types of media and also to look at how trends have changed over times

Question 2

advantages theoretical - key merits pf quantitve content analysis due it being viewed as an objective, scientific, reliable method of

Answer 2

studying media bias in the content of the IF a strict coding scheme is dveloped then the data should be reliable. Meaning consistent findings are produced over time or even by different researchers using the same schemes

Question 3

advantages Ethical fewer ethical issues with content analysis as it is on the

Answer 3

media which is clearly in the public domain

Question 4

Weakneses Practical problems getting representative sample. e.g

Answer 4

Soap storylines change, adverts differ at different times of day or periods of the year

Question 5

Weakneses Theoretical ther is a danger of taking material our of context

Answer 5

e.g at one point in a programme a character may act and dress like a bimbo, but later on be very intellectual. Coding schemes may find this diff to account for

Question 6

Weakneses Theoretical Media messgaes are polysemic = means

Answer 6

they can be interpreted in different ways and have numerous racis, while other ppl will interpret material as ridculing racism

Question 7

Weakneses Theoretical - whil e it supporters see it as scientific , objective and reliable

Answer 7

its critics say the researcher defines the categories to be used and how they will measureso its biased and subjectives