A2 thematic and content analysis Flashcards
CONTENT ANALYSIS
The forms of communication that may be subject to content analysis are wide-ranging and may include
The aim is to summarise and describe communication in a
spoken interaction (such as a conversation or speech/presentation), written forms (such as texts or emails) or broader examples from the media (such as books, magazines, TV programmes or films).
systematic way so overall conclusions can be drawn.
CONTENT ANALYSIS
Content analysis is
a type of observational research in which people are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced.
CONTENT ANALYSIS
CODING AND QUANTITATIVE DATA
* Coding is the initial stage of content analysis. Some data sets to be analysed may be extremely large and so there is a need to categorise this information into meaningful units.
* This may involve simply counting up the number of times a particular word or phrase appears in the text to produce a form of quantitative data.
give some examples
- For instance, newspaper reports may be analysed for the number of times derogatory terms for people with mental health issues are used, such as ‘crazy’ or ‘mad.
- Another example would be TV adverts which may be examined to see how often men and women are depicted in ‘professional roles’ (at work) or ‘familial roles’ (at home).
THEMATIC ANALYSIS AND QUALITATIVE DATA
- Thematic analysis is a form of content analysis, but the outcome is qualitative.
- The main process involves the identification of themes.
- A theme in content analysis refers to
any idea, explicit or implicit, that is recurrent.
* These are likely to be more descriptive than the coding units.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS AND QUALITATIVE DATA
- For instance, people with mental health issues may be misrepresented in newspapers as a threat to the well-being of our children and drain on the resources of the NHS. Such themes may then be developed into broader categories, such as ‘control’, ‘stereotyping’ or ‘treatment’ of people with mental health issues.
- Once the researcher is satisfied that, the themes they have developed cover most aspects of the data they are analysing, they may
collect a new set of data to test the validity of the themes and categories.
* Assuming these explain the new data adequately, the researcher will write up the final report, typically using direct quotes from the data to illustrate each theme.
Content analysis STRENGTHS
no issues with obtaining permission,both qualitative & quantitative data
Content analysis is useful in that it can circumnavigate many of the ethical issues normally associated with psychological research.
Much of the material that an analyst might want to study, such as TV adverts, films, personal ads in the newspaper or on the internet, etc., may already exist within the public domain.
Thus, there are no issues with obtaining permission.
Such communications have the benefit of being high in external validity and may access data of a sensitive nature provided the ‘authors’ consent to its use.
We have also seen that content analysis is flexible in the sense that it may produce both qualitative and quantitative data depending on the aims of the research.
Content analysis LIMITATION
studied indirectly, thematic analysis lack of objectivity
People tend to be studied indirectly as part of content analysis so the communications they produce are usually analysed outside of the context within which it occurred.
There is a danger that the researcher may attribute opinions and motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended originally.
To be fair, many modern analysts are clear about how their own biases and preconceptions any research process, and often refer to reflexivity as part of their final report.
However, content analysis may still suffer from a lack of objectivity, especially when more descriptive forms of thematic analysis are employed.
