Content Analysis

Question 1

What is content analysis?

Answer 1

A method of quantifying qualitative data through coding/categorisation.

Question 2

What is the procedure of content analysis?

Answer 2

1. Data is collected.
2. Researcher examines the data, making themselves familiar with it.
3. The researcher identifies coding units (e.g. behavioural categories).
4. The data is analysed by applying the coding units.
5. A tally is made of the number of times a coding unit appears.

Question 3

What are strengths of content analysis?

Answer 3

-Can analyse a wide variety of forms of data, so insights into cultural trends and experiences can be understood.
-Turns qualitative data into quantitative data.
-No issue with consent due to data being in the public domain.

Question 4

What are weaknesses of content analysis?

Answer 4

-Identification of codes are subjective (decided by researcher), leading to subjective conclusions.
-The researcher can attribute intended motivations.

Question 5

How can reliability of content analysis be assessed (inter-rater reliability)?

Answer 5

1. Use a second researcher.
2. Analyse the data and code units separately, with 2 tallies.
3. Compare tallies, looking for a correlation between the two.
4. Accept a correlation coefficient of +0.8 and above.