content analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

• studying people indirectly through qualitative data
• helpful when conducting research that may be considered unethical - any data already available can be analysed as explicit consent isn’t needed

Question 2

coding

Answer 2

• helps reach conclusions about extensive qualitative data
• developing categories for data to be classified

Question 3

process of content analysis

Answer 3

1. select article
2. read the article and highlight anything of importance
3. categorise each extract based on what it contains
4. repeat for each article
5. categories are reviewed to see if any need adapting
6. with the operationalized categories, tally the occurrence of each behaviour in the articles
7. the quantitative data can now be analysed statistically

Question 4

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 4

• identifies themes in qualitative data
• themes can be explicit or implicit
• will produce more refined qualitative data

Question 5

process of thematic analysis

Answer 5

1. repeat steps 1-3 of content analysis
2. identify if any categories can be linked
3. identify aspects of the data that fit with each theme
4. critically review themes that emerge
5. repeat for each article
6. draw qualitative comparisons between major and minor themes

Question 6

evaluate content and thematic analysis

Answer 6

+ high ecological validity. based on conclusions from observations of real-life behaviour. since records of sources remain, replication can occur

– content analysis can produce subjective findings, may interpret something differently than intended due to their own preconceptions/ biases. cultural differences may cause inconsistencies if language may be translated and misinterpreted. so the validity of findings is questioned