content analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

● research technique that enables indirect study of behaviour

● by examining communications that people produce

● for example, in texts, email, TV, film and other media

Question 2

what are the aims of content analysis?

Answer 2

● to summarise and describe communications using quantitative data, so that overall conclusion can be made

Question 3

how do you conduct a content analysis?

Answer 3

● decide on pre-existing categories (codes) to look out for in media / communication

● tally each time a behaviour appears for a category

● draw conclusions from categories, which could involve comparing different groups

Question 4

how do you conduct a thematic analysis?

Answer 4

● analyse media / communication

● note emergent themes as they arise (likely to be more descriptive than coding categories)

● draw conclusions

● method is not about using pre-determined categories

Question 5

what are the strengths of content analysis?

Answer 5

● can ‘get around’ many of the ethical issues usually associated with psychological research

● many materials already exist within public domain, therefore there are fewer issues with obtaining permission

Question 6

what are the limitations of content analysis?

Answer 6

● people are studied indirectly, so communication they produce is usually analysed out of context within which it occurred

● therefore, could be a lack of objectivity, with researcher attributing opinions and motivations too speaker / writer that were not intended originally