content analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis? (2)

Answer 1

a technique for analysing data according to themes or categories

Question 2

5 steps of a content analysis

Answer 2

1) decide a research question
2) select a sample from a larger quantity of data
3) decide on categories/ coding units based on research question
4) read the data and tally the number of times pre determined catgegories appeared
5) analyse quantitative data to look for patterns

Question 3

the coding units should be ________ bc _______

Answer 3

coding units should be operationalised
clearly defined to reduce subjective interpretation

Question 4

2 ways of assessing the reliability of a content anaylsis

Answer 4

• test retest, run content analysis again on the same sample and compare the 2 sets of data
• inter rater reliability, a second rater performers the content analysis with the same set of data and same beh categories
• how closely the data sets match is tested with spearmans rho (correlation of 0.8 or stronger is usually accepted to show data is reliable

Question 5

strengths of content analysis

Answer 5

• artefacts arent made for the research but taken from real world so it has high external validity and generalisability to real world
• easily replicable using same beh categories and easy access to sample

Question 6

weakness of content analysis

Answer 6

• researcher often interprets subjective text leading to researcher bias, interpreting data in a way that supports their pre existing views
• data used hasnt been made for research purpose so may not have been created under controlled conditions red its validity

Question 7

what is thematic analysis

Answer 7

researchers identify deeper meanings of text first by reading it, allowing themes to emerge

Question 8

3 steps in performing thematic analysis

Answer 8

1) turn recordings into transcriptions
2) read them first to spot patterns that can be coded and collected
3) re read transcriptions looking for emerging themes

Question 9

main diff bet content and thematic analysis

Answer 9

in them categories arent pre determined but emerge from the text

Question 10

strength of thematic analysis

Answer 10

-high external val
- easy to get a sample
- easy to replicate
- theories come after discovering themes so stops researcher imposing their own bias

Question 11

weakness of thematic analysis

Answer 11

• subjective interpretation
• data not created in controlled conditions