content analysis and thematic analysis Flashcards
what is content analysis?
an indirect observational method that is used to analyse human behaviour, investigating through studying human artefacts (things people make)
qualitative data that is coded into quantitative data
describe the process involved in content analysis
- decide a research question
- select a sample from qualitative data types e.g. books
- code data by sorting into categories/ coding units based on research questions - MUST OPERATIONALISE CODING UNITS
- read sample and tally no of times the categories appear
how can you test for reliability/ asses for consistency?
test-retest reliability - run content analysis again on same sample and compare both data sets
inter-rater reliability - 2nd rater performs content analysis with same data set and behavioural categories and compare both sets of data
how closely the two sets of data match is assessed with a test of correlation e.g. 0.8 or more shows reliable data
advantages of content analysis
+ high external validity and findings can be generalised to real-world situations since research is taken from real-world
+ easy to gather a sample, easy to find a sample and easy to replicate using same coding units
disadvantages of content analysis
- interpreting subjective text may lead to researcher/observer bias to support pre-existing ideas
- may lack validity since data is not created for research purposes so may not be a controlled experiment, it may not be accurate, it may contain inaccuracies
what is thematic analysis?
researchers start by attempting to identify the deeper meaning of the text by reading it first and allowing themes to emerge
process of thematic analysis
- read text first to spot patterns that can be coded and collected
- re-read text looking for emergent themes - THEMES ARE NOT PRE-DETERMINED BY RESEARCHER
advantages of thematic analysis
+ stops researcher from imposed their own bias onto analysis since themes emerge from text and are not pre-determined
+ high external validity, easy to get a sample, easy to replicate
disadvantages of thematic analysis
- subjective interpretation
- data not created in controlled conditions