content analysis and thematic analysis

Question 1

what is content analysis?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

describe the process involved in content analysis

Answer 2

1. decide a research question
2. select a sample from qualitative data types e.g. books
3. code data by sorting into categories/ coding units based on research questions - MUST OPERATIONALISE CODING UNITS
4. read sample and tally no of times the categories appear

Question 3

how can you test for reliability/ asses for consistency?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

advantages of content analysis

Answer 4

+ 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

Question 5

disadvantages of content analysis

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 6

researchers start by attempting to identify the deeper meaning of the text by reading it first and allowing themes to emerge

Question 7

process of thematic analysis

Answer 7

1. read text first to spot patterns that can be coded and collected
2. re-read text looking for emergent themes - THEMES ARE NOT PRE-DETERMINED BY RESEARCHER

Question 8

advantages of thematic analysis

Answer 8

+ 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

Question 9

disadvantages of thematic analysis

Answer 9

• subjective interpretation
• data not created in controlled conditions