Lecture 6: Qualitative Content Analysis Flashcards
Text as data
Data coding = structured, abstraction into data
Text analysis = indirect (on abstract data)
Text as text
Data coding = more flexible, no abstraction from text
Text analysis = direct interpretation of text
Philosophical perspectives towards qualitative content analysis
- Purist (interpretivist) perspective
- Neo-positivist perspective
- Dualist (pragmatist) perspective
Purist (interpretivist) perspective
- Quantitative and qualitative content analyses techniques are fundamentally different
- Reality can either be measured and quantified, or is socially constructed and depends on interpretation (remember: ontology and epistemology)
Neo-positivist perspective
- Quantitative and qualitative content analyses techniques can both be used following a positivist approach (same logic of inference)
- Critique: quantitative imperialism
Dualist (pragmatist) perspective
Both quantitative and qualitative content analysis have their strengths and weaknesses (aims for refinement of systematic techniques)
Three types of qualitative content analysis
Rhetorical analysis (delivery of a message)
Discourse analysis (ideas behind a mesage)
Narrative analysis (focus on the message)
Rhetorical analysis
Investigates that the author of a text is trying to achieve and the strategies employed to what end.
- style of writing, type of diction, tone, key words, icons
- focuses on the purpose and the rhetorical tools used in a text
Discourse analysis
Investigates the broader values norms, ideologies, and other contextual factors embedded in a particular set of documents.
- concerned with ideational foundations of texts
Narrative analysis
Investigates the content, origins, evolution, and impact of the message as a story about political life.
Processes of doing qualitative content analysis
Embedding of the material within the communicative context
- context of communication matters
- material is examined with regard to its origin and effect
Systematic, rule-bound procedure
- Rules of text analysis have to be laid out in advance
- Procedural model defines the individual steps of the analysis
- Definition of content-analytical units (theoretically founded approach to material)
Three approaches to content analysis
Conventional / inductive content analysis
Directed / deductive content analysis
Mixed-method / summative content analysisf
Conventional / inductive content analysis
Follows a process of inductive category development
Data usually collected through in-depth interviews
Directed / deductive content analysis
Follows the process of deductive category development
Frequency measures can be used after the qualitative content analysis was conducted (e.g. rank ordering of categories)
Mixed-method / summative content analysis
Follows the process of frequency analysis (e.g. dictionaries) combined with deductive category development
Data usually based on manuscript type texts (e.g. newspapers)
Quantification before qualitative content analysis part: inference of usage before latent meaning
Inductive coding frames and category formation
- Definition of the level or theme of categories (deductive element)
- Establishment of the abstraction level (conceptualization)
- First round of coding to determine inductive categories fitted to the theme under study
- Revision of the category system (e.g. tree diagrams are helpful)
- Final coding of material
- Analysis of material (in line with theories on the topic)
Deductive coding frames and category formation
- Determining the fundamental structuring dimensions of the coding frame (theory-based)
- Specification of subcategories
- Test coding to assess applicability of definition, anchors, and coding rules
- Coding of material (with potential inductive revisions of the coding frame)
- Analysis of material (in line with theories on the topic)
Mayring 2015, Fig. 13.1, p. 375
Trustworthiness in political science
Authenticity
Portability
Precision
Impartiality
Authenticity
Accurate reading or genuine interpertation of reality
internal / content validity (positivist view) vs. credibility (interpretivist view)
Portability
Contribution to knowledge accumulation
external validitation (positivist view) or transferability (interpretivist view)
Precision
Transparancy in the way analyses are conducted (accuracy)
reliability or inter-subjectivity (positivist view) vs. dependability (interpretivist view)
Impartiality
Concerns regarding researcher bias
objectivity (positivist) vs. confirmability (interpretivist)
How to assure trustworthiness
Triangulation = corroborating one’s findings with other sources
Intense exposure and thick description
Audit trails and discrepant evidence
