Quantitative Nonreactive Research

Question 1

What is nonreactive research?

Answer 1

Data collection methods that do not include collection of data from people who are aware they are being studied

Question 2

What is content analysis?

Answer 2

• Nonreactive technique for gathering and analyzing the content of text
• Involves random sampling, precise measurement, and operational definitions for abstract constructs
• Can reveal content in text but cannot interpret truthfulness/intentions of author

Question 3

What is text?

Answer 3

Symbolic meaning within a communication medium

Question 4

What is coding in terms of quantitative content analysis?

Answer 4

Process of converting symbolic meanings in text to numbers we can analyze with statistics

Question 5

What is content analysis useful for?

Answer 5

1. Problems involving large amount of text (eg. years of newspaper articles)
2. Topics that must be studied at a distance (eg. historical documents, foreign files)
3. Reveal messages in text that are difficult to see with causal observation

Question 6

What is structured observation?

Answer 6

A method of watching what is happening in a social setting that is highly organized and follows systematic rules for observation and documentation

Question 7

What are rules for structured observation?

Answer 7

• Increase reliability and replicability

- Explain how to categorize and classify observations

Question 8

What are categories for structured observation?

Answer 8

• What is being measured

- Should be mutually exclusive and exhaustive

Question 9

What are coding systems?

Answer 9

• Set of instructions or rules to explain how to systematically convert the symbolic content from text into quantitative data
• Depends on type of communication medium studied, and researcher’s unit of analysis (eg. word, theme, plot, character)

Question 10

Which 4 characteristics of text content do coding systems identify?

Answer 10

1. Frequency
2. Direction (positive or negative, supporting or opposed)
3. Intensity (power of message)
4. Size or space allocated to message

Question 11

What is manifest coding? Discuss reliability and validity.

Answer 11

• Researcher develops a list of specific words, phrases, or symbols and then finds them in a communication medium
• Reliable (descriptive rather than explanation; highlighting what is occurring without bias)
• Limited measurement validity (does not take meaning of word into account)

Question 12

What is coding frame?

Answer 12

• An exhaustive list of all the possible values that codes may take (synonyms)

Question 13

What is latent coding? Discuss reliability and validity.

Answer 13

• Researcher identifies subjective meaning such as general themes or motifs in a communication medium
• Coding system has general rules to guide interpretation of text
• Less reliable as it depends on coder’s knowledge of language and social meaning
• Validity may exceed that of manifest coding

Question 14

What is a recording sheet?

Answer 14

• A page on which a researcher writes down what is coded in content analysis
• Each unit should have a separate recording sheet

Question 15

What are the advantages of using existing statistics?

Answer 15

• Inexpensive
• Permits comparisons across groups and times
• Facilitates replication
• Permits asking about issues not thought of by original researchers

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of using existing statistics?

Answer 16

• Researcher may use secondary data not appropriate for research question; theoretical definitions may not match (reducing validity)
• Researcher lacks control over how info is collected (reducing measurement validity)
• Researcher may not be informed about data before using it
• Fallacy of misplaced concreteness: when a person uses too many digits in a quantitative measure in an attempt to create the impression that the data are accurate or the researcher is highly capable
• Researcher may commit ecological fallacy because statistics are published for aggregates, not individuals
• Missing or lost data
• Ethical concerns (privacy, confidentiality, did the original researcher follow ethics, are a bunch of studies using data collected from 1 study to reinforce a conclusion)

Question 17

What are nonreactive or unobtrusive measures? List types.

Answer 17

Measures are not intrusive so people don’t notice

1. Physical traces (eg. examining interest in different exhibits by noting worn tiles AS A PROXY on floor)
2. Archival/historical data
3. Observation
4. Publically available data (secondary research)