content analysis

content analysis can be carried out on what 2 types of material?

verbal and written

what type of research is a content analysis

indirect observation- not observing people directly, but observing the artefacts they produce

before the analysis, what needs to happen to the behaviour

must be operationalised

what is the sample in a content analysis

the artefacts being analysed

what is the sampling method in a content analysis

time or event sampling

how to carry out a content analysis (4) ADD EXAMPLES

decide which sample of material to select for analysis- e.g. which TV channel do i choose, how many. choose the sampling procedure- event or time sampling. develop a method of recording data- make a coding scheme, decide on behavioural categories, read through data to get idea of things it contains. carry out the content analysis- qualitative or quantitative.

what problem might occur if more than one researcher is carrying out the content analysis

it is possible that different observers may collect different data, because they may interpret the behavioural categories differently. this would lower the inter-rater reliability.

what could be done to ensure that the content analysis has high inter-rater reliability?

observers need to understand and agree on what constitutes each behavioural category. do this by: training using coding scheme, discuss behavioural categories and what they need to see to tick them off, pilot study on sample of artefacts, compare their answers and check if theyre in agreement

definition of content analysis

observational study, behaviour is observed indirectly in written or verbal material such as interviews, books, diaries or TV programmes. this may be quantitative, in which the frequency of particular behavioural categories are counted, or qualitative where examples of the behavioural categories are recorded.

evaluation: give 2 strengths of content anlyses

reliable- artefacts can be retained or accessed by others so the findings can be easily replicated. a strength because it means the findings will be seen as more scientific and credible if they can be repeated to check for reliability and verified

valid- high in ecological validity because it is based on observations of what people actually do through real artefacts such as newspaper articles. this is a strength because the results are a reflection of real life which is more useful than artificial artefacts being used

evaluation: one strength of content analyses: VALID

give 2 weaknesses of content analyses

unreliable- if the observers are not well trained on the coding scheme, they may interpret the behavioural categories differently and record different data. this is a weakness because it lowers the interrater reliability

not valid- observer bias may occur whereby the observers interpret the behavioural categories to fit their expectations. this is a weakness because the data would not be measuring what it intends to measure, reducing internal validity