Overview of Content
Analysis
Harwood & Gary
Content Analysis: An Overview
Appropriate for analyzing patterns/ characteristics of messages conveyed through
language or communication
May be qualitative in developmental stages of research and quantitative to determine
the frequency of occurrence.
Analysis done through coding of related categories of data
◦ -based on research questions developed from past literature review
◦ -data units may be sentence,phrase,single word ,image, theme, character, item
Numerous applications :
auditing content against objectives
Constructing and applying communication standards
Identifying features of style
Identifying the characteristics of communicators
Determining psychological states of individuals or groups
Identifying international differences in communications
Determining cultural pattern
Revealing the focus of attention
Describing communication responses
Types of Content Analysis
Pragmatic Content Analysis : analyzing likely cause and effect
Semantic Content Analysis: analyzing meanings
Designation Analysis: frequency of reference to objects
Attribution Analysis: frequency of characterisations
Assertions Analysis: frequency of characterisations to certain objects
Sign-Vehicle Analysis: frequency of an actual utterance
Techniques of Content Analysis
Systems
◦ An entity that maintains its existence and functions as a whole through the
interaction of its parts
The essential constituents are
Components,relations,transformations
Analysis identifies past trends, patterns and differences which enhances
prediction.
Standards allow comparison of objects by identifying, evaluating and auditing the
content of communication.
◦ Evaluation is somewhat subjective
Indices
◦ Krippendorf(1980),McClelland(1958)
Linguistic Representations
◦ Lexical items with similar meanings in isolation,however,in the context of use may
have entirely different meanings.
Communications
◦ Interrelationships among subjects
Institutional Processes
◦ Organizational communications are governed by legal and professional directives
overlaid with macro and micro environmental influences.
Flow Chart of Content Analysis
Research Design
Reliability of Content Analysis
Stability
Reproducibility
Accuracy
Statistical Tests of Reliability:
- Coefficient of Agreement between Judges
- Spearman Rank Order Correlation
- Kendall’s Tau
- Cronbach’s Alpha
- Cohen’s Kappa
- Scott’s Pi
-Guetzkow (1950) process
Validity of Content Analysis
Internal Validity
External Validity :
- Construct Validity
- Hypothesis Validity
- Predictive Validity
- Semantic Validity
Operationalization of Content
Analysis
Manual recording
Manual analysis
Automatic Analysis : ACAMRIT (Automated Content Analysis of
Marketing Research Interview Transcripts), QSR NUDIST, BEST
SAS Text Miner
Pluralistic Approach
Sequential Analysis:
Time series
Log linear modelling
Lag sequential analysis
Grammar
Markov chain
Steps in Sequential Analysis
Selection of coding system
Interaction data coded as sequence of
behaviors
Test of reliability of codes
Sequence data converted into matrix
Analysis of between-group/over-time
questions
Benefits & Limitations of CA