Steps in Content Analysis and How to Conduct Them - Mass Media Research.pptx

In general, a content analysis is conducted in several discrete stages. Although the steps are listed here in sequence, they need not be followed in the order given.
In fact, the initial stages of analysis can easily be combined.
Nonetheless, the following steps may be used as a rough outline:

1. In general, a content analysis is conducted in several discrete stages. Although the steps are listed here in sequence, they need not be followed in the order given. In fact, the initial stages of analysis can easily be combined. Nonetheless, the following steps may be used as a rough outline: 10/14/2022 STEPS IN CONTENT ANALYSIS Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

2. 1. Formulate the research question or hypothesis. 2. Define the universe in question. 3. Select an appropriate sample from the population. 4. Select and define a unit of analysis. 5. Construct the categories of content to be analyzed. 6. Establish a quantification system. 7. Train coders and conduct a pilot study. 8. Code the content according to established definitions. 9. Analyze the collected data. 10. Draw conclusions and search for indications. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

3. One problem to avoid in content analysis is the syndrome of “ counting for the sake of counting .” The goal of the analysis must be clearly articulated to avoid aimless exercises in data collection that have little utility for mass media research. For example, after counting the punctuation marks used in the Dawn News and The Nation, one might make a statement such as “The Nation used 45% more commas but 23% fewer semicolons than the Dawn News.” The value of such information for mass media theory or policy making is dubious . Content analysis should not be conducted simply because the material exists and can be tabulated. 10/14/2022 Formulating a Research Question Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

4. As with other methods of mass media research, content analysis should be guided by well-formulated research questions or hypotheses. A basic review of the literature is a required step. The sources for hypotheses are the same as for other areas of media research. It is possible to generate a research question based on existing theory, prior research, or practical problems, or as a response to changing social conditions. For example, a research question might ask whether the growing acceptability of women rights has produced a change in the way women are depicted in TV shows in Pakistan. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

5. A content analysis might be conducted to determine whether news on a newspaper website differs from the news in the print edition of that same newspaper. Well-defined research questions or hypotheses lead to the development of accurate and sensitive content categories, which in turn helps to produce data that are more valuable. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

6. This stage of the content analysis process is not as flowery as it sounds. To “define the universe” is to specify the boundaries of the body of content to be considered, which requires an appropriate operational definition of the relevant population. If researchers are interested in analyzing the content of popular songs, they must define what is meant by a “popular song”: All songs listed in Billboard’s “Hot 100” chart? The top 50 songs? The top 10? They must also ask what time period will be considered: The past 6 months? This month only? A researcher who intends to study the image of minority groups on television must first define what the term television means. Does it include broadcast and cable networks? Pay television? DVDs? Is it evening programming, or does it also include daytime shows? Will the study examine news content or confine itself to dramatic offerings? 10/14/2022 Defining the Universe Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

7. Two dimensions are usually used to determine the appropriate universe for a content analysis—the topic area and the time period. The topic area should be logically consistent with the research question and related to the goals of the study. For example, if a researcher plans a study of news coverage of U.S. involvement in Iraq, should the sample period extend back to the early 1990s? Finally, the time period to be examined should be sufficiently long so that the phenomenon under study has enough time to occur. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

8. Statement This study considers TV commercials broadcast in prime time in the New York City area from September 1, 2008, to August 31, 2010. Or This study considers the news content on the front pages of the Washington Post and the New York Times, excluding Sundays, from January 1 to December 31 of the past year. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

9. Once the universe is defined, a sample is selected. Although many of the guidelines and procedures of the Sampling lecture are applicable here, the sampling of content involves some special considerations. On one hand, some analyses are concerned with a finite amount of data, and it may be possible to conduct a census of the content. A census of all television series that featured families from 1950 to 1989, a total of 497 different series. On the other hand, in the more typical situation, the researcher has such a vast amount of content available that a census is not practical. Thus, a sample must be selected. 10/14/2022 Selecting a Sample Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

10. Most content analysis in mass media involves multistage sampling. This process typically consists of two stages. a researcher interested in the changing portrayal of elderly people in magazine advertisements would first need to sample from among the thousands of publications available. In this instance, the researcher might select only the top 10, 15, or 25 mass-circulation magazines. A further possibility is to use the technique of stratified sampling. The magazine researcher might stratify by type of magazine: news, women’s interests, men’s interests, and so on. A researcher interested in television content might stratify by network or by program type. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

11. Once the sources have been identified, the second step is to select the dates. In many studies, the time period from which the issues are to be selected is determined by the goal of the project. Coverage of Imran’s Dharna after Javed Hashmi’s Hint of Empire’s Call. News content is not distributed randomly over the days of the week, such a simple random sample or systematic sampling will not be representative. Another technique for sampling edition dates is stratification by week of the month and by day of the week. A sampling rule that no more than two days from one week can be chosen is one way to ensure a balanced distribution across the month. Another procedure is to construct a composite week for each month in the sample. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

12. If an investigator is trying to describe the portrayal of Mexican Americans on prime-time television, several dates have to be sampled to ensure a representative analysis. If there is an interest in analyzing the geographic sources of news stories, a smaller number of dates is needed because almost every story is relevant. 68% of all the content analyses in Journalism Quarterly from 1971 to 1995 used a purposive sample. Which proves it to be famous technique in media studies. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

13. Another problem that can arise during the sampling phase is systematic bias in the content itself. For example, a study of the amount of sports news in a daily paper might yield inflated results if the sampling was done only in April, when three or more professional sports are simultaneously in season. Coverage about marriages and if the Muharram is selected as a month for sample, what will happen. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

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15. The next step in the content analysis process is to select the unit of analysis, which is the smallest element of a content analysis but also one of the most important. In written content, the unit of analysis might be a single word or symbol, a theme (a single assertion about one subject), or an entire article or story. In television and film analyses, units of analysis can be characters, acts, or entire programs. 10/14/2022 Selecting a Unit of Analysis Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

16. It is easier to determine the number of stories on the CBS Evening News that deal with international news than the number of acts of violence in a week of network television because a story is a more readily distinguishable unit of analysis. The beginning and ending of a news story are fairly easy to discern, but suppose that a researcher trying to catalog violent content is faced with a long fistfight among three characters? Is the whole sequence one act of violence, or is every blow considered an act? What if a fourth character joins in? Does it then become a different act? 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

17. Operational definitions of the unit of analysis should be clear-cut and thorough; the criteria for inclusion should be apparent and easily observed. A prior look into the sample may help in operationalizing the unit of analysis. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

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19. At the heart of any content analysis is the category system used to classify media content. There are two ways to go about establishing content categories. Emergent Coding It establishes categories after a preliminary examination of the data. The resulting category system is constructed based on common factors or themes that emerge from the data themselves. For example, Potter (2002) analyzed the content of FM radio stations’ websites and, after examining the frequency of various items, found that they clustered into four major categories: station contact variables, station information variables, news and information, and other. 10/14/2022 Constructing Content Categories Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

20. Priori coding It establishes the categories before the data are collected, based on some theoretical or conceptual rationale. In their study of media coverage of fundamentalist Christians, Kerr and Moy (2002) developed a 10-category system based on stereotypes that were reported in the American National Election Studies, and then they coded more than 2,000 newspaper articles into the 10 categories. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

21. To be serviceable, all category systems should be mutually exclusive, exhaustive, and reliable . A category system is mutually exclusive if a unit of analysis can be placed in one and only one category. If the researcher discovers that certain units fall simultaneously into two categories , then the definitions of those categories must be revised. An attempt to describe the types of programming on network television: (1) situation comedies, (2) children’s shows, (3) movies, (4) documentaries, (5) action/adventure programs, (6) quiz and talk shows, and (7) general drama. This list might look acceptable at first glance, but a program such as CSI: Miami raises questions. Does it belong in the action/adventure category or in the general drama category? Definitions must be highly specific to ensure accurate categorization. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

22. If one or two unusual instances are detected, they can be put into a category labeled “ other ” or “ miscellaneous .” (If too many items fall into this category, however, a reexamination of the original category definitions is called for; a study with 10% or more of its content in the “other” category is probably overlooking some relevant content characteristic). 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

23. The categorization system should also be reliable; that is, different coders should agree in the great majority of instances about the proper category for each unit of analysis. Intercoder reliability Pretesting the category system for reliability is highly recommended before researchers begin to process the main body of content. It will be discussed separately later. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

24. Researchers may face the question of how many categories to include in constructing category system. Generally, many researchers suggest that too many initial categories are preferable to too few, since it is usually easier to combine several categories than it is to subdivide a large one after the units have been coded items. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

25. Quantification in content analysis can involve all four of the levels of data measurement. At the nominal level, researchers simply count the frequency of occurrence of the units in each category. How many times a character wearing a dress which is not suitable to be seen by a child. In a study dealing with the images of women in commercials, each character might be rated by coders on several scales like these: Independent __:__:__:__:__ Dependent Dominant __:__:__:__:__ Submissive But it enters subjectivity into the picture and it could hinder reliability. 10/14/2022 Establishing a Quantification System Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

26. In the print media, column-inch measurements are used to analyze editorials, advertisements, and stories about particular events or phenomena. In television and radio, ratio-level measurements are made concerning time: the number of commercial minutes, the types of programs on the air, the amount of the program day devoted to programs of various types, and so on. Interval and ratio data permit the researcher to use some powerful statistical techniques. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

27. Protocol Sheet A sheet which is given to the coders to let them understand the categories’ operational definitions. Coding Sheet A coding sheet is a sheet which contains all the coding categories in which the coders are supposed to fit the data according to the protocol sheet. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

28. Placing a unit of analysis into a content category is called coding. It is the most time consuming and least glamorous part of a content analysis. Individuals who do the coding are called coders. The number of coders involved in a content analysis is typically small; a brief examination of a sampling of recent content analyses indicated that typically two to six coders are used. The researcher has vast grasp over his subject but the coders don’t. Arrange several sessions in which you could train them. These sessions are used to revise definitions, clarify category boundaries, and revamp coding sheets until the coders are comfortable with the materials and procedure. 10/14/2022 Train Coders And Doing a Pilot Study Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

29. Give the coding sheet to the coders. A pilot study should be conducted to chrck the intercoder (also known as Interrater) reliability. It is suggested that new coders (other than those who took part in formulatint the coding sheet) should be asked to do the honors. 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

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32. Percentages, means, modes, and medians, are appropriate for content analysis. If hypothesis tests are planned, then common inferential statistics (whereby results are generalized to the population) are acceptable. The chi-square test is the most commonly used because content analysis data tend to be nominal in form; however, if the data meet the requirements of interval or ratio levels, then a t-test, ANOVA, or Pearson’s r may be appropriate 10/14/2022 Analyzingthe data Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

33. If an investigator is testing specific hypotheses concerning the relationships between variables, the interpretation will be evident. If the study is descriptive, however, questions may arise about the meaning or importance of the results. a content analysis of children’s television programs reveals that 30% of the commercials are for snacks and candy. Fully or Only 30%? High number if compared with other demographic advertisements. 10/14/2022 Interpreting the results Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)

34. Lahore is given more coverage in newspapers than any other city of Punjab. Your are covering geographical area or nature of the crimes? 10/14/2022 Muhammad Awais (facebook.com/awwaiis)