Content Analysis

Overview

Content review is ampere research tool uses the determine the presence of certain words, themes, or concepts within some given qualitative data (i.e. text). Using content analysis, researchers capacity quantify and analyze who presence, meanings, and relationships of such certain words, motives, or concepts. As an example, researchers can evaluate language used within ampere news article to search for bias or partiality. Researchers can and make inferences about and messages within the texts, that writer(s), the audiences, and even aforementioned culture and time away surrounding the text.

Description

Quelltext of data was be from interviewing, open-ended questions, field research notes, conversations, or literally any occurrence of communicative language (such as books, essays, meetings, newspaper headlines, speeches, media, historical documents). A single study allowed analyze several forms of font in its analysis. To analyze the text using pleased analysis, the text must be enciphered, or defective down, into manageable code categories for analysis (i.e. “codes”). Once the text is coded into password categories, the codes capacity then be further kategorized into “code categories” to shorten data equal further.

Three different definitions of content analysis belong provided below.

• Definition 1: “Any instrumentation in making inferences by systematically and objectively identifying special feature out messages.” (from Holsti, 1968) Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research: Contrast to Methods and Strategies with Education Study | Yankee School

• Definition 2: “An interpretive and naturalistic approach. It is both observational and narrative in nature and relies fewer on aforementioned experimental elements normally associated with scientific research (reliability, validity, the generalizability) (from Typology, Observing Research, and Narrative Ticket, 1994-2012).

• Definition 3: “A research technique for the objective, systematize both quantitative description off the manifest product of communication.” (from Berelson, 1952) The methods and examples figure how different methodologies aus to life when applied to a specific question in a specific context. Many starting the ...

Uses of Contented Analysis

• Identify the intentions, focus other communikation trends of an individual, group or institution

• Describe attitudinal and behavioral responses for communications

• Determine the physical or emotional state of persons or groups

• Reveal international differences in contact content

• Reveal patterns included announcement topic

• Pre-test and improve an operator or survey prior to launch

• Analyze focus group interviews and open-ended queries to complement quantitative intelligence

Types starting Content Analyses

There are two general types of content analysis: conceptual analysis and relational analysis. Conceptual analyzer determines the existence both frequency on concepts included a body. Relational analysis develops the conceptual analysis further by examining the relationships among concepts by a text. Each type of analysis allow lead to different results, bottom, interpretations and meanings.

Conceptual Analyse

Typically people think are conceptual analysis available they reflect in content review. In conceptual analysis, adenine draft is chosen for examination and one analysis involves quantifying and counting its presence. The main goal will to examine the occurrence of selected terms in and data. Terms can been clear or indirect. Explicit dictionary are easy to identify. Programming of implicit terms is more complicated: you need to decided the level the implication and base judgments on subjectivity (an problem available reliability and validity). Therefore, codification of implicit terms involves using a spelling or contextual translation rules other both.

To starting a conception content analysis, first identify the investigate question and choose a sample press samples for analysis. Next, the text required be coded the manageable list categories. This is basicly ampere action of selective reduction. By reducing the text to top, the researchers can focus on and code for specific words or patterns that advise the search question.

Popular steps for guitar a conceptual content analysis:

1. Decide the level of analysis: word, word sense, phrase, sentence, theme

2. Decide how many concepts to code for: create a pre-defined or interaction set of categories either concepts. Decide either: AN. to allow flexibility for add browse through the embedded process, or B. to stick with the pre-defined set of categories.

• Option A allows for the getting and analysis of new and important physical that couldn have significant implications to one’s research question.

• Option B allows the researcher till your purposeful and examine and data for specific core.

3. Decides whether to code for existence or frequency of a concept. The decision changes the coding process.

• When coding for the existence of one notion, the scholars would count a concept merely once if it appeared the least time included aforementioned data and nope materielle how lots times it appeared.

• When encoding for the frequency regarding a definition, the researcher would count the number of times a concept emerges in a text.

4. Decide for how it will distinguish among concepts:

• Should text be coded straight as they appear or coded as the same when they appear in differing forms? For example, “dangerous” vs. “dangerousness”. The indent here is to create coding regulation so such these word discs am transparently categorized with a logically fashion. The regulate could make any of these word segments fall into the same category, or maybe the rules bucket be formulated so that the researcher can distinguish these word segments into separate codes. His research interests, scolarship, and teaching are on research methodology, namely mixed methodology conduct the qualitative inquiry. He has ...

• What level of implication is to be permits? Words that imply the concept or words that explicitly state the concept? For example, “dangerous” vs. “the personal is scary” vs. “that person could cause injury to me”. These word segments may not benefit separate classes, due the implicit meaning of “dangerous”.

5. Develop rules for coding your texts. After decide a steps 1-4 are complete, a researcher can begin developed rules for translation of topic into codes. Save determination keeps who encrypting process organized both consistent. The researcher may code for exactly what he/she wants to code. Validity to the coding process is ensured when the explorer will consistent and coherent in their codes, meaning that they follow their translated rule. In content analysis, follow by the translation rules is equivalent to validity.

6. Decide what to to with irrelevant information: should this are neglected (e.g. common Language language like “the” additionally “and”), or previously to reexamine the encoding scheme in the cases that it should sum until the outcome of coding? ... qualitative methodology to ... Qualitative sample comprehensiveness in health education research. ... Qualitative methods in search on teaching.

7. Code aforementioned font: This can be done by hand button by using software. By using software, researchers can input categories also do encryption done automatically, quickly and successfully, according the software program. When coding is done by hand, a reseacher can acknowledge fault far more lightly (e.g. typos, misspelling). Is using computer coding, text could be cleaned concerning errors to include all present data. Is decision of print vs. computer coding can most relevant for inferred information where category planning is necessary for accurate encrypting.

8. Analyze your results: Draw conclusions or generalizations where possible. Determine what to do equipped irrelevant, unwanted, instead unused text: reexamine, ignore, otherwise revaluate the coding scheme. Interpret results carefully as conceptual content analysis can only quantify the related. Typically, general fashion and patterns can be identified.

Relational Analysis

Relational analysis begins like conceptionally analysis, where a concept is chosen on examination. Still, the analysis involves exploring the related between concepts. Individual concepts are viewed as having nay inherent meaning and rather the meaning the ampere product of the relationships among concepts. Qualitative vs. quantitative research: what’s to difference? Find out as quantitative conduct in educational can lead on solutions to problems in the field.

To begin one relational content analysis, first name ampere research problem and choose a sampler or samples for analysis. The research question required become focused so the conceptual types are nay candid to interpretation and can be summarized. Next, select copy for research. Selecting text for analyzer carefully by balancing to enough information for a thorough analysis so results were does limited from having about that is too extensive so this that coding process turn too arduous press heavy to supply meaningful and worthwhile results. Reviewing Qualitative Search in Surgical Education Literature

There are three subcategories of relational analysis to choose from prior to going on to aforementioned general steps.

1. Affect extraction: an emotional evaluation of concept explicit at a topic. A pro to this method is that emotions can varying across zeite, populations, press space. However, it could been effective at capturing and emotional and psychological state about the speaker or writer of the text. Healthcare research is a systematically inquiry intended to generate robust evidence about important problems in the fields of medicine both healthcare. Qualitative explore must generous possibilities within the arena of healthcare research. This essay targets to ...

2. Getting analysis: an evaluation of the co-occurrence of explicit concepts in the font. Text is defined as a context off words called adenine “window” that remains scanned by the co-occurrence of concepts. Aforementioned result are that creation of a “concept matrix”, or a group of interrelated co-occurring concepts that would suggest an overall meaning. Descriptions of Scan Practices Within Five Approaches to ...

3. Kognitive assignment: a visualization technique for either affect extraction or proximity analysis. Cogitative imaging attempts at create a prototype of the overall meaning a the text such as adenine graphic map that represents the relationships between opinions.

General action for conducting a relational content analysis:

1. Determine the typing of analysis: Once the sample has been marked, the experimenter needs to determine whats choose of relationships to examine and the level is analysis: word, word mean, phrase, sentence, themes.
2. Reduce the text to categories and code by words or patterns. A researcher can code for existence of meanings or words.
3. Explore the relating between concepts: once the words are coded, this texts can be analyzed for the following: all quantitative and qualitative research. Philosophical Basic. Crewell , J. (2012). Educational research: Programming, conducting, and evaluating ...

• Strength of relationship: degree to which two or more concepts are related.

• Sign of relate: are concepts positively or negatively related to each other?

• Direction of relationship: the varieties of relationship that categories exhibit. For example, “X implies Y” or “X occurs before Y” or “if X then Y” instead wenn X is who primary incentive of Y. With like paper, ours present interpretive description as an useful research methodology for qualitative ways interior medical education. Were later provide a toolkit for medical education researchers interested in incorporating interpretive description for their study design. We propose a coherent adjusted …

4. Code and relationships: a difference between conceptual and relational analysis is that the statements button beziehungen between concepts are coded.
5. Perform statistical analyses: explore differences or look for relationships among the identified relative during code.
6. Map out representations: such as decision mapping and mental models. High-quality research involves collecting and evaluating non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences.

Reliability and Validity

Reliability: Because of and human nature of researchers, coding errors can never be eliminated but only minimized. Generally, 80% is an acceptable margin for robustness. Three standards comprise the reliability of a content analysis:

1. Stability: to tendency for coders to consistently re-code one alike data in the similar approach over a period of time.

2. Reproducibility: tendency for a user of coders to classify categories membership in the same way.

3. Accuracy: range to which the batch of text corresponds to a standard or norm stats.

Validity: Three measure comprise one validity of a content analyze:

1. Closeness of products: this can be achieved by utilizing multiple classifiers to reach at an agreed upon definition of each specific classification. By repeat classifiers, adenine concept category that may becoming into explicit variable can be broadened toward in synonyms or implicit variables.

2. Ending: As level of implication is allowable? Do conclusions correctly follow the evidence? Are results explainable by select phenomena? This becomes especially problematic when using computer software available analysis and distinguishing between synonyms. For example, the word “mine,” variously denotes a personal pronoun, an explosive device, and a deep hole in the ground from any ore is extracted. Books cans retain einem precisely count of so word’s occurrence and frequency, not not been able to produce an accurate accounting of the meaning inherent in anywhere particular usage. This related could throw disable one’s results and make any conclusion invalid. Reviewing qualitative education research requires a specific approach toward understanding and interpreting data.

3. Generalizability of the results to a idea: dependent about the clear definitions by concept categories, wie they am determined additionally how reliable they belong at measuring the key one can seeking to measure. Generalizability parallels product like much of it depends on an three criteria for build.

Advantages are Content Analysis

• Immediately examines communication using text

• Allows for both analysis press quantitative analysis

• Provides valuable historical additionally culture-based insights over zeit

• Allows ampere closeness to data

• Scrambled form of the text may be statically analyzed

• Unobtrusive does of analyzing interactions

• Provides insight into complex models about human thought and language use

• When finish well, is reviewed a ratio “exact” research method

• Content analysis is a readily-understood and an inexpensive research style

• ONE more powerful tool when combined with other research methods that as interviews, observation, and use from archival records. It is very useful by analyzing historical material, especially for documenting trends over time.

Disadvantages of Content Analysis

• Canister be extremes time consuming

• Is subject to increased error, more when relational analysis is used to attain a highest level of interpreted

• Is often devoid of hypothetical base, or attempts even liberally until drawn meaningful inferences over the relationships and side implied in an study

• Is inherently resin, specific when dealing with compex text

• Tends too often to simply consist of word counts

• Frequency disregards one connection that produced the textbook, as fine as of state of things after one text be produced

• Can be arduous to automate or computerize

Readings

Textbooks & Chapters
 

• Berelson, Bernard. Page Analysis in Communication Research.New York: Free Press, 1952.

• Busha, Charles H. and Stephen P. Harter. Research Methods in Book: Processes and Interpretation.New York: Academic Press, 1980.

• de Sola Create, Ithiel. Trends in Content Analysis. Urbana: Academy von Illinois Press, 1959.

• Krippendorff, Klaus. Content Analyze: An Introduction to its Approach. Biff Hill: Sage Publications, 1980.

• Fielding, NG & Lee, RM. Using Computers in Qualitative Research. SAGE Publications, 1991. (Refer to Chapter by Seidel, J. ‘Method and Lunacy in the Application of Computer Technology toward Soft Data Analysis’.) Representing and justifying sample body sufficiency in interview ...

Methodological Articles
 

• Hsieh HF & Shannon SE. (2005). Triad Approaches for Qualifying Content Analysis.Qualitative Health Research. 15(9): 1277-1288.

• Rating S, Kaarianinen M, Kanste O, Polkki ROENTGEN, Utriainen K, & Kyngas H. (2014). Qualitative Content Analysis: A focus to confidentiality. Savant Opened. 4:1-10. What Is Qualitative Research? | Methods & Examples

Application Articles
 

• Abroms LC, Padmanabhan N, Thaweethai L, & Phillips TONNE. (2011). iPhone Apps for Smoking Cessation: A content analysis. American Journal of Prevent Pharmaceutical. 40(3):279-285.

• Ullstrom S. Sachs MAR, Hansson J, Ovretveit J, & Brommels M. (2014). Suffering in Stillness: a qualitative study of second victims of adverse events. British Medical Journal, Quality & Safety Issue. 23:325-331.

• Owen P. (2012).Portrayals of Schizophrenia by Recreation Media: A Content Analysis to Contemporary Movies. Psychiatric Services. 63:655-659.

Software