content analysis and coding

• content analysis is a type of observational data. People are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced including spoken interaction (speech), written forms (texts/emails) and media (books/tv)
• coding it the first stage of content analysis. Some data sets may be large such as the transcripts of interviews so they information need to be categorised into meaningful units. This may involve counting up the number of times a particular word/phrase appears in the text to produce quantitive data
• thematic analysis is similar to content analysis but it is more qualitative and aims to produce themes which are more descriptive than coding units. For instance, people with mental health problems may be represented in newspapers as a 'threat to our children' or as a 'drain on the NHS'. Such themes may then be developed into broader categories, such as 'control' or 'stereotyping' of people with mental health problems
• strengths of thematic analysis:

  • many ethical issues may not apply- the material to study like TV adverts, films may already be in the public domain. So there are no issues with obtaining consent, for example
  • a flexible method- content analysis can produce both quantitative and qualitative data as required. This means it is a flexible approach that can be adapted to suit the aims of the research
• limitations of thematic analysis:

  • communication is studied out of context- the researcher may attribute motivations to the speaker or writer that were not intended. This is likely to reduce the validity of the conclusions drawn
  • may lack objectivity- content analysis may lack objectivity, especially when more descriptive forms of thematic analysis are used. Such bias may threaten the validity of the findings and conclusions