Content analysis and coding

• people studied indirectly

  Content analysis is a type of observational research. People are studied indirectly via the communications they have produced. This may include : spoken interaction, written interaction or examples in the media.
• Quantitative data

  Coding is the first stage of content analysis. Some data sets may be extremely large so information needs to be categorised into meaningful units. This may involve counting up the number of times a particular word or phrase appears in the text to produce quantitative data.
• Thematic analysis

  Thematic analysis is similar to content analysis but is more qualitative and aims to produce themes rather than something like word counts. These themes are more descriptive than the coding units.
• Evaluation : strengths

  1. Many ethical issues may not apply. The material to study may already be in the public domain. So there are no issues with obtaining consent.
  2. 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 research.
• Evaluation : limitation

  1. 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.
  2. 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. However, reflexivity is a method of addressing the lack of objectivity. Personal viewpoints are seen as an important part of the data collected.