Content analysis
If coders differed in their interpretations of the categories in the schedule, this could negatively affect the data’s:
Internal generalisability
Intra-interviewer reliability
Construct validity
Inter-coder reliability
Inter-coder reliability
As with any other “method”, there are disadvantages. The base documents may be deficient because they are not representative, because older documents might have been lost or destroyed, for example, or they may have been distorted. Analysis of web pages could suffer severely from this effect. Furthermore, it must be said that with the best will in the world, “it is almost impossible to devise coding manuals that do not entail some interpretation on the part of coders” (Bryman, p305). Critics of this method have pointed out that even when applying ‘objective’ schedules of codes, researchers draw upon their everyday, common sense knowledge to interpret the meaning of categories. This inconsistency can pose a threat to the inter-coder reliability of the data.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 305,306
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 305,306
Inter-coder reliability As with any other “method”, there are disadvantages. The base documents may be deficient because they are not representative, because older documents might have been lost or destroyed, for example, or they may have been distorted. Analysis of web pages could suffer severely from this effect. Furthermore, it must be said that with the best will in the world, “it is almost impossible to devise coding manuals that do not entail some interpretation on the part of coders” (Bryman, p305). Critics of this method have pointed out that even when applying ‘objective’ schedules of codes, researchers draw upon their everyday, common sense knowledge to interpret the meaning of categories. This inconsistency can pose a threat to the inter-coder reliability of the data.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 305,306
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 305,306
Related posts
Which of the following is not an example of a ‘unit of analysis’?A. Validity
B. significant actors
C. Words
D. subjects and themes
The data from each row in a coding schedule can be entered into a quantitative analysis computer program called:
A. Endnote
B. N-Vivo
C. Outlook
D. SPSS
Why did Warde sample food magazines from four different months in the year?
A. Because there weren’t enough food adverts in the first two magazines
B. To take into account any seasonal variation in the recipes included in the magazines
C. To find information from more than one form of mass media communication
D. Because he couldn’t decide which of the recipes were the most appetizing
The purpose of a coding manual is to:
A. Provide a form onto which the data can be entered
B. Provide researchers with instructions about how to code the data
C. List all the categories that have been omitted from the schedule
D. Test researchers’ knowledge of statistics
Which of the following could be subjected to a textual content analysis?
A. Interview transcripts
B. Newspaper articles
C. Song lyrics
D. All of the above
Quantitative content analysis is an approach that aims to:
A. Objectively and systematically measure the content of a text
B. Reach an interpretive understanding of social action
C. Engage in a critical dialogue about ethical issues in research
D. Provide a feminist alternative to ‘male-stream’ quantitative methods
Why might a researcher want to count the frequency of certain words in a text?
A. It increases the reliability of the coding measures
B. It is a good way of finding out about the journalist’s favourite words
C. Emotive words can be used excessively to provoke a moral panic
D. It shows which words are most common in the English language
Leave a Reply