Application Activity:
Content Analysis
The purpose of this PowerPoint presentation
is to offer a more detailed assignment
description than I offer in class.
Some Ground Rules
• Don’t just print these slides out
indiscriminately—print to
DISC if you must print them.
• Go through this as a teaching
module—stop, when prompted,
to discuss or write with your
group when possible.
• Don’t assume that following
these tips guarantees an “A.”
Why are we doing this?!?
• Research methods are tools and order to
begin to appreciate them you have to do
something with them. In this case you are
trying out the tool of content analysis on
some bumper stickers so that you get a
sense of two things:
– When to use it
– How to do it
How can we do this
assignment well?
• Do serious “pretending.” (get into it)
• Discuss the method before you do the activity (the
book should inform your choices).
• Discuss the assignment description before you do
the activity.
• Focus on content analysis and avoid getting
sidetracked by variables and research questions
best suited for surveys or interviews.
What do we need to do . . . really
• Demonstrate that you understand the basics of the method
in your write up.
– Correct use of course vocabulary
– Discuss sampling procedure for how you got your 10 stickers
– Introduce 1-2 well-crafted research questions appropriate for a
hypothetical content analysis you could carry out if you had more
time and resources
– Pick ONE of those RQs and plan a content analysis study to
answer it.
– Clearly define new content variable(s) implied by your new RQ.
Create good coding sheet items for those variables and a sampling
strategy appropriate to your new RQ
– Conclude with some insights about what your group learned about
the research process (hint: cite our textbook here)
• Demonstrate mastery of APA style and formal writing.
Course Vocabulary
• When describing your
sampling procedure don’t just
say “random” without
understanding what that
implies. You won’t do a
random sample (trust me!),
so find the course vocabulary
that actually describes what
you did.
Course Vocabulary
• When you describe your
variables of interest tie
them back to the concerns
of content analysis
– Theme
– Space
– Trend, etc.
• Show me you are
“connecting the dots” of
our textbook with your
experience in this exercise
Sampling Procedure
• Let’s say you spend
part of the day at WalMart and part of the
day at the Chick-fil-a
drive through
collecting bumper
stickers. Is this a
random sample? Talk
it over, I’ll wait.
Is it random?
Sampling Procedure
• How did you get the stickers you actually
looked at?
• How would you get the stickers you are
interested in if you pursued your research
question?
• Hint: Take a look at sample procedures such
as cluster, convenience, purposive or known
group
1-2 Well-crafted Research
Questions
• This unit is on content
analysis so make sure that
the questions are
appropriate for this
method. One should be
descriptive and one should
be comparative.
• Hint: Make sure they focus
on message variables, not
the audience or driver.
What Does a Good RQ for Content
Analysis Look Like?
• Look at the research questions below and
decide if they would work well for content
analysis.
– How has the representation of racial groups
changed on daytime soap operas in the past ten
years?
– How does exposure to violence in video games
influence sibling interaction?
Good RQ?
• How does exposure to violence in video
games influence sibling interaction?
– This is an acceptable research question but not
for content analysis. Notice that we are
primarily interested in the sibling interaction.
We are not coding the video game but have
likely only determined that certain games will
be considered “violent” and others “nonviolent.”
Good RQ?
• How has the representation of racial groups
changed on daytime soap operas in the past
ten years?
– This is an acceptable question since it focuses
on describing TV content. We can numerically
code things such as racial membership,
occupation, time on screen, etc.
Application to Activity
• Be sure that your RQ
focuses on the content of
bumper stickers not the
driver.
• You could ask whether
female drivers typically
have more stickers than
males but the focus of the
coding would be on types of
message content of stickers.
How would you measure it?
• At the heart of this
assignment is the
challenge of
measurement.
• Basically I’m asking
you to figure out what
you would add to the
coding sheet I gave
you to pursue your
more specific RQ
Example
• Let’s say that after
collecting your sample
you decide the most
interesting issue to
you is “regional
pride.”
• How would you define
it so that we could
code it systematically?
Example: Regional Pride
• Here are some of my thoughts:
• Conceptual definition: Regional pride
stickers make specific references to
geographic regions or specific locations in
that region.
– Positive comments about region and affiliation
– Negative comments on “outsiders” or other
regions.
• Secondary research would help here!
Coding Regional Pride
Here are some possible items that could be added to the coding sheet.
• Primary Source of Pride
___South in general
___Other region in general
___ Specific location
___ Specific regional event
___ Other
• Primary Expression of Pride
___ Positive of region
___ Negative of other
___ Other
• Tone of Sticker
___ Humorous
___ Serious
___ Other
Application to Activity
It’s not part of the activity, but why
are these stickers in Celtics colors
instead of Red Sox colors?
• Your team should construct a
coding sheet for your
variables of interest just as I
have done and is shown in
the text. Show them exactly
as they would be laid out so
someone could take the sheet
and code more stickers.
• Be creative! You might want
to code things on 1-10 scale
or in other ways not
illustrated in my example.
Correct APA Style
• APA is the most common style guide
for formal writing in the social
sciences. Sorry, you have to learn it.
• That said, keep the guide handy and
follow it EXACTLY.
• I expect correct use of headings.
• I expect correct citations.
• I expect error free writing that has
been looked at by each team member
(and maybe the writing center if you
have the time and inclination).
Final Thoughts
• Do good work and have
fun doing it.
• Practice thinking and
talking like researchers.
It will help with the
probe and exams.
• Consider testing out
your coding sheet on a
few stickers to see if it
works.