What steps would be necessary to collect data in a content analysis?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The first step in content analysis is deciding what sample of materials to include in the analysis. This includes selecting materials germane to the researcher’s subject (in other words, choosing the appropriate sampling frame) and sampling the actual material to be analyzed from that sampling frame. The second task in any content analysis is to define the categories of content that are going to be measured. This process is in many respects the most important part of any content analysis because the researcher must measure the content in such a way that it relates to the research topic, and he or she must define this content so that the measures of it are both valid and reliable. The third task is to choose the recording unit (word, sentence, paragraph, document, etc.). Generally, if the recording unit is too small, each case will be unlikely to possess any of the content categories. If the recording unit is too large, however, it will be difficult to measure the single category of a content variable that it possesses (in other words, the case will possess multiple values of a given content variable). Finally, a researcher has to devise a system of enumeration for the content being coded. The presence or absence of a given content category can be measured or the “frequency with which the category appears,” or the “amount of space allotted to the category,” or the “strength or intensity with which the category is represented.” This question can be expanded by asking students to provide an example of how they would execute a content analysis using a substantive example.