Page 260 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 12: Content Analysis

integral role in the development of artificial intelligence. The following list (adapted from Berelson), Notes
offers more possibilities for the uses of content analysis:
• Reveal international differences in communication content
• Detect the existence of propaganda
• Identify the intentions, focus or communication trends of an individual, group or institution
• Describe attitudinal and behavioral responses to communications
• Determine psychological or emotional state of persons or groups

Self Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions:
1. ...... is a methodology in social science for studying the content of communication.
(a) Research (b) Precis (c) Content analysis.
2. ...... begins with identifying research questions and choosing a sample or samples.
(a) Conceptual analysis (b) Content analysis (c) Relational analysis.

12.3 Types of Content Analysis

There are two general categories of content analysis: conceptual analysis and relational analysis. Con-
ceptual analysis can be thought of as establishing the existence and frequency of concepts in a text.
Relational analysis builds on conceptual analysis by examining the relationships among concepts in
a text.

Conceptual Analysis

Traditionally, content analysis has most often been thought of in terms of conceptual analysis. In
conceptual analysis, a concept is chosen for examination and the number of its occurrences within the
text recorded. Because terms may be implicit as well as explicit, it is important to clearly define im-
plicit terms before the beginning of the counting process. To limit the subjectivity in the definitions of
concepts, specialized dictionaries are used.
As with most other research methods, conceptual analysis begins with identifying research questions
and choosing a sample or samples. Once chosen, the text must be coded into manageable content
categories. The process of coding is basically one of selective reduction, which is the central idea in
content analysis. By breaking down the contents of materials into meaningful and pertinent units of
information, certain characteristics of the message may be analyzed and interpreted.
An example of a conceptual analysis would be to examine a text and to code it for the existence of
certain words. In looking at this text, the research question might involve examining the number of
positive words used to describe an argument, as opposed to the number of negative words used to
describe a current status or opposing argument.
The researcher would be interested only in quantifying these words, not in examining how they are
related, which is a function of relational analysis. In conceptual analysis, the researcher simply
wants to examine presence with respect to his/her research question, i.e. whether there is a stronger
presence of positive or negative words used with respect to a specific argument or respective
arguments.

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