Page 266 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 12: Content Analysis

Notes
Figure 12.2: Pairs of co-occurring words drawn from a source text

Bibliography
Writing
Choose

Topic Focus

Idea
Time
Information
Texts

Subject Knowledge

Research Logic

Reader Notes

Read Order

Process
Outline
Perspective Paper

Example of a Problematic Text for Content Analysis
In this example, both students observed a scientist and were asked to write about the experience.
Student A: I found that scientists engage in research in order to make discoveries and generate new
ideas. Such research by scientists is hard work and often involves collaboration with other scientists
which leads to discoveries which make the scientists famous. Such collaboration may be informal,
such as when they share new ideas over lunch, or formal, such as when they are co-authors of a
paper.
Student B: It was hard work to research famous scientists engaged in collaboration and I made
many informal discoveries. My research showed that scientists engaged in collaboration with other
scientists are co-authors of at least one paper containing their new ideas. Some scientists make
formal discoveries and have new ideas.
Content analysis coding for explicit concepts may not reveal any significant differences. For example,
the existence of “I, scientist, research, hard work, collaboration, discoveries, new ideas, etc...” are
explicit in both texts, occur the same number of times, and have the same emphasis. Relational
analysis or cognitive mapping, however, reveals that while all concepts in the text are shared, only
five concepts are common to both. Analyzing these statements reveals that Student A reports on
what “I” found out about “scientists,” and elaborated the notion of “scientists” doing “research.”
Student B focuses on what “I’s” research was and sees scientists as “making discoveries” without
emphasis on research.

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