Research methods

Content Analysis
Field Research

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 Plan

• Content analysis
– What is content?
– Content analysis techniques
– Strengths and weaknesses of content analysis
• Field research
– Topics suitable for field research
– Field research paradigms
– Strengths and weaknesses of field research
• Basic terms on the subject
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 Research methods

• Quantitative methods • Qualitative methods

– experimental method – Field studies
– Case Studies
– descriptive method
– ethnographic research
– Content analysis
– narrative research
– Operations research – ...
– ...

• Mixed methods

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Content Analysis

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 Definition
• Content analysis is a non-obtrusive research
method without affecting social behavior.
• “Content analysis is a research technique for the
objective, systematic and quantitative definition
of the clear / salient content of communication”
(as cited in Berelson, 1952, p. 18, Gökçe, 2006, p. 35)
– Objectivity
– Systematicity
– Quantitativeness
– Being obvious

Kaynak: Gökçe, 2006, s. 34-38

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 What is Content?
• “Content analysis is the technique of collecting and
analyzing text content”
• Content: “words, meanings, images, symbols,
thoughts, themes or any message that can be
communicated”
• Explicit or hidden content
• Text: “any type of written message that serves as a
medium of communication”
• Analysis of all types of printed, visual, electronic and
other documents containing recorded information
• Communication, sociology, literature, politics,
economy, psychology, history, anthropology, etc.
Kaynak: Neuman, 2006, s. 466

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 Implementation of Content Analysis

• Selection of the research question

• Sample selection
• Conceptualization and development of code
categories
• Data collecting
• Coding
• Description
• Evaluation
• Inference
• Interpretation
Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, 320-328; Bilgin, 2006, s. 11-15

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 Content Analysis Techniques
• Frequency analysis
• Category analysis
• Evaluative analysis
• Relationship analysis
• Other analyzes

Kaynak: Bilgin, 2006, s. 18-28

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Content Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
• Save time and money • Limited to review of
• Simple to redo some of the recorded
research if needed communication
• Allows to study processes • There are validity
that occur over a long issues
period of time
• The investigator rarely has
an effect on the subjects
he or she studies
(unobtrusive)
• Trustworthy
Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 330

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Field Research

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 Topics Suitable for Field Research
• Attitudes and behaviors, social processes that develop
over time are best understood in natural settings.
– Applications: Speaking, reading books, etc.
– Events: Divorce, crime, illness
– Encounters: People meeting and interacting
– Roles: Occupations, family roles
– Relationships: Friendships, mother-son relationship
– Groups: Small groups, teams, work/workgroups
– Organizations: Official organizations such as hospitals, schools
– Settlements: Small-scale “communities” such as villages,
neighborhoods
– Social worlds: Social entities with uncertain boundaries and
who they consist of (such as sports world, stock market)
– Lifestyles and subcultures: How do people adapt to groups such
as the "ruling class", the "urban lower class"? Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 287

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Special Cases of Qualitative Field Research

• Different roles of the observer

– Participant observation
• Participant? Observer? Both participant and observer?
– Responsiveness (observed people change their
behavior)
• Scientific – ethical issues
– Will the researcher pretend to be a “Martian” or a
“native” by deceiving the subjects?
• Relations with subjects
– Adopting the subjects' worldviews
– Helping subjects
Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 289-292

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 Field Research Paradigms
• Naturalism
– Objective social reality exists, can be
accurately observed and reported
• Ethnomethodology
– Discovery of implicit, unspoken, and
under-agreed assumptions
• Grounded theory
– Creating theories from patterns,
themes and common categories
discovered as a result of the analysis of
observational data
• Case study
– An in-depth examination of an
exemplary social phenomenon
• Extended case study method
• Using case study observations to
debunk and develop existing social
theories
• Institutional ethnography
• Using individuals' personal
experiences to reveal power
relationships and other
characteristics in the institutions
they work for
• Participatory action research
• The aim and processes of the
research be in control
Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 293-303
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 Preparation for Field Study
• Obtaining information on the subject
• Discussing the group you are going to
research with someone who knows
• Developing an identity for use with the
people to be surveyed
• Explaining the purpose of the research to
the group

Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 304-305

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 The Seven Stages of the Interview
1. Thematization
Clarifying the purpose and concepts to be explored
2. Design
Identifying the process to achieve the goal
3. Meeting
Conducting the interviews
4. Decoding (Transcribing)
Creating a written text from the interviews
5. Analyzing (Analyzing)
Determining the relevance of data to purpose
6. Verification
Checking the reliability and validity of the data
7. Reporting
Disclosure of findings Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 308

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 Focus Groups
• Interviewing a group of subjects in a
laboratory setting
Advantages Disadvantages
• A socially oriented • In group interviews, the
research method researcher has less control
• Flexible • Data is difficult to analyze
• Moderators must have special
• High face validity skills
• Quick results can be • groups can be different
obtained • Difficult to assemble groups
• low cost • Discussion should take place in
a fertile environment

Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 308-309

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 Note-Taking Principles
• Don't rely on your memory
– Take notes during the interview
• Take notes during stages
– Take draft notes while in the field, rewrite them
later and fill in the details
• Save everything
– Things that don't seem important at the time of the
interview may become important later on.
• Know that the notes you keep in the field will
not be included in the final project

Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 309-312

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Research Ethics in Qualitative Field Research
• Recording people's conversations without notice
• Obtaining information for your own purposes from people
you hate
• Seeing the need for urgent help but not being able to help
directly
• Being in a place or situation where you are not
wholeheartedly committed
• Being strategic in relationships with others
• Taking sides or avoiding taking sides in a divided situation
• Don't "pay" for the interview
• “Using” people to reach or better understand others

Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 312

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Strengths and Weaknesses of Field Research
Strengths
Allows for deeper understanding
Flexible – research can be
changed at any time
Inexpensive
Gives more valid results than
descriptive or empirical
research
Weaknesses
Qualitative method; not
suitable for statistical
descriptions of
audiences
As field research methods
are mostly personal,
there are potential
issues with reliability
Kaynak: Babbie, 2007, s. 312-314
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Basic Terms

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• Content analysis
– Research based on recorded communication
documents
• Visible content
– Visible, surface content
• Confidential content
– The essential meaning of the content
• Encoding
– Process of converting raw data into standard
form
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• Naturalism
– Approaching field research with the assumption
that objective social reality exists and can be
observed and accurately reported.

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• Ethnomethodology
– The study of social life that focuses on
indirect, often unspoken assumptions and
agreements
• Ethnography
– Report on social life that focuses on detailed
and accurate description rather than
explanation.

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• Grounded theory
– Social life research that tries to create a
theory from the constant comparison of
observations with an inductive approach.

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• Case studies
– In-depth study of a social phenomenon such as a
village, family, or teenage gang
• Extended case study method
– The technique in which case studies are used to
find faults in social theories and to develop
these theories.

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• Institutional ethnography
– A research technique in which the personal
experiences of individuals working in
institutions are used to reveal power
relations and other characteristics of the
institution.

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• Participatory action research
– An approach to social research that
advocates giving research subjects control
of the purpose and procedure of the
research. This approach was developed
against the idea that researchers are
superior to the people they study.

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• Qualitative interview
– A form of interview in which the
interviewer has a general plan between the
interviewee and the interviewer, but it is
not determined which questions will be
asked in which order and which words will
be used.

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• Focus group
– A group of people who come together to
discuss a specific topic in a room under the
guidance of a guide.

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This lecture presentation prepared by Prof. Dr. Yaşar
TONTA has been edited and used by us with his permission
dated 29.09.2021.

We thank him for the main framework and content of the

presentation.

www.acikders.org.tr 30