Content Analysis

Submitted to
Ma’am Samia Rani
 Presented by
Binish Amin
Mayam Tariq
Tasmia
Fouzia
Andleeb
Khadijah
Ayesha
 Content
 Introduction
 History
 Why we use
 Types
 How we Conduct
 Advantages & Disadvantages
 Introduction
 The systematic examination
● Test and visuals (e.g., newspapers, magazines, speech
transcripts)
● Media (e.g., films, television episodes, Internet sites)
● Material culture (e.g., artifacts, commercial products) to
analyze their prominent manifest and latent meanings
Conti.
● Qualitative content analysis allows researchers to
understand social reality in a subjective, yet scientific
manner; explore the meanings underlying physical
messages; and is inductive, grounding the examination of
topics and themes, as well as inferences drawn from
them, in data • (Zhang & Wildenmuth, 2009)
Conti.
● Shannon (2005) defined qualitative content analysis as "a
research method for the subjectivist interpretation of text
and data through the systematic classification process of
coding and identifying themes or patterns" (p. 12).2.

● It is used to determine the presence of certain words,

concepts, themes, phrases, characters, or sentences within
texts or sets of texts and to quantify this presence in an
objective manner.
For instance
● Content Analysis can indicate features such as
comprehensiveness of coverage or the intentions, biases,
prejudices, and oversights of authors, publishers, as well
as all other persons responsible for the content of
materials.
Examples
 History
● The term 'Content Analysis' (CA) is around 80 years old.

● Gained popularity among social science scholars during

1960s.
● Its first reference can be traced to in Harold D. Laswell's
studies.
● It evolved as specific scientific method of study during
World War II when Harold D. Lasswell & his associates
conducted studies to evaluate enemy propaganda by
studying newspaper content..
Types of
Content Analysis
Fouzia Alam Sipra
 Types
1 2 3
Quantitative Qualitative Thematic

4 5 6
Comparative Sentiment Network

7
Interactive
Quantitative Content Analysis
● Numeric Representation
● It has a statistical approach, utilizing numerical data for
analyzing psychological content.
● Objective analysis, focused on observable and measurable
psychological elements.
● Example. Counting the frequency of specific keywords related
to anxiety in online forums to quantify the prevalence of
different anxiety-related concerns.
Qualitative Content Analysis
● In-depth Understanding
● Contextual interpretation, emphasizes understanding
psychological content within context.
● Subjective insights, allows for rich exploration of the depth
of psychological phenomena.
● Example. Analyzing open-ended responses in a survey
about coping mechanisms during stressful situations to gain
an understanding of individual experiences.
Thematic Analysis
● Identifying Themes and Patterns
● Uncovering recurring motifs, recognizing consistent
psychological themes.
● Extracting meaningful content, highlighting key psychological
elements for deeper understanding.
● Example. Examining narratives from therapy sessions to
identify recurring themes related to self-esteem and self-
perception in clients.
 Comparative Content Analysis
● Cross-Comparison of Psychological Content
● Analyzing variations, examining differences and similarities in psychological content.
● Identifying psychological patterns, unveiling consistent themes across different
psychological contexts.
● Example. Comparing the language used in online support groups for different mental
health conditions to identify commonalities and differences in the way individuals
express their experiences.
 Sentiment Analysis
● Evaluating Emotional Tone in Psychology
● Positive, negative or neutral. Assessing emotional tones in psychological
content.
● Applications in psychology research. Real-world examples of sentiment
analysis in psychological studies.
● Example. Analyzing social media posts to determine the sentiment
expressed by individuals discussing their experiences with therapy,
helping researchers understand public attitudes toward mental health
support.
 Network Analysis
● Analyzing Relationships and Connections in Psychology
● Mapping psychological interactions. Visualizing relationships and connections
within psychological content.
● Understanding psychological network structures. Exploring how psychological
content is interconnected.
● Example: Mapping connections between different concepts mentioned in
academic articles on PTSD to visualize the interconnected nature of trauma-
related research.
 Interactive Content Analysis
● Incorporating User Interaction
● Participant engagement. Involving participants in the analysis of
psychological content for dynamic insights.
● Real-time feedback analysis in psychological studies. Utilizing interactive
elements for immediate analysis.
● Example: Developing an online platform where participants can share
personal narratives about resilience and using real-time sentiment analysis to
explore emotional responses and provide immediate feedback.
Components of Content Analysis
There are 5 cruical components of content analysis

1) Identifying and Gathering Customer/Client’s Feedback

2) Categorization of Data
3) Interpretation and Analysis
4) Integration with Other Processes
5) Reporting and Follow-up
What are Goals/Objectives of Content
Analysis?
● The purpose of content analysis is to ‘read between the lines.’ It aims to determine answers
to questions where the text implies something and is not necessarily explicit.

● Content analysis is research that can analyze human communications, how people plan their
lives, what people know about something, and how people react to something.
Uses of Content Analysis
Content analysis can be applied to analyze any piece of content that is written or verbal. Content
analysis involves various fields such as politics, human behavior, marketing, literature, health,
psychology, and much more.

Example of the Uses of Content Analysis

A brand can discover emerging trends using content analysis. Content from
online conversations is obtained from various sources such as news, feedback, blogs,
tickets, online discussions, social media, and reviews.

Once the data is available, the data has to be sliced and diced using algorithms and proven
mathematical models. Topics, relationships, and tone intensities are analyzed to identify
patterns, correlations, and inferences at multiple levels.
Approaches to Content Analysis
Approaches to Content Analysis
1. Conventional Content Analysis
● It is also called inductive category development.
● This approach is used when the existing theory or research on any given subject is limited.
Here data is used as a source to arrive at categories rather than using any of the pre-existing
categories.
2. Directed Content Analysis
● Research is based on an existing theory.
● This approach of content analysis is used to validate or further analyze the already
existing theory.
This method can be done in two ways:
 One way is to start coding the data based on the predetermined codes from the earlier
approach.
 Another way is to review the existing codes and assign new codes for the text that
could not be categorized in the previous method.
Continue…
3. Summative Content Analysis
● Summative content analysis is a nonreactive method of studying the phenomenon of
interest.
● The study starts by searching for a particular text and counting the number of times it
appears and further tries to understand the fundamental context for using the words, either
explicitly or in indirect terms.
HOW TO
CONDUCT
CONTENT
ANALYSIS
Andleeb Rubab
46738
TERMINOLOGIES
There are few terminologies to know before doing its process.
● Condensation: Process of shortening text while preserving the core
meaning
● Code: It can be a thought of as a label, a name that most exactly
describes what this particular condensed meaning until is about. Just
one or two word.
● Category: Formed by grouping together the codes that are related to
each other through content or context.
● Theme: It can be seen as underlying meaning i.e. dormant content,
found in two or more categories.
PROCEDURE
Advantages of Content Analysis

Khadijah Aslam (47828)

Ayesha Shamoon ( 48816)
Mix Method:
● The content analysis uses both quantitative and qualitative methods. This mix increases
the significance of the results. It has both interpretive and descriptive aspects. These
aspects understand the latent meaning of data. Also, it provides a quantitative picture of
the data (Lindgren, 2020). This technique provides statistical data to understand the hidden
meaning of concepts.
Less Ethical Issues:
● The content analysis uses information that is already available. That’s why these analysis
techniques have fewer ethical issues than others. You are going to visit the offices and
places of the people. You are also not disturbing them during their office hours. Their
personal lives don’t affect their study. That’s why this kind of study has fewer ethical
problems.
Authenticity Of Data:
● The researcher uses communications texts. The probability of alteration in data is very
lower. Most of the content consists of formal information available on different platforms.
Thus, the data for the study is authentic and trustworthy. The authenticity of data is a
major advantage of content analysis.
Statistical Analysis:
● Content analysis allows the researcher to run statistical formulas on the codes.
The statistical analysis is usually run on the codes generated from qualitative
data. The statistical analysis increases the stance of the researchers. Statistical
analysis of the codes is only possible in it.
Inexpensive Methods:
● Content analysis is an inexpensive technique. The researchers don’t have to
spend much on travelling and other expenses. Most of the data is already
available. They don’t ask for research grants or research scholarships for
conducting research. It is a cost-effective technique in every manner.
Diverse Data:
● It has significant importance because it collects data from different sources. This diverse data
increases the authenticity and provides a wider perspective. It also helps in comparing and
documenting the trends over time. Content analysis of historical material also gives good
insights. Analysing diverse data with strong historical claims increases the authenticity of the
study.
Trend comparison:
● It helps in comparing and documenting trends over time, which is useful for
understanding historical developments
Quantification:
● Content analysis allows for the quantification of meaning in text, uncovering
terminology and frequency of occurrence among texts
Disadvantages of content Analysis
Time Taking:
● Content analysis deals with a large amount of diverse data. A large amount of diverse
data may consume a lot of time. Data collection from different sources also consumes
a lot of time. Time taking is the major drawback of it. Thus, novice researchers are
not encouraged to use this analysis technique.
More Chances Of Error:
● In content analysis, there are more chances of errors. When researchers conduct relational
content analysis, there is more probability of errors. Interpretation of relational content
analysis is not an easy task. The researchers make mistakes while doing it. Experience of many
years is required to conduct it. Experience researchers can also make errors in it. So there is
more probability of novice researchers making errors.
Subjective Approach:
● The content analysis uses a very liberal and subjective approach. Most of the time, researchers ignore
the theoretical basis of the study. They try to draw inferences on the basis of subjective information.
According to Graneheim (2017), a high level of subjectivity affects authenticity. Further, researchers
only consider the relationships shown in the literature that affects the analysis. Ignoring the theoretical
framework is not appreciable in the research. Besides considering subjective information, they must
also relate it to theories.
Reductive Approach:
● In content analysis, most of the researcher uses a reductive approach. They have been dealing with
complex data for a long time, so they want to simplify it. They also ignore a large amount of data for
adopting this reductive approach. It’s a hectic task to deal with a large amount of data. This tiredness
encourages researchers to adopt a reductive approach. In this approach, researchers lose a large
amount of data. It may also affect the results of the research. Most of the results of content analysis
are affected by this approach.
Disregards The Context:
● Most of the time, it works with data in a textual form. As a result, the researchers ignore the context of
the data. Understanding the context of the data is an important part of the research. The data’s context
helps researchers gain a clear understanding of the data. It also helps in understanding the patterns and
underlying meanings of it. Disregarding the context is the biggest drawback of content analysis.
Without considering the context, research may fail to meet its objectives.
Limited by available texts:
It is limited by the texts available for analysis, which may not cover
all relevant topics or perspectives
References
● https://books.google.com/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=07GYCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=introduction+of+content+a
nalysis+in+qualitative+research&ots=nqPJYfPTcx&sig=9c_QFPQOZWvi71x-
jLsYETiR9To