Content Analysis
Lesley Jolly
ljolly@igpond.net.au
When to use content analysis
 When testing hypotheses
 When using textual data
 Texts may be written, images, movies
Sampling in content analysis
 Identify corpus of texts
 Everything available or selection?
 Often use purposive sampling
 May use extreme or ‘typical’ instances
 Identify units of analysis within text
 Use whole text when you want to see
whether or not something occurs
 Select chunks that reflect a theme when
you want to see how often something
occurs
Coding in content analysis
 Codes derive from theoretical
concepts
 e.g. resource allocation theory mentions
10 varieties of resource, use that list as
coding categories
 Must be exhaustive and mutually
exclusive
Intercoder reliability
 More than one coder checks that
constructs are shared
 Can be used to check coding
reliability over time
 Aim for Cohen’s kappa (k) of 0.70 or
higher
 k=
Observed – chance
_______________
1 - chance