Content Analysis

As Berelson (1971) explained, communication content provides meanings through symbols, including verbal, musical, pictorial, and gestural, all of which make up the form of

communication being presented. Since the content of the communication represents the way individuals communicate with one another, it is important for researchers to describe it with accuracy while interpreting it with insight. Berelson continued by stating that:

[c]ommunication content is so rich with human experience, and its causes and effects so varied, that no single system of substantive categories can be devised to describe it. However, a scientific method has been developed – and is being developed further – for describing various facets of communication content in summary fashion. That method is called content analysis. (1971, p. 13)

According to Krippendorff (2004), the term content analysis is more than 70 years old.

The term was included in Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language in 1961 and defined as

“analysis of the manifest and latent content of a body of communicated material (as a book or film) through classification, tabulation, and evaluation of its key symbols and themes in order to

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ascertain its meaning and probable effect” (p. xvii). As Krippendorf explained, content analysis is an empirically grounded method, with a process of exploration and intent on building

inferences. In addition, contemporary forms of the method move beyond the traditional ideas of symbols, contents, and intent as the concept of communication has evolved and the role of culture has assigned significance to different facets of communication.

As a research method, content analysis has traditionally been used within the

communications field but has increasingly been applied to other areas of scholarship as the study of messaging has grown (Mangenello & Blake, 2010). Throughout the last century, the method has expanded from studying mass media messaging to that from other sources, including education textbooks (e.g., Brantlinger, 2005; Táboas-Pais & Rey-Cao, 2012). Krippendorff (2004) discussed one of the earliest uses of content analysis with the quantitative study of

newspapers, published in 1893. The study illustrated how newspapers in New York had dropped coverage of specific story types (e.g., religion, science, and literature) and increased content in other areas (e.g., gossip, sports, and scandals) during the span of 1881 and 1893. Another study, published in 1910, analyzed how a daily New York newspaper focused on “‘demoralizing,’

‘unwholesome,’ and ‘trivial’ matters as opposed to ‘worthwhile’ news items” (Krippendorff, 2004, p. 5).

As a conceptual framework, content analysis can be defined as “a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (and other meaningful matter) to the context of their use” (Krippendorff, 2004, p. 18). The procedures for content analysis are specialized in that they can provide new insights and increase a researcher’s understanding of a specific

phenomenon. According to Krippendorff (2004), the techniques used should be reliable in that they are replicable, with “[r]eplicability being the most important form of reliability” (p. 18).

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Researchers have identified three kinds of definitions for the method: (1) content is inherent to the text being studied; (2) content is the property of the source of a text; and (3) content emerges in the process of analysis, relative to a specific text and its context.

Using content analysis, researchers can attempt to ascertain what publications are focusing on by analyzing aspects such as messages, keywords, frames, and overall content (Lopera & Moreno, 2013). This allows for the understanding of how information has been evaluated and characterized and if there is a specific reference point. In addition, studies have also attempted to understand the tone a specific message expresses (Young & Soroka, 2012).

Language and phrasing can alter the tone of a message, affecting readers as they process and judge the content they are consuming (Young & Soroka, 2012).

According to Conaway and Wordrope (2010), previous research using content analysis has looked for common areas of discussion, stylistic features with regards to writing, and cultural aspects imbedded in the content. Similarities and differences between content from and/or about various groups and individuals can be meaningful when attempting to understand the type of information that is being presented to specific audiences. These findings can help to further illustrate and explore why specific messages are used and how they facilitate various outcomes.

Keywords, used as linguistic tools (Carreon & Todd, 2013), are an area of consideration when looking to analyze content, both on a singular observation as well as performing content analysis across various documents. Keywords can help to highlight certain topics and sections, or minimize those same areas, depending on the importance that the author gives to them.

Major societal issues can be framed in different ways, leading to different types of discussions by all levels of society (Carreon & Todd, 2013). Understanding how frameworks position a news

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story in the minds of audience members may assist in analyzing why specific issues are framed differently (Carreon & Todd, 2013).

While content analysis may provide insight into the material being presented, it cannot illustrate the thought and processes of how the content was produced by those disseminating the information. For example, analyzing the content of newspaper articles will allow researchers to understand the messages included, but it will not illustrate the intentions of gatekeepers in producing and publishing said articles. Content analysis may not inform researchers on the information that the publication decided to omit and why, or its rationale for including the information it did publish.

In addition, content analysis will not be able to discuss and understand the effects of the messages that are included in the text. With newspapers, the method will not be able to analyze how audience members perceive the information and various stylistic elements that the

publication has included. Further qualitative research with interviews may be beneficial in understanding how the messages and frameworks found through content analysis were

determined and crafted by gatekeepers, as well as the way in which those elements are received and interpreted in the consumption by audience members.