DISSERTATION DOCUMENT ANALYSIS

5.4.1 Process

With respect to this dissertation policy research, primary documents consisted of all relevant directives pertaining to broadcast television and audiovisual media services. Preliminary analysis of both the content Directives revealed the relevance of directives also pertaining to the transmission of audiovisual media services across electronic networks (as discussed in the section 5.3.2, additional data [documents] can be collected at any time during the coding process). These directives were subsequently included. As a result, the primary documents were grouped into two general categories based on their overall orientation: content Directives, which focused on television and audiovisual media services programming content; technical Directives, which focused on the

TABLE 5.1: Documents analyzed by category

Initially, the research intended on analyzing all relevant EU Treaties and international agreements related to trade in audiovisual media services as primary documents. However, it was shown that the directives consistently and continuously referenced a few specific passages from the Treaty of Rome and other relevant EU treaties. Therefore, it was determined that in-depth analysis of EU treaties was not necessary as it would not add significant value to the research. The research study also initially included analyzing EU international trade agreements. However, as the research focused on EU regulatory policy, it was determined that international agreements was beyond the scope of this dissertation research.9,10

9 _{The research initially intended on analyzing secondary documents, which included preliminary research}

for EU audiovisual media policy directives, Commission tendered studies, Commission reports on

application of the content Directives and documents relating to international agreement disputes concerning audiovisual media services. However, after first round analysis of all primary documents and close readings of all secondary documents, it was determined that analysis of the secondary documents would not yield additional information beyond what could be gleaned from the primary documents. Instead, secondary documents were used as reference documents, especially within the last chapter of the dissertation research synthesizing research study findings.

CONTENT DIRECTIVES TECHNICAL DIRECTIVES

Television w/out Frontiers Directive (1989)

Transparency Directive (Jun 1998) Television w/out Frontiers Directive

(1997)

Transparency Directive (Jul 1998) Audiovisual Media Services w/out

Frontiers Directive (2007)

E-Commerce Directive (2000) Audiovisual Media Services Directive

(2010)

Framework Directive (2002)

Access Directive (2002)

5.4.2 Coding

This policy research study used document analysis and the above outlined data analysis technique. The study implemented all phases of coding. Open coding of all initial primary documents (content Directives) consisted of first pass close reading of each individual content directive in chronological order in its entirety in paper form. Upon reading each passage, notations were made on the pages about the information in the passages, the focus of the passage, the content of the passage—in short, generating codes from the material. This served as the open round of coding.

As previously detailed, open round coding of the initially identified primary documents (content Directives) revealed the existence of other documents related to the transmission of audiovisual media services. Realizing the relevance of these documents to the research, these documents were added to the research study as primary documents and labeled as technical Directives. Due to the evolution of regulatory policy, it was important to work with the documents in chronological order to gain an understanding of how the directives developed and responded to technological changes that affected both content and transmission of audiovisual media. Open coding was first conducted on all content Directives and then on the technical Directives in chronological order. A total of 696 codes were generated from the open coding round of the documents. Open coding began on the secondary documents upon completing open coding on primary

documents.11

11

Due to page length, all secondary documents were read in electronic form using an e-reader purchased specifically for the task. Open coding was conducted electronically for these secondary documents: passages were highlighted and coding notes were made using the e-reader. Coding notes were downloaded and saved as text files. As open coding of secondary documents progressed, three-fourths of the way through, two things became apparent: 1) that further analyses of these documents would not add more utility to the research study, and 2) full analysis of the 30 documents was beyond the scope of the research.

After completing the first round coding on all primary documents, generated codes were electronically uploaded into Atlas.ti 7, a qualitative data analysis software program. Also, a list of all codes, codes with corresponding passages (referred to as quotations within Atlas.ti 7) and all quotations were saved as Word documents for record keeping purposes. After this, the axial phase of coding began; the axial phase occurred in two stages. In the first stage, codes were refined as they were entered into Atlas.ti 7. Entering the coding information consisted of highlighting the coded passages and connecting each passage with its corresponding codes within the software program. Redundant codes were merged, passages without codes were coded, notes and memos (other capabilities of Atlas.ti 7) were developed. In the second stage of axial coding, a report for each code and all passages connected to that code was generated from the software program and printed on paper. Further systematic refinement of the codes began.

Any code with a frequency of 20 or greater was reassessed in order to move from overly detailed codes to encompassing categories that captured the overall themes and patterns in the data. This required going through each passage associated with the code and reassessing it in an attempt to find a higher level meaning of the text. Code

categories/families were created from this reassessment. Once reassessment of all codes and their corresponding passages was completed offline (on paper), the work was

mirrored within Atlas.ti 7. The code categories/families were created within the software program’s code family manager, placing the refined codes into the developed

corresponding code categories/families. Completion of the axial coding round yielded 33 code categories/ families, with each code category/family containing each related code.

Constructing categories provided a higher level view of the data, which uncovered broader themes within the directives. Specifically, after completing the axial coding round, three central, core themes began emerging from the data. Nonetheless,

methodological adherence required continuing with the selective coding round despite the clear emergence of these core thematic all-encompassing categories. For selective coding, any remaining orphan codes (codes without code categories/families) were reassessed and either merged with existing codes that were part of code categories/families or matched with an appropriate code category/family, or eliminated if further inspection deemed it was a redundant or inconsequential code (in relation to the research purpose). This consolidation yielded a total of 36 code categories/families: 33 from axial coding round and three generated from orphan codes between axial and selective coding. Further inspection revealed that two of these orphan codes were related to each other

(thematically speaking). Therefore, a singular code category/family was developed for them, yielding a total of 35 code categories/families.

Upon the completion of selective coding, fundamental core themes were

identified. These core themes were the same three previously recognized after completing the axial coding round. Key sub-themes were also identified. It was possible within the Atlas.ti 7 code family manager to develop thematic groupings of code categories/families in addition to code categories/families. This was done by combining thematically related codes into a specially developed code category/family specifically for data analysis purposes. A total of five sub-themes were identified; the corresponding codes were placed within the appropriate sub-theme code category/family grouping developed.

The research sought to understand how EU norms regarding culture and market harmonisation inform its audiovisual media regulatory policies, and analyze those policies through the lens of critical/cultural media and communications theoretical perspectives. Therefore, data analysis focused on the overarching thematic elements displayed within the directives, concentrating on how these norms were reflected by primary document group—content Directives vs. technical Directives. Document queries (code frequency occurrences) by code, code category/family grouping and thematic grouping were the primary analyses undertaken within Atlas.ti 7.

The rhetoric of audiovisual media cultural diversity within the EU, in conjunction with the normative value the EU places on cultural diversity, is also in conflict with another set of norms influencing policymaker: economic competition and market harmonisation. These competing norms, based upon neoliberal free market ideals influencing international trading regimes and trade policies, are more prevalent outside the EU but they are also part of its audiovisual media regulatory policy. 12 One question to consider is whether or not other norms have reached the tipping point among actors involved in EU audiovisual media policymaking, enough to move policy even more toward the economic end of the policy spectrum. This policy research study, which takes into account EU norms regarding culture and economics was undertaken in effort to answer this and other related questions. The following chapter (six) details the results of this policy research study, answering the three primary research questions outlined in the previous chapter (five) and providing other useful information gleaned from data

analysis.