Justification for using qualitative content analysis for this research

The content analysis method is employed in answering my research question as it enables me to have a rhetorical analysis of how past communicative relationship is impacting on the present by tracking and recording the development and the management of the crisis for contemporary and retrospective analysis. The use of content analysis in crisis communication is not new and has dominated any other data collection procedure in crisis communication research over the last two decades (Ha & Boynton, 2013).

Its root as a research tool is long established having spanned across a hybrid of disciplines from industrial crisis to cultural study, mass media communication of political, social interaction, electoral and even organisational advertising and has been credited to be the postulate for shaping the study of communication and its theory of media (Fibiger, 1981; Graneheim & Lundman, 2004; Siune, 1981:185; Titscher et al., 2000; Weber, 1990). It is also regarded as one of the early methodology for web analysis (Herring, 2010) and the vast possibility that the use of electronic application and social media in data gathering has even made the application

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of content analysis techniques more applicable and attractive to information management research in recent times (Amorosa & Eriksson, 2000)

The use of content analysis in research as earlier said is not new to social scientists as it was initially said to be used in examining the basic communication circle of messages contained in hymnals, Magazines and speeches from the sender to the receiver and later developed since the 19th _{century to include syntactic, syntagmatic, and pragmatic aspects of text (Harwood &}

Garry, 2003; White & Marsh, 2006) thereby providing an avenue for researchers to interpret the social context of the communication process with it spanning across various discipline. Another justification for the choice of content analysis over other data generation and analysis techniques is because of the advantage it proffers; a procedure that operates directly upon the text and transcripts of human communication in a non-disruptive manner. This is because the data used has not been subjected based on the assumption that both the sender and the receiver of the message (as of when the message was released) do not have prior knowledge that their communication process will be used for further analysis later on(Weber, 1990).

Content analysis method can be either quantitative or qualitative with one of the main differences between these two methods being that as the name suggests the quantitative content analysis follow a more positivist approaches while qualitative content analysis uses an inductive, humanistic process because it helps to identify old concepts and patterns (White & Marsh, 2006).

It however was not free from controversies as the quantitative content analysis approach, which is focused mainly on frequency analysis by using scientific quantitative methods to deal with the manifest of the message, was seen to be superior to the qualitative content analysis method because of its simplicity without any statistical processing thereby affecting its reliability and validity (Elo & Kyngas, 2007).To me, as a researcher, I argue that the qualitative content analysis is as valid as its quantitative process as it follows a procedure that can be repeated over time as required of a valid and reliable analysis.

The qualitative content analysis fulfils this reliability requirement that is a criteria for any research to be accepted as a valid research technique because, as it is demonstrated in the later part of this research process, that I followed and replicated a technique and procedure that is systematic and if repeated by a different researchers at different points in time using the same data and technique then they will have similar results even when the research is carried out

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under different circumstances as demanded (Holsti, 1968; Krippendorr, 2004: 18, 87-88). I was able to support this by repeating the same process that was used in the pilot study for the main study. Reliability entails the ability to be able to replicate a research process systematically by a different researcher and my research process can be replicated by others.

Another good advantage that the qualitative content analysis provides for this research is that it has been able to remove the restriction of using content analysis in just a quantitative manner, which follows a top-bottom research process with pre-defined research hypothesis and testing. Quality content analysis has now developed into a method that accommodates a bottom-up procedure that enable researchers to spread their tentacles and not be restricted to answering previously laid down research questions by early researchers, but follow a flexible yet systematic procedure which enables them, in the process of their analysis, to identify new or emerging characters, patterns and themes, when they analyse both the manifest and latent content of the message by taking into consideration the cause of the message and its effect on the receiver (Holsti, 1968; Krippendorr , 2004: 18, 87-88 ).

Since my philosophical stance is of the social constructivist paradigm that is flexible in understanding social phenomenon and social actors (instead of following a rigid hypothesis testing approach) in the crisis communication study which is still developing both in theory and practice, it enables me to capture any new emerging themes and concepts along the way. The qualitative content analysis is adopted as it is ideal for this study based on my philosophical position, research topic, and its ability to provide answers to the research questions of this thesis. This method enables me to achieve the aim of the study as I am able to analyse both the manifest and the latent content of the message, an opportunity that the quantitative content analysis is seen inadequate as it only follows a quantitative, objective and systematic process that groups them based on some set rules which are then summarized and compared (Berelson, 1952:18; Krippendorr, 2004: 18).

This method provides a platform to have a more holistic perspective of the messages used in managing the crisis and the interaction between the form and content of the letter in relation to how the audience digest the information. This provides what I need to be able to accomplish the goal of this research, an approach that helps to compare and identify the gap between theories, policies and practice (Bryman, 1989:197) which explains one of the reasons why it is regarded as an appropriate and fundamental research technique in the study of media analysis,

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crisis management and communication studies (Krippendorr 2004: 18; Lombard et al., 2006; Morgan, 1993; Riffe & Freitag, 1997).

However, the preferring of source of data gathering procedure through qualitative content analysis is furthered by the fact that this approach minimises the sensitivity and emotional trigger that comes when collecting data regarding a crisis, a critical component that can inflict further negative impact on the respondents. Retelling the story can make those affected by the crisis directly or indirectly have further negative impact from the crisis as the narration makes them go through feelings and memories that reminds them of the unpleasant occurrence. Since this research is based on the analyses of the use of social media in corporate crisis information management, some of these factors can affect the data that would have been collected through interviews as content analysis provides an opportunity to minimise some of the bias identified above by working with documents that were released in relation to the crisis through the various media in an independent and systematic manner.

The use of the qualitative content analysis is that it is a method that is used in areas where other research methods are generally insensitive or intrusive, some features that are evident in the complexity of crisis (Amorosa & Eriksson, 2000) as it provides an avenue to use and study the interaction and mechanism between a message and its social concept with the aim of answering the “who, what, whom, how and why” questions that is embedded in the information passed and received from both the sender and receiver’s perspective (Holsti 1969:24; Laswell, 1948:37) without actually contacting the crisis victims directly . For this thesis, I can explore the who, what, whom, how and why” questions and answers from both Malaysia Airlines and their stakeholder’s perspectives without contacting them for real time data directly through interview or questionnaire when they were experiencing the crisis and so the qualitative content analysis method is preferred also for ethical reasons.

Having explained the justification for the adoption of this methodology, it is pertinent to provide the definition that guided my definition and understanding of what content analysis is for this research.

The comprehensive definition of content analysis by Krippendorr (2004: 18-19) is adopted because it captures both the quantitative and qualitative descriptions in which he defines content analysis as a research technique that is used for making replicable and valid inferences from texts. However, the word ‘text’ in his definition should not be limited to written documents but includes work of art, images, maps, sounds, signs, symbols and numerical

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records, transcripts of interviews, discourses, protocols of observations, video tapes and documents (Mayring, 2014) which supports the type of data collected and used for this research as analysis will not be restricted to written documents only but all other ‘text’ in relation to the research timeframe window.

As I earlier noted that the field of crisis communication and management is still an emerging and evolving discipline that needs more structure (Mitroff et al, 2004; Roux-Dufort, 2007), the possibility of a “Hermeneutic loop” makes this research technique to be a good fit for my research as it enables me to explore, question and capture diverse opinions that are exhibited as we all view and manage crisis differently. Secondly, it gives the flexibility to explore the information regarding the crisis that is being studied as it has been established that content analysis provides a mechanism to explore and understand the language, expression and information process (Kassagian, 1977).