CONTENT ANALYSIS

CONTENT ANALYSIS

Human beings communicate through language more than through symbols because language helps in conveying emotions, knowledge, opinions, attitudes and values. Written communications have increased the importance of print media because it is through writing that people are convinced, motivated and manipulated. But, besides the print media, television, radio, movies also communicate ideas, beliefs and values. The analysis of communication content-written and pictorial-has now become a methodological procedure for extracting data from a wide range of communications. The content analysis method therefore needs to be assessed as a research technique for objective and systematic description of that content of communication which is manifest.

WHAT IS CONTENT ANALYSIS?

Content analysis is a method of social research that aims at the analysis of the content-qualitative and/or quantitative-of documents, books, newspapers, magazines and other forms of written material. According to Berelson (1952:489), “content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication”. The word ‘communication’ here refers to “available written material or print media”. The word ‘manifest’ means “which is presented outwardly”. It thus excludes the ‘implied meaning’. According to Eckhardt and Ermann (1977), as a qualitative technique, content analysis is directed towards more subjective information such as attitudes, motives and values, while as a quantitative method, it is employed when determining the time frequency or duration of the event. In the latter context, it also makes inferences about conduct, intentions, ideologies, sentiments and values of individuals and groups.

The content (in content analysis) may be manifest or latent. The former refers to the visible actual parts of the text as manifested in the document, i.e., sentences, paragraphs, and so on. It involves counting frequencies of appearance of the research unit. The latter is the underlying or implied meaning conveyed. Here, the researcher reads between the lines and analyses the hidden meaning significant for the object of the study. Gardner (1975:597) describes it as “a research method for investigating problems in which the content of communication serves as a basis of inference”. At other stage, he (ibid:601) says: “Content analysis is a technique for making inferences by systematically and objectively identifying specified characteristics of messages (communications).”

RESEARCH EXAMPLES OF CONTENT ANALYSIS

One simple example could be of studying day-time TV serials (say, between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m) and finding out whether TV serials have a firm grip on middle-aged women and old men because they satisfy their psychological needs. It could also be by focusing on one specific serial (say ‘Aurat’ shown between 2.30 and 3.00 p.m. or ‘Ghar Ek Mandir’ shown between 3.00 and 3.30 p.m. by Sony channel for the last two years) and studying what sort of a woman (heroine) is depicted? What type of social life is shown, and what attitudes and values does this serial convey? Does it offer healthy mental food? Does it motivate for adopting new behavior patterns? Here, content analysis is simple but a laborious affair. The results of analysis may be given in qualitative terms as well as in a quantitative way by giving frequencies and percentages. Little or no attempt is made to relate one variable to another.

Another example of content analysis, done by some researchers during 1984, was that of violence against Sikhs as reported in newspapers and magazines. Recently, this method was used in analyzing caste massacres in Bihar during 1999 and 2000 as reported in print media. One sociologist had adopted this method in analyzing a particular movie in 1980s which had depicted cooperative dairy farming in Gujarat. Two scholars have recently used this method in studying the popular TV serial ‘Kaun Banega Karorpati’ relayed by Star channel since July 2000. A content analysis of children’s comic books was also undertaken in America a few decades ago.

Some examples of topics to be studied through content analysis are: communal riots, caste violence, nature and characteristics of violence and sex in movies and TV, advertisements in newspapers and on TV, court judgments or decision-making processes of judiciary (i.e., whether judgments are affected by evidence produced, background of criminal and victims involved, status of advocates pleading the cases, ideological positions of the magistrates and judges), custodial deaths, divorces through courts, articles and stories on marriages without the consent of parents, motivations given by product companies for the sale of their commodities (e.g., TVs, washing machines, mixies, etc.), reported dowry deaths, changing content of novels (sociology of literature), characteristics of folklore, lyrics of contemporary popular songs, and so on.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTENT ANALYSIS

Gardner (1975:598) has referred to four characteristics of content analysis as under:

(i)      Objectivity, i.e., carrying out analysis on the basis of explicitly formulated rules which will enable   two or more persons to obtain the same results from the same documents.

(ii)     Systematic, i.e., including and excluding the content or categories according to consistently applied          criteria of selection. This eliminates analysis in which only materials supporting the investigator’s     hypotheses are examined.

(iii)    Generality, i.e., findings must have theoretical relevance. Purely descriptive information about content          unrelated to other attributes of content or to the characteristics of the sender or recipient of the          communication is of little scientific value.

(iv)    Quantification, i.e., the answer of the questions(s) raised should be in quantitative terms (Lasswell,          Lerner and Pool, 1992). Some scholars (Kaplan and Goldsen, 1949:83) equate the term ‘quantitative’          with ‘numerical’, i.e., classifying content in precise numerical terms. This means that inferences must           be derived strictly from counts of ‘frequency’. It also means that information should be conveyed as            “40 per cent people or 40 out of 100 people had this opinion”, because it is more precise than the   statement “less than half or a large number of people had this opinion”. But others (Lazarsfeld and   Barton, 1951) say that ‘qualitativeness’ and ‘quantitativeness’ are not dichotomous attributes but fall           along a continuum, i.e., inferences are drawn from    combined frequency and non-frequency        techniques. Despite the advantages of quantitative methods,          the tendency to equate content analysis            with tabulation of frequencies has been criticized on a number of grounds:

(1)     The most important argument is that such a restriction leads to bias in the selection of problems to be          investigated. Undue emphasis is placed on precision at the cost of problem significance.

(2)     Other argument is that more meaningful inferences can be drawn by non-quantitative measures.       Qualitative analysis is more superior in the problems of applied social science.

(3)     The proponents of qualitative techniques also question the assumption (of the proponents of            quantitative techniques) that for purposes of inference, frequency of assertion is necessarily related to the importance of assumption. They (proponents of qualitative techniques) say that the single             appearance or omission of an attribute in a document may be of more significance than the relative          frequency of other characteristics.

(4)     Whether stated explicitly or not, even the most rigorously quantitative study uses qualitative            techniques at some stage in the research.

STEPS IN CONTENT ANALYSIS

According to Sarantakos (1998:280-81), content analysis involves the same steps as in other methods of research, namely, selection of the area of research, formulation of research topic, designing research, collecting data and analyzing data. The difference in content analysis and other methods lies only in the content’ of each step.

         In the selection of the research area, the topic can be one whose various aspects are discussed by the newspapers, magazines, books, TV serials, movies and the like, e.g., communal violence, match-fixing, police excesses at police stations, caste conflicts, violence in moves, and the like. Formulation of research topic involves explaining and operationalising the topic, selection of units, determining categories and formulating hypotheses. Research design aims at determining the size of sampling, method of collecting data and methods of checking reliability. Data collection involves counting frequencies, gathering information on the intensity of the units, determining significance of units and evaluating units and intensity of the statements. Lastly, the analysis and interpretation of data aims at giving inferences and conclusions.