Intro to Research Methods
Course Project II

Content Analysis

Purpose: To demonstrate and apply your knowledge regarding content analysis. Again, several sample papers have been provided for you.

Assignment: Conduct a content analysis on one of the following mass media messages:

a. two hours of a television programming
b. a movie
c. issue of a magazine
d. daily news paper

Steps:

  1. Decide what you are going to look at (i.e., television programming, issues of magazine).
  2. Decide what you are going to look for -- what variable or variables are you going to use to describe the mass media message you have selected. You must select at least one variable, but no more than two variables that you are going to use to describe the content of a mass media message. The variable(s) you select, can have as many different levels as you feel is appropriate.
  3. Develop a coding scheme. Decide how many levels each variable needs to have. Define each level of the variable. Remember, when measuring your variables your levels must be exhaustive and exclusive. You will also have to decide whether to go with a manifest or latent content coding scheme.
  4. Code the content of the mass media message selected.
  5. Conduct a chi-square analysis to determine if the results you obtained were due to chance.
  6. Provide a possible interpretation of the results obtained (whether significant or not). In other words, describe what you found and why you think this happened.
  7. Write a report of what you did.  A good report will include as many course concepts as appropriate (e.g., sampling issues, discussion of level of measure used, pros and cons of content analysis, etc.).  This report should include the following sections.
  1. Description of the mass media message you decided to analyze. Discuss why you chose the message that you did.
  2. Description of the variables selected. Briefly talk about the variables you decided to use to describe the mass media selected. Discuss why you chose these variables and talk about other possible variables that could have been used to describe the same message.
  3. Discussion of the coding scheme. In detail, describe the coding scheme you used to classify messages. Describe each variable in detail. How many levels did each variable contain? How was each level defined? Discuss how the coding scheme is exhaustive and exclusive. Also discuss why you decided to use a manifest or latent coding scheme. Talk about the relative advantages and disadvantages of using each type of coding scheme (e.g., validity vs. reliability).
  4. Description of content coding. Explain exactly how observations were made. Also provide a table of the observations you made. Discuss any problems you encountered while coding the mass media message selected.
  5. Description of chi-square analysis. Describe the type of chi-square test performed (one sample or multiple sample) and include a copy of your analysis. Note: one sample and multiple sample answer different questions.
  6. Interpretation of the findings. Describe the results of your chi-square analysis. What did you find? Also discuss how you interpreted your results. That is, provide some possible interpretations that explain your results.
  7. Assessment of your work. Briefly discuss what you would do differently if you had the opportunity to conduct your content analysis over again.

Mechanics: Your report should be 4-5 pages in length (not including references). All reports must be typed, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins. Please keep a copy of your report for your own records.

Due Dates: Are listed in the Course Calendar. All late reports will be penalized by 10% for each and every day they are late.

Grading Criteria: Your reports will be graded according to the following criteria:

a. Completion of all phases of the assignment.
b. Clear and organized presentation of ideas.
c. Incorporation of ideas presented in course.