Purpose: To demonstrate and apply your knowledge regarding content analysis.

Instructions: There are two parts to this assignment (listed below). For each section, please provide complete answers to all of the questions. Clearly label your answers to each section.

Mechanics: All written work must be typed, double-spaced, and with one-inch margins. Please keep a copy of your report for your own records.

Due Date: This assignment is due at the beginning of class on TBA.  All late reports will be penalized by 10% for each and every day they are late.

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

1. Completion of all phases of the assignment.
2. Clear and organized presentation of findings.
3. Accurate application of course concepts.

Instructions: You are to read the following article on violence and children's television published in the Journal of Communication. You are to evaluate the methods used by addressing the following issues: 1) Describe the sampling technique used in this research. 2) Describe some of the variables and attributes used in this research. 3) Try to discern the type of coding scheme that was used in this research (manifest or latent). 4) Do you think the coding scheme used was reliable? Explain your reasoning – use evidence or lack of evidence from the article. 5) Describe some of the patterns identified using chi-square analysis. 6) Discuss how this article illustrates the strengths and weakness of doing a content analysis. 7) Based on your answers to the questions above and other concepts we’ve discussed in class, please evaluate the the overall quality of the research presented – what were the strong and weak points of this work?  How much faith do you place in their claims - findings?  

Article: Wilson, B. J., Smith, S. L., Potter, W. J., Dunkel, D., Linz, D., Colvin, C. M., & Donnerstein, E.  (2002).  Violence in children's television programming:  Assessing the risks.  Journal of Communication, 52, 5-35.

Instructions: Using the data set provided below answer the following questions: 1) Calculate the multiple chi-square value for this data set. 2) Calculate the degrees of freedom and determine if the chi-square obtained is significant (at p < .05). Describe what this analysis means.

In this study, respondents were asked to read the following news article and then write a headline for the article. One group of respondents were African-America citizens. The other group of respondents were Caucasian Police Officers. The headlines were then coded in terms of truncation (failure to mention or identify) of the perpetrator of the attack.