CONTENT ANALYSIS

 Content analysis is the systematic analysis of content of media / communication media.

It consists of analyzing the content of documentary materials like books, magazines, newspapers and the content matter of all other verbal material which can be either spoken or printed. Content analysis creates a detailed profile of the media content over a period of time.

The main aim of content analysis in media research is to examine how news, advertising and entertainment output reflect social and cultural issues, values and phenomena.

 

Types of Content Analysis

Two general categories – conceptual analysis and relational analysis

Conceptual Analysis – A concept is chosen for examination and the number of its occurrences with the text recorded. It is important to clearly define implicit terms at the beginning of the counting process because the terms may be implicit or explicit.

This analysis begins with identifying research questions and choosing a sample or samples. Then, the text must be coded into content categories. The process of coding is of selective reducing which is the central idea in content analysis. Some characteristics of the message may be analyzed and interpreted by breaking down the contents of materials into meaningful and pertinent units of information.

e.g. analyze a text and code it for the existence of certain words. How many times the words such as ‘hunger’, ‘Hungry’, ‘famished’, ‘starving’ appear in the text.

Relational analysis – It builds on conceptual analysis by examining the relationship among concepts in a text. One must first decide which concept type will be explored in the analysis.

e.g. in relational analysis we will identify what other words of phrases ‘hunger’ or ‘famished’ appear next to and then determine what different meanings emerge as a result of these groupings.

 

Uses of content analysis

Content analysis is used in large number of fields, ranging from marketing, media studies, literature, rhetoric, ethnography, cultural studies, social sciences, to other fields of research.

Content analysis has the potential to identify trends over long periods of time.

The studies are descriptive and can be sued to study societal change like the views and opinions of people.

It helps in testing the hypothesis.

It helps to verify the portrayal of certain groups, traits or characteristics in media against how they are in real life. This enables us to compare media presentations to the actual situations.

It can be used to focus on how media have depicted certain groups in society – e.g. depiction of the youth, or elderly people.

Detect the existence of propaganda.

Describe attitudinal and behavioral responses to communications.

Determine the psychological or emotional state of persons or groups.

It’s a starting point for further studies on the media.

 

Limitations of content analysis

Content analysis alone does not serve as a basis for making statements relating to the effects of media content on audiences. To make any kind of assertions, additional studies of the audience is required. By itself, content analysis cannot make claims relating to the effects of media.

The findings relating to content analysis are restricted to that particular study, as each study has a particular framework consisting of its specific definitions and categories used. Thus, due to such differences, there are different conclusions relating to specific studies.

There is a lack of messages which could be relevant as research topics. This is because many issues are not properly explored by the mass media.

Content analysis is a time consuming and expensive process of analysis.

 

In conclusion, content analysis is a popular technique in mass media research. A proper study of content analysis should be reliable, as well as yield results. Content analysis remains a favored research technique even today.