Content analysis and discourse analysis are both techniques used to analyze written, spoken, or visual communication messages. Content analysis focuses on quantitatively analyzing the manifest or surface content of communication messages by categorizing words or phrases. The goal is to make objective inferences about the sender, message, or audience. Discourse analysis takes a more qualitative approach to analyze the structures and functions of written, spoken, or signed language beyond the sentence level by examining how social and cultural meanings and relationships are constructed through language within a specific context. While both are useful analytical tools, content analysis relies more on scientific methods and objectivity, while discourse analysis emphasizes interpretation and the subjective role of the researcher and context in constructing meaning.

1. Research Title
Content analysis
and
Discourse analysis

3. Multiple Definitions.
Essential purpose.
Goal of Content
analysis.
Uses of Content
analysis.
Advantages &
Disadvantages of Content
analysis.

4. Content
analysis
“A summarizing, quantitative analysis of
messages relying on scientific method and not
limited to types of variables measured or context
of messages.” (Neuendorf, 2002)
“...systematic reading of texts and symbolic
matter not necessarily from an author’s or user's
perspective” (Krippendorf, 2004, p. 3)

5. Content analysis
“...technique for objective, systematic, &
quantitative description of manifest content
communication” (Berelson, 1952, p. 18)
“...a research technique that uses a set of
procedures to make valid inferences from text.”
(Weber, 1990, p.9)

6. ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF
CONTENT ANALYSIS
 Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) what Channel
(with) What Effect?
(Lasswell, 1948)

7. GOALS OF CONTENT
ANALYSIS
To draw inferences about:
A text
To obtain documentary evidence about:
A sender
A message
A receiver (audience)

8. Uses of Content analysis
Content analysis used for examine how news,
drama, advertising, and entertainment content
of mass media reflect social and cultural
issues, values and phenomena.
Content analysis is well suited to being
combined with other research techniques such
as survey, participant observation and
audience ethnography.

9. Uses of Content analysis
It is a research tool used to determine the
presence of certain words or concepts within
texts or sets of texts.
Determine psychological or emotional state of
person or groups.
Describe attitudinal and behavioral responses
to communication.

10. Advantages of
Content Analysis
gets at the central aspect of social interaction
looking directly at communication via texts or
transcripts, and hence can allow for both
qualitative operations.
Provides valuable historical/cultural insights
over time through analysis of texts.
Provides insight into complex models of
human thought and language use.

11. Advantages of
Content Analysis
Non-field design/method
Can be carried out on existing content
Un-obstructive design
Many times the only available method
Can reveal macro-structure at minimum cost
and maximum convenience

12. Disadvantages of
Content Analysis
Tends to simply consist of word counts.
Often disregards the context of the text.
Is reductive, when dealing with complex texts.
Can be difficult to automate or computerize.

13. Disadvantages of
Content Analysis
Does not explain WHY of ‘content’
It’s descriptive and not explanatory
Restricted to available material only
Limited to literate or selected few
May become obsessed with numbers without
revealing insights

15. Multiple Definitions.
Approaches to
Discourse analysis.
Uses of Discourse
analysis.
Advantages &
Disadvantages of
Discourse analysis.

16. Discourse
analysis
Discourse analysis is generally an umbrella term
for the many traditions by which discourse may
be analyzed. It is a critique of cognitivism that
developed from the 1970s onwards, although it
has its roots in the ‘turn to language’ in the 1950s
(Woolgar, 1988).

17. Discourse analysis
Is the study of language in text and
conversation.
Is a general term for a number of approaches to
analyze written, vocal, or sign language use or
any significant semiotic event.
Discourse Analysis works with Utterances not
independent sentences.
Discourse Analysis involves real text not
invented, constructed and artificial text.

18. Approaches to
Discourse analysis

19. Uses of Discourse analysis
• Discourse analysis is the study of the ways in
which language is used in text and contexts,
developed in the 1970s, discourse analysis
“concerns itself with the use of language in a
running discourse, continued over a number of
sentences and involving the interaction of
speaker (or writer) and auditor (or reader) in a
specific situational context, and within a
framework of social and cultural conventions”
(M.H. Abrams and G.G. Harpham, A Glossary of
Literary Terms, 2005).

20. Uses of Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis is sometimes defined as the
analysis of language “beyond the sentence”.
Discourse analysis looks not only at the basic
level of what is said, but takes into
consideration the surrounding social and
historical contexts.
Discourse analysis is useful tool for studying
the political meanings that inform written and
spoken text.

21. Uses of Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis is used at the start of a
discussion to foreground the topic under
discussion and identify it as important to the
speaker.
Discourse analysis not only study language use
“beyond the sentence boundary” but also prefer
to analyze “naturally occurring” language use,
and not invented examples.

22. Advantages of
Discourse analysis
Discourse can be characterized as a way of
approaching and thinking about the problem.
Discourse analysis can provide a positive social
psychological critique of any phenomenon under the
gaze of the researcher.
Discourse analysis has a relevance and practical
application at any given time, in any given place, and
for any given people: discourse analysis is context
specific.

23. Advantages of
Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis may be used for a variety of
reasons.
Discourse analysis will enable to reveal the hidden
motivation behind a text or behind of research to
interpret that text.
Discourse analysis aims at allowing us to view the
problem from a higher stance and to gain a
comprehensive view of the problem.

24. Disadvantages of
Discourse analysis
One limitation of discourse analysis is that the array of
options available through the various traditions can
render issues of methodology problematic, as each
tradition has its own epistemological position, concepts,
procedures, and a particular understanding of discourse
and discourse analysis.
Discourse analysis doesn't provide a tangible answer to
problems based on scientific research.

25. Disadvantages of
Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis is nothing more than a
deconstructive reading and interpretation of problem
or text
Discourse analysis doesn’t provide absolute answers
to specific problem.
Once more, the disadvantages to discourse analysis
are specific to each tradition, but generally,
proponents of discourse analysis believe that meaning
is never fixed and so everything is always open to
interpretation and negotiation.

26. On your opinion
‫ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ‬
What is differences between Content
analysis and Discourse analysis ?

27. Differences between
Content analysis
And
Discourse analysis

28. Topic content discourse
ontology
Realist - assumes
that an independent
reality exists
Constructionist - assumes
that reality is socially
constructed
Epistemology
Meaning is fixed and
reflects reality in
ways that can be
ascertained through
the use of scientific
methods
Meaning is fluid and
constructs reality in ways
that can be posited
through the use of
interpretive methods
Data source
Textual content in
comparison to other
texts, for example
over time
Textual meaning, usually
in relation to other texts,
as well as practices of
production,
dissemination, and
consumption،

29. Topic content discourse
method Quantitative
Qualitative (although can
involve counting
Categories
Analytical
categories taken
for granted and
data allocated to
them
Exploration of how
participants actively
construct categories
Inductive /
Deductive
Deductive Inductive
Subjectivity/
Objectivity
Objective Subjective

30. Topic content discourse
Role of
context
Does not necessarily
link text to context
Can only understand texts
in discursive context
Reliability
Formal measures of
interceder reliability
are crucial for
measurement
purposes;
differences in
interpretation are
problematic and risk
nullifying any results
Formal measures of
reliability are not a factor
although coding is still
justified according to
academic norms;
differences in interpretation
are not a problem and may,
in fact, be a source of data

31. Topic content discourse
Validity
Validity is in the
form of accuracy
and precision i.e.,
demonstrating
that patterns in
the content of
texts are
accurately
measured and
reflect reality
Validity in the form of
“performativity” i.e.
demonstrating a plausible
case that patterns in the
meaning of texts are
constitutive of reality in
some way ..،
Reflexivity
Not necessarily
high - author
simply reports on
objective findings
Necessarily high - author
is part of the process
whereby meaning is
constructed.

33.  Radwa Hamdy Salah