This power point includes Definition ,the Focus of the Investigation ?,How to carry out a content analysis, Kinds of textual analysis , The advantages and disadvantages of content analysis.

1. H E L I N A W .
J U N , 2 0 2 3
Textual/content Analysis

2. Presentation outline
 Definition
 What is the Focus of the Investigation ?
 How to carry out a content analysis.
 Kinds of textual analysis
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of content
analysis?

3. Definition
 It is a research tool.
 help to analyze the actual content and its features of
any kind
 Word
 Picture
 Themes
 Text
 Concepts
 Phrases
 Characters
 Sentences
 Sometimes used to describe both quantitative and
qualitative approaches

4. Definition (cont…)
‘content analysis can be effective in qualitative
analysis—that "counts" of textual elements merely
provide a means for identifying, organizing, indexing,
and retrieving data.’
• Bruce L., Berg ,2001

5. Texts
 Books
 Book chapters
 News paper headlines and articles
 Essays
 Interviews
 Conversations
 Films
 Photo
 Historical documents
 Advertising
 Informal conversations
 Speeches
 Websites
 discussions

6. Focus of the Investigation
 identification and interpretation of a set of verbal or
nonverbal signs.

7. The Role of the Researcher
 the analyst of the selected text or texts
 there are an unlimited number of possible
interpretations of any given text
 only one of many possible valid interpretations of a
given text

8. Focus on Meaning
 Meaning is fundamental to textual analysis.
 Meaning can be examined from the side of
 the speaker ’ s intention
 the audience ’ s feedback
 the historical or cultural milieu in which the text was produced
 or the existing historical and cultural background in which the text
is experienced today

9. Where Do we Do Textual Analysis?
 wherever you find a text
 Any object or verbal or visual text that carries symbolic
meaning is a source for textual analysis
 a film
 a speech
 an advertisement
 A magazine
 a book
 a television show
 a statue or memorial
 a landscape
 or a music video
 news report
 are all texts that carry interpretive meaning

10. Kind of textual analysis
1/ Rhetorical perspective: persuasion and influence
 texts have meanings and meanings influence people
 we experience culture through texts.
2/ Critical studies perspective: texts as sites of power
struggle
 rooted in popular culture texts (e.g., films, television, music, etc.)
 are messages about who has power and who does not
 examine texts for evidence of overt and latent oppression,
stereotyping, and discrimination
 Texts often present one viewpoint, and that viewpoint often
constructs and reinforces the power of a particular group.

11. Kind of textual analysis(cont…)
3/ Discourse analytic perspective: detailed
analysis of conversations and stories
 the window to understanding a particular culture, a particular
social group, or a phenomenon is through the detailed analysis
of conversations and stories
 it is through communication that meanings are created and
sustained

12. Types of discourse analysis
 Conversation analysis :is the interpretation of a
naturally occurring conversation.
 Narrative analysis :is the analysis of naturally
occurring storytelling.
 how the story is structured and also what functions the story serves
 such as
 building community
 maintaining relationships
 or establishing group identity and values

13. What to Count
 Seven major elements in written messages can be
counted in content analysis:
 Words or terms: smallest element or unit
 Themes: useful unit to count/ a simple sentence, a string of words with a subject
and a predicate
 Characters:(persons) the number of times a specific person or persons
are mentioned
 Paragraphs
 Items: an entire book, a letter, speech, diary, newspaper, or even an in-
depth interview
 Concepts: words grouped together into conceptual clusters (ideas)
 Semantics: how strong or weak a word (or words) may be in relation to
the overall sentiment of the sentence

14. How to conduct a content Analysis
 start with a clear, direct research question
 Is there a difference in how the Ethiopian media represents younger
politicians compare to older ones in terms of credibility?
 may be based on existing written documents or
transcriptions of oral data
 five steps to follow

15. 1. Select the content to be analyzed
 The medium and genre
 newspapers, speeches or websites
 opinion pieces, political campaign speeches, or marketing copy
 The inclusion and exclusion criteria
 newspaper articles that mention a particular event, speeches by a
certain politician, or websites selling a specific type of product
 The parameters in terms of
 date range
 location
 year, etc.
 To illustrate: media representations of younger and older
politicians /news articles and opinion pieces in print
newspapers between 2017–2019. three major national
newspapers and sample only Monday and Friday editions

16. 2. Define the units and categories of analysis
 The unit(s) of meaning that will be coded.
• the frequency of individual words and phrases
• the characteristics of people who produced or appear in the texts
• the presence and positioning of images
• the treatment of themes and concepts
 The set of categories that you will use for coding.
 Objective characteristics
• aged 20-30, lawyer, parent
 Conceptual
• trustworthy, corrupt, conservative, family oriented

17. 3. Develop a set of rules for coding
 organizing the units of meaning into the previously
defined categories/conceptual categories/
 important if multiple researchers are involved
 recording the rules makes the method more
transparent and reliable

18. 4. Coding the text according to the rules
 go through each text and record all relevant data in
the appropriate categories
 done manually or aided with computer programs
 QSR Nvivo
 Atlas.ti
 Diction
 help speed up the process of counting and
categorizing words and phrases

19. 5. Analyze the result and draw conclusion
 the collected data is examined to find patterns and draw
conclusions in response to your research question
 use statistical analysis to find correlations or trends
 discuss interpretations of what the results mean
 make inferences about the creators, context and audience of
the texts.

20. Advantages
1. Virtually Unobtrusive
 You can analyze communication and social interaction without the
direct involvement of participants, so your presence as a researcher
doesn’t influence the results.
2. Transparent and replicable
• follows a systematic procedure that can easily be replicated by other
researchers
• yielding results with high reliability
3. Highly flexible/cost effective
• at any time
• in any location
• and at low cost – all you need is access to the appropriate sources
 no one needs to be interviewed
 no one needs to fill out lengthy questionnaires
 no one must enter a laboratory

21. Disadvantages
 Reductive
 Focusing on words or phrases in isolation can sometimes be overly
reductive, disregarding context, nuance, and ambiguous meanings.
 Subjective
 Content analysis almost always involves some level of subjective
interpretation, which can affect the reliability and validity of the
results and conclusions, leading to various types of research bias
and cognitive bias.
 Time intensive
 Manually coding large volumes of text is extremely time-
consuming, and it can be difficult to automate effectively.

22. Conclusion
 interpretation of a set of verbal or nonverbal signs
 A text can be :Books, Book chapters ,News paper
headlines and articles, Essays, Interviews,
Conversations
 It is also necessary, in the report of a textual analysis,
to provide a detailed description of the historical and
cultural context of the text
 at the time the text was created
 as well as the contemporary historical and cultural context in
which the text is being analyzed

23. Internet suggestion
1. Qualpage, a resource listing for qualitative researchers: http://www.
ualberta.ca / -jrnorris / qual.html
2. The Qualitative Research Page, a listing of relevant topics and resources:
http://www.oit.pdx.edu/~kerlinb/qualresearch/
3. The Qualitative Report, an online journal: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/
QR/index.html
4. The Institute of Sociology, Friedrich Schiller University, lists various
links to information on computer text analysis packages:http://www.
intext.de/TEXTANAE.HTM
5. The Social Science Information Gateway provides a listing of resources
for qualitative analysis including sites for information regarding
computer-based text analysis: http://sosig.esrc.bris.ac.uk/roads/
subject-listing /World / qualmeth.html

24. Thanks to my References
 Bruce L., Berg ,2001
 Luo, A. (2022, December 05). Content Analysis | Guide, Methods &
Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved January 21, 2023, from
https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/content-analysis/
 Vanderstoep & Johnson ,2009