DOCUMENT STUDY any written material that contain information about the phenomena we wish to study. primary documents vs. secondary documents primary -- eye-witness accounts, written for personal reasons such as, letters, diaries, suicide notes, autobiographies. secondary -- non-personal documents written for business or formal reasons such as files, agreements, contracts, record of events, biographies. Secondary analysis -- analysis of data gathered or created by another person.

types of documentary analysis basic distinction: unstructured and non-quantitative structured and quantitative personal documents (unstructured-qualitative) content analysis (structured-quantitative) historical analysis (unstructured-both qualitative and quantitative

personal documents: case study approach consists of construction of taxonomies to illustrate some theoretical point analysis of personal letters, photographs, films, diaries etc..

content analysis the goal is to take a verbal non-quantitative document and transform it into quantitative data. objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the content of a text. A survey that can be administered to a textual material

What do we mean by texts? Transcripts of communication Recordings of interactions (audio/video/textual) in a naturalistic settings Body movements, selection of words, eye-contact… A psychiatrist’s interview verbatims Conversations in a natural setting

To describe the content, structure and messages Formal features: pace of camera etc.. Substance characteristics: representation of ethnic minorities (over or under-representation) Example: analysis of prime time television for representation of african-americans (16% of population, however 50% representation in sitcoms) Race of perpetrator_____ type of crime

Evaluation of text against standards Examples: İs the text too hard to read for 12-year-olds? Does a song have the characteristics of a hit music? MusicXRAy ?

Explaining relations to other variables Example: The influence of ideological slant of a newspaper editors on coverage of candidates or political parties What makes an advertising successful? Content analysis measure ads’ appeals (humor, fear, logical argument); form attributes (color, size, layout); use of spokeperson Survey measured recall and evaluation of ads in terms of attractiveness and informativeness

examples Newspaper coverage of asylum seekers Türkiye’de Aile Planlaması kanunu ile ilgili meclis tutanakları Portrayal of poverty in TV series Portrayal of class in TV commercials Newspaper coverage on TOKİ…….

how do you do content analysis? To conduct a content analysis, the text is coded, or broken down, into manageable categories on a variety of levels--word, word sense, phrase, sentence, or theme--and then examined The results are then used to make make inferences about the messages within the text(s), the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which these are a part.

steps in content analysis draw samples define categories define recording unit define context unit define system of enumeration

Select and sample specific comm providers Draw samples: Select communication sources Magazines Newspapers Primetime news Select and sample specific comm providers Tv channles from which primetime news programs will be selected Sampling documents İssues, particular shows, episodes Sampling within documents Front page, all pages, every fifth episode

categories: should reflect the purpose of the research should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive should be independent recording unit (unit of analysis): - single word or symbol - the theme - the character - the sentence or paragraph - the item - location, place

In a study of utopic representation of technology in films any technological gadget can be a coding unit In study interested in representation of medical system in tv series doctors, hospitals, nurses can be coding units

Young Adult Literature and Censorship: A Content Analysis of Seventy-Eight Young Adult Books. The purpose of Horton's content analysis was to analyze a representative seventy-eight current young adult books to determine the extent to which they contain items which are objectionable to would-be censors. Seventy-eight books were identified which fit the criteria of popularity and literary quality. Each book was analyzed for, and tallied for occurrence of, six categories, including profanity, sex, violence, parent conflict, drugs and condoned bad behavior.

Gender portrayals in 2,209 network television commercials were content analyzed. To compare differences between three day parts, the sample was chosen from three time periods: daytime, evening prime time, and weekend afternoon sportscasts. The results indicate large and consistent differences in the way men and women are portrayed in these three day parts. Although ads in all day parts tended to portray men in stereotypical roles of authority and dominance, those on weekends tended to emphasize escape form home and family.

Gender in advertising May be more sexist than movies… Authoritative voice-over: 68% male, only 20% female Women were twice as likely to be shown as doing housework or child care, while men were twice as likely to be shown as doing work outside the home But at the same time femisnist discourses were co-opted by the advertising industry Freedom and liberation were offered by the manufacturers of sanitary products (kariyer de yaparim cocuk da…)

context unit: the context of the word within the larger unit systems of enumeration: - appears or not - frequency - amount of space given - strength or intensity

Historical research oral history document analysis Oral history can be defined as the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker. It often takes the form of eye-witness evidence about past events, but can include folklore, myths, songs and stories passed down over the years by word of mouth. While it is an invaluable way of preserving the knowledge and understanding of older people, it can also involve interviewing younger generations.

Oral history Oral historians generally prefer to ask open-ended questions and avoid leading questions that encourage people to say what they think the interviewer wants them to say. Some interviews are “life reviews,” conducted with those at the end of their careers, others are focused on a specific period in their lives, such as war veterans, or specific events, such as those with survivors of 17 Ağustod earthquake.

validity and reliability of document study: face validity elective survival problem authenticity criterion validity no possibility of comparison construct validity reliability: instrument reliability analyst reliability yet, though quantitative still subjective.

authenticity To sum up 4 criteria of reliability and validity : credibility (sincerity and accuracy) representativeness (survival and availability) meaning (literal and interpretive understanding)