Analysing Journalism Research and the EIS Week 11
Aims To review the range of methods available To provide ideas for critical evaluation To focus on question construction
Quantitative and Qualitative methods Questionnaires Semi-structured Interviews Observation Content analysis Semiology Focus Groups Secondary and institutional research
Analysing texts: quantitative content analysis First used by the forerunner of the CIA to monitor Nazi speeches Rests on assumption frequency = significance Rooted in social science and positivist traditions Reality assumed to be observable on the surface of texts Content analysis will measure the frequency of certain ‘elements’ in texts or in other words…. Units of enumeration Words, headlines, themes, sources, pictures, Roles (in dramas), etc. … can all be counted.
Analysing texts: quantitative content Analysis Content analysis usually employs a coding schedule Like a questionnaire but applied to texts Example: Coding Schedule Crime News content analysis Paper ….. Date….. Position of story in paper: front page inside page back page Type of crime: murder, robbery, theft, assault, car crime, criminal damage, not bringing your library books back, etc. Sources quoted: senior police, police, public, victims, criminals, etc.
Coding Schedule Crime News content analysis Paper ….. Date….. Position of story in paper: front page inside page back page Type of crime: murder, robbery, theft, assault, car crime, criminal damage, not bringing your library books back, etc. Sources quoted: senior police, police, public, victims, criminals, etc.
A real example http://envirocom.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/appendix-4-content-analysis-coding-schedule.pdf
Critical evaluation Reveals quantitative patterns Effective for measuring change in patterns in texts over time Reliability? yes Validity ? Well that depends on the theoretical and methodological position adopted! Is everything important about a text countable? What might not be countable? The relationship between symbols (signs) and the effect of their combination
1931 Public Enemy It’s not how many acts of violence but the relationship between key scenes…. Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvak4Hiyy0o
Qualitative textual analysis Semiology Discourse analysis Genre analysis Narrative analysis Search for underlying relationships between elements in the text Meaning generated by structures below the surface of the text Not quantifiable
Critical evaluation Good for research questions that focus on ideology and processes of social construction in texts Reliability? Very dependent upon researcher’s interpretation therefore low Validity Well that depends …. See previous slides. Is it frequency or underlying meaning that is most crucial to the project?
Interviewing A range of strategies Structured interviewing More quantitative (like a questionnaire) with the same questions asked in exactly the same way in each interview Allows quantitative data to be generated More qualitative (like a conversation ) with more
Interviewing Semi or unstructured interviewing More qualitative (like a conversation ) with more flexibility about how questions are asked and answers given Each approach has advantages and disadvantages
Interviewing Structured interviewing higher in reliability (checkability) But may not allow interviews to really explain how they feel Semi-structured or unstructured interviewing gives interviewees the chance to explain in their own words more fully but is lower in reliability Interviewer Bias is a key issue for all interviewing
Question Formulation Getting the question right involves: Keeping it simple Making sure it is “do-able” Being clear about whether it is quantitative or qualitative Over to you!
Other possible methods Focus groups (group interviews) Documentary and library based research What methodologies might you use?