What are the sections of a psychological report? On your table, write down all the section of a report and detail what each section should include Page 11

Content Analysis

Objectives To be able to describe two different ways of analysing qualitative data. To be able to conduct a content analysis on data collected about psychopaths.

Question What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data? Outline advantages and disadvantages

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Data that focuses on numbers and frequencies which can be counted. Eg. Experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests. Data that describes meaning and experiences which is expressed in words Eg. Case studies, interviews and observations (although observations can produce quantitative data as well!)

Choose 5 words from this description of Quantitative data that will help you to remember and outline characteristics AO1 Quantitative data is expressed numerically. It usually involves data such as individual scores from Pps i.e. the number of words a Pp can accurately recall in a memory experiment. Such methods aim to produce results that can be easily compared and analysed such as being converted in to graphs. Quantitative data produces results that can go through statistical tests to see if they are significant.

Choose 5 words from this description of Qualitative data that will help you to remember and outline characteristics AO1 Qualitative data aims to produce results which are meaningful. It aims to produce data which is in a natural setting, to understand phenomena from the point of view of an individual, and to understand the meanings that people give to their experiences. Qualitative data is not just about “thoughts and feelings” though it is concerned with the interpretation of language from interviews, observations and other written formats

Participants’ reaction times on a driving simulator   Recollection of a traumatic childhood event An unstructured observation of students behaviour in the atrium during lunch break An ‘Attitude to Jeremy Corbyn’ questionnaire with a series of“yes/no” questions A questionnaire on the 2015 Rugby World Cup using open questions A record of a school bullying incident A tally chart of how many times Simon Cowell said ‘four yes’) A researcher categories the social behaviour of KFS students in to three types A recovering patient describes his experience of schizophrenia

Advantages Disadvantages Quantitative data Data can be analysed using statistical tests to see if the data was likely to occur by chance The data can be limiting and gives us little information of why a participant answered a certain way Qualitative data Data is in depth and detailed and gives us information about why a person feels a certain way Can be difficult and time consuming to analyse as cannot use statistical tests Subjective May lack reliability between researchers but this can be tested.

What is qualitative data? Qualitative data involves the in depth analysis of people’s experiences. Samples in qualitative data tend to be small and the data is a lot more detailed With qualitative data the research needs to become familiar with the data. Read over and over again For some analysis we need to consider pauses, intonations and hesitations.

Content analysis A technique for systematically summarising and describing any form of content-written, spoken or visual.

What is content analysis? Measures the number of times a behaviour or event occurs within one or several forms of media The process is similar to that of an observation although is indirect as you are not observing people directly.

Television programmes Content analysis can be done on any type of qualitative data Television programmes Diaries/letters Answers to open ended questions Magazines, Books Newspapers Interviews. Case studies Unstructured observations

Qualitative to Quantitative turn qualitative evidence in to quantitative. Quantitative content analysis involves categorising the information in some way in order to make comparisons between documents. (categorising and quantify events, thoughts or behaviours).

Content analysis The researcher will make three decisions. 1. Sampling method-what to use, for example choosing which channels to watch, for how long, what length of time. If analysing book content then do you look at every page, or say every fifth page? 2. Coding the data. What behavioural categories need to be used? For example, if a researcher was performing a content analysis from the diaries of someone with depression, they need to develop specific categories and tally each time they are reported in the diary. Decisions about behavioural categories may involve a thematic analysis 3. Method of representing data-Should the data be quantitative, so you count the number of times a person’s diary mentions feeling sad? Or should it be qualitative where you would describe themes so pull out descriptions of passages where the person says they have felt sad.

What happens in a content analysis? Sample: a content analysis is different from other research methods in that the sample is not a group of people. The sample will be the artefacts that are to be analysed. This needs to be representative. For example, if looking at objects noted in a dream diary, you would need a range of diaries from men and women. If you only used one gender then your sample would be biased, and you may not be able to generalise your results. Alternatively, you would need diaries over a period rather than just one night as this would again limit generalisability.

Everyday objects (pen, chair etc) Familiar faces in the dream Coding System: Similarly to an observation, the researcher has to create a coding system, which breaks down the information into categories. So for each dream, you may first identify the location of the dream and then tally other elements Alone in the dream Everyday objects (pen, chair etc) Familiar faces in the dream Celebrity in the dream Heights involved Beach / sea location Etc.....

Tallies Alone in dream beach forest No dream The researcher would then tally each time a particular behaviour is included. This is called a quantitative analysis. Dream analysis Tallies Alone in dream   beach forest No dream

An alternative to having a coding system like above is to do a qualitative analysis. This is where the researcher has discovered certain themes and chooses a particular example to illustrate this theme. Instead of counting the data, the relevant information is described (hence qualitative rather than quantitative).

Results: the researcher then looks at the data he has collected, and draws conclusions. For example, you may find that there are more dreams where the location was on a beach You can then link this to the idea of dreams represent places the individual feels calm and relaxed Your conclusion would be linked to the individual themselves as this is a dream analysis If it was linked to something such as gender stereotypes in adverts, you could conclude linking to theory… majority of adverts DO have gender stereotypes (man & cars, women & household products)..meaning more adverts should represent both genders with a variety of tasks

How do I do a content analysis? Decide what you’re research question is. Decide WHAT are going to analyse and how you will collect this? Decide how the content will be analysed or coded. Develop a list of CODING CATEGORIES. Pilot it. Make any changes needed. Take a sample & tally / count the number of times the categories occur. Check the reliability of the content analysis by correlating one researchers scores with anothers.

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Strengths and limitations Content analysis Strengths and limitations

Quantitative content analysis Strengths  You can make comparisons see patterns and trends Makes complex text easier to analyse. You can find meanings or biases at a glance You can repeat the analysis to test reliability Weaknesses  It can distort the truth. You will only find info on the categories you originally look for. This means you can easily create a bias Does not give context i.e. through analysis you can lose the original depth and detail See also Brain text book

Strengths and weaknesses of content analysis High ecological validity No chance of demand characteristics. Replicable Reliability can also be assessed using inter-observer reliability Observer bias Culture bias (Ethnocentric) We cannot draw cause and effect relationships

Exam focus A researcher used content analysis to investigate how the behaviour of young children changed when they started day care. He identified a group of nine-month-old children who were about to start day care. He asked the mother of each child to keep a diary recording her child’s behaviour every day for two weeks before and for two weeks after the child started day care. Explain how the researcher could have used content analysis to analyse what the mothers had written in their diaries.

Exam answer Content analysis is a way of analysing data such as text using codes and then developing these into themes. You would first create a list of categories (created from reading the diaries first or derived from conducting a thematic analysis). Examples of behaviours used for themes might be aggression or crying. Then you would read through the diaries and tally every time a specific behaviour occurs. Read through the data more than once to check that you have included all the behaviour. Finally, you would compare the behaviours before and after day care

Exam focus Explain what is meant by content analysis (2marks) Explain how observer bias might affect the findings of a content analysis (3 marks) Give one strength and one limitation of content analysis (2+2 marks)

Task: conducting a content analysis Steps you need to do: Choose an area of interest Develop a list of categories that could be measured / observed in the media Decide on the sample you need to study (e.g. a representative sample which will allow you to discuss the issue dreams). What sampling decisions do you have to consider?

Conducting a content analysis 4. Briefly describe your sources and how you sourced them. Remember to make this a fair representation. 5. Tally (count) the number of set behaviours that were used (based on your catergories) 6. Draw a visual representation of quantitative data. 7. Were there any qualitative comments that could be made? 8. Write up your findings and draw a conclusion. This is due in next week

Real life example … To understand what a content analysis is there are lots out there for you to look at: A content analysis was conducted by Dr Guy Cumberbatch and Sally Gauntlett on behalf of Ofcom into ‘Smoking, alcohol and drugs on television’ – this can be found on the Blog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0__d1QsR04 – a short video outlining a content analysis PHG pg 164 has the study that we are basing ours on PHG pg 64-65 has a lot of info ono content analysis… PLEASE READ AND MAKE NOTES

Possible Exam question Researchers were interested in children’s use of social networking sites, such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’. They asked children to write an essay about their use of social networking. In their essays, the children were asked to consider how often they used social networking sites, who they communicated with and the main topics discussed. There were 80 participants in the study: twenty children aged 13 –14 years from each of four different schools in the Birmingham area. There were equal numbers of boys and girls. Before the study began, the researchers devised a set of categories to be used to analyse the children’s essays. These included the following categories: number of social networking friends; daily use of sites; topics discussed. a.Briefly explain why this study is an example of content analysis. (2 marks) b.Explain how the psychologists might have carried out content analysis to analyse the essay about their use of social networking. (4 marks) 3. Briefly explain one strength of content analysis. (2 marks)

Thematic analysis This is a qualitative analytical method for organising, describing and interpreting data. It is a very lengthy process as is painstaking and each item is gone through repeatedly and with careful consideration.

THEMATIC ANALYSIS Thematic analysis is a way of SUMMARISING qualitative data. Unlike content analysis the information is not converted into quantitative data-it remains qualitative. The researcher looks for themes that reoccur in narratives and summarises the main themes using QUOTATIONS from the evidence as support.

How do I do a thematic analysis? The analysis of qualitative data often starts with collecting the data, and transcribing it (writing it out). The researcher familiarises themselves with it – reading it several times. Code the data, and put into categories. The researcher looks for recurring themes and patterns which run through and link the data. He provides examples to illustrate the themes. Writes a report.

Example-experience of school I’m always getting pushed and shoved by the other boys at school. They call me “the weed” and “Buttface”. Once they threatened to set me on fire. I can’t go anywhere without worrying about what will happen if they are there. Code-physical aggression Code putting down Code-Intimidation Category-Bullying (fighting, intimidating and putting people down). Overall Theme -Oppression

They make me feel completely powerless. I don’t feel able to stand up to them. They make me feel pathetic. I worry about what they will do to me. I hate myself. Code-powerless Code-self esteem Code-anxiety Category-Psychological torment (powerless, low self esteem & anxiety) Overall Theme- oppression

Evaluation: Thematic analysis Strengths Limitations