Qualitative data can be seen as ‘of limited use’ because it is difficult to analyze This is why it is often converted into quantitative data using content analysis

Aims for today Content Analysis TypesDefinition Application Strengths and Weaknesses

The Definition - Content Analysis The method by which you take qualitative data and analyse it in order to draw conclusions.

How to do it w A representative sample of qualitative data is first selected – from interviews, or printed material or other media w Coding units are identified to analyse the data.eg. acts of violence or gender stereotypes. But each has to have operationalised definitions – e.g be specific about what is meant by an act of violence etc

Types of Content Analysis 1. Frequency Analysis 1. Frequency Analysis - the number of times certain words come up (e.g. number of times that ‘stress’comes up in day-time television) pick categories (e.g. hassles, major life events, work place stress) count frequency of occurrence for each category

How can we analyse the data? Are there any ways you can ‘chunk’ this evidence? Try to identify themes E.g Was having difficult relationships a common source of stress? Was it feeling overwhelmed by too many things to do at the same time?

Types of Content Analysis 2. Concordance Analysis - the number of times certain phrases come up. w e.g. “I’m so stressed I can’t cope” w “Holy guacamole I’m so stressed out”

Read transcript several times Identify emergent themes Order and organise themes into clusters Table of themes 3. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPS) Types of Content Analysis

And finally, the difficult one... Qualitative data Quantitative results

Once you have created quantitative data You can do a statistical analysis –this makes the data easier to present

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPS) Papa doesn’t like me to talk to the air Papa says people just talk to people Papa says I ought to talk to him What is the matter with you Category - Father’s disapproval “Well! You are welcome, too,’ Dibs exclaimed. “And now I will open the window so fresh air can come in.” (Opens Window) “Come in, air! Come on in and be with us.” (He grinned at me) “Papa doesn’t like me to talk to the air, but in here I will if I feel like it.” In here if you feel like it okay” I remarked. “Papa says people just talk to people. Papa says I ought to talk to him, but I don’t. I listen to him, but I don’t talk to him. No, often I do not answer him. It upsets him very much.” “Good morning” he says to me. I don’t look at him. I don’t answer him. “What is the matter with you” he says “I know you can talk” But I don’t say anything. I don’t look at him. He gets so upset!’ (Dibs laughs)

Evaluation What is good about doing a content analysis of a conversation rather than just doing a questionnaire or psychometric test? It allows us to explore Individual Differences It allows us to study emotions and motivation It can help establish what caused the behaviour We can study rare behaviours in detail It becomes easier to see patterns in the data, and easier to summarise and present. Statistical analysis can be carried out

Evaluation Why should we not use content analysis? Care is needed to avoid bias in defining coding units, or deciding which bits of information fit particular units. subjective Reliability - how one person views the data may be different from someone else, so consistency could be a problem Validity - the language/data source could be ambiguous and may be misinterpreted. Qualitative data has more detail which is lost when converted into numbers

Application What areas of environmental psychology might use content analysis in its research? Why?

For Example Took subjects from Western Australia Did an in-depth qualitative study Used content analysis to identify themes Results showed a wide range of feelings about changes in the environment, but overall there was a demonstrable relationship between environment and feelings of family and emotional regulation. The study by Rogan et al on the effect of changing environment on human experience. (2005)

POINT: The first advantage of using content analysis is being able to identify Individual Differences EXPLANATION: This is an advantage because using content analysis allows us to show that each individual feels differently about an issue which gives us greater insight into the situation we are researching EXAMPLE/EVIDENCE: For example, in the study by Rogan on the influence of environmental change on human experience, she found that different groups of people in the community felt differently about the impact of environmental degradation. Making it work for you

Summary Content Analysis Types of analysis Definition: The method by which you take qualitative data and analyse it in order to draw conclusions. Application Strengths and Weaknesses Frequency Concordance IPS Easier to see patterns Easier to analyse the data Open to bias Detail lost when qualitative data is Reduced to numbers Studies on human perception of environment (e.g. about architecture or environmental change).