SOC141 Introduction into Content Analysis

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Václav Štětka, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Timetable
Mon 14:00–15:40 U34
Prerequisites (in Czech)
SOC108 Data Analysis with SPSS && SOC106 Methodology of Social Sciences
Předpokladem pro zápis do kurzu je absolvování metodologického kurzu a kurzu statistické analýzy dat.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
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Course objectives
Quantitative content analysis (CA) is currently one of the fastest growing techniques in media and communication research. The aim of this course is to offer a basic theoretical overview of this technique, its design, logic and possibilities for application, and to teach students the practical procedures and rules for coding, analysis and interpretation of data. Specific attention will be devoted to the issues of sampling, validity and reliability (with the practical introduction into inter-coder reliability measures). Even though the course will be mainly devoted to the "classical" CA, focusing on manual coding of text, attention will also be paid to the overview of various forms of CATA (computer-assisted text analysis). Students will acquire theoretical knowledge about content analysis and will learn to use this technique practically.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction, requirements; what is (and what is not) a content analysis
  • 2. History of content analysis in social sciences, possibilities of application, types of CA
  • 3. Design of CA, practical examples of CA application in media and communication studies
  • 4. Units of analysis; construction of coding book
  • 5. Workshop I – presentation and discussion of projects
  • 6. Sampling techniques in CA
  • 7. Validity and reliability in CA; introduction into inter-coder reliability measures
  • 8. Data analysis in CA: using descriptive and inferential statistics
  • 9. Workshop II – coding
  • 10. Introduction into CATA I: databases search, software overview
  • 11. Introduction into CATA II: practical examples of coding using Yoshikoder software
  • 12. Final workshop – data analysis and presentation of results
Literature
  • RIFFE, Daniel, Stephen LACY and Frederick FICO. Analyzing media messages : using quantitative content analysis in research. 2nd ed. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005, x, 242. ISBN 0805852980. info
  • SCHULZ, Winfried. Analýza obsahu mediálních sdělení. Edited by Irena Reifová, Translated by Barbara Köpplová. 2., přeprac. vyd. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2004, 149 s. ISBN 8024608278. info
  • NEUENDORF, Kimberly A. The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2002, xviii, 301. ISBN 0761919783. info
Assessment methods
Students will be divided into groups and carry an empirical research project (including the reliability test and the data analysis of a pilot sample), whose different parts will be presented and discussed through the course of the seminar.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
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