The Content Analysis Guidebook

Content analysis is one of the most important yet complex research methodologies in the social sciences. The author provides an accessible text for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, comprising step-by-step instructions and practical advice. * the book has strong interdisciplinary appeal with examples from across the social sciences * the author will create and maintain a website on the topic to provide up-to-date information on fast-changing aspects of the topic * pedagogical tools for students, including numerous sidebars describing innovative and wide-ranging content analysis projects are in an easy to understand format

Table of Contents:
List of Boxes List of Tables and Figures Foreword Acknowledgments 1. Defining Content Analysis Is Content Analysis "Easy"? Is It Something That Anyone Can Do? A Six-Part Definition of Content Analysis 2. Milestones in the History of Content Analysis The Growing Popularity of Content Analysis Milestones of Content Analysis Research 3. Beyond Description: An Integrative Model of Content Analysis The Language of the Scientific Method How Content Analysis Is Done: Flowchart for the Typical Process of Content-Analysis Research Approaches to Content Analysis The Integrative Model of Content Analysis Evaluation With the Integrative Model of Content Analysis 4. Message Units and Sampling Units Defining the Population Archives Medium Management Sampling Sample Size 5. Variables and Predictions Identifying Critical Variables Hypotheses, Predictions, and Research Questions 6. Measurement Techniques Defining Measurement Validity, Reliability, Accuracy, and Precision Types of Validity Assessment Operationalization Computer Coding Selection of a Computer Text Content Analysis Program Human Coding Index Construction in Content Analysis 7. Reliability Intercoder Reliability Standards and Practices Issues in the Assessment of Reliability Pilot and Final Reliabilities Intercoder Reliability Coefficients: Issues and Comparisons Calculating Intercoder Reliability Coefficients Treatment of Variables That Do Not Achieve an Acceptable Level of Reliability The Use of Multiple Coders Advanced and Specialty Issues in Reliatbility Coefficient Selection 8. Results and Reporting Data Handling and Transformations Hypothesis Tesing Selecting the Appropriate Statistical Tests Frequencies Co-Occurences and In-Context Occurrences Time Lines Bivariate Relationships Multivariate Relationships 9. Contexts Psychometric Applications of Content Analysis Open-Ended Written and Pictorial Responses Linguistics and Semantic Networks Stylometrics and Computer Literary Analysis Interaction Analysis Other Interpersonal Behaviors Violence in the Media Gender Roles Minority Portrayals Advertising News Political Communication Web Analyses Other Applied Contexts Commercial and Other Client-Based Applications of Content Analysis Future Directions Resource 1: Message Archives - P.D. Skalski General Collections Film, Television and Radio Archives Literary and General Corpora Other Archives Resource 2: Using NEXIS for Text Acquisition for Content Analysis Resource 3: Computer Content Analysis Software - P.D. Skalski Part I. Quantitative Computer Text Analysis Programs Part II. VBPro How-To Guide and Executional Flowchart Resource 4: An Introduction to PRAM--A Program for Reliability Assessment With Multiple Coders Resource 5: The Content Analysis Guidebook Online Content Analysis Resources Bibliographies Message Archives and Corpora Reliability Human Coding Sample Materials Computer Content Analysis References Author Index Subject Index About the Authors

About the Author :
Kimberly A. Neuendorf holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, which has one of the country's top ten doctoral programs in communication. She has taught research methods and media criticism, among other courses, at Cleveland State for over a decade and has published her own research, in which she used content analysis, in numerous journal articles.

Review :
"This is a sorely-needed book that gives an understandable introduction to one of the most important methods of communication research to students and scholars alike." -- Marshall Scott Poole "Neuendorf's writing is both appropriate and accessible, a rare accomplishment in a book on research methods. Neuendorf provides a sophisticated yet readily comprehensible treatment of content analysis." -- William Evans "Skimming through the book left me with a sense of optimism, as the value of computer assistance and of electronic archives is mentioned in various parts of the book." Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research