Psychology: Reseach Methods
What is CONTENT ANALYSIS?
An indirect observation of behaviour w/in the media and can produce both qualititive and quantitive data.
Examples: Magazines, TV, Social Media
What is CODING ?
Its the initial stage stage of content analysis where chosen media is categorized into meaningful units and counting up the number of phrases/word appearing in media to produce QUANTITIVE DATA.
What is THERMATIC ANALYSIS?
After coding a theme may emerge amd it tends to be more discriptive than the coding units so data collected is QUALITATIVE.
How is THERMATIC ANALYSIS DONE?
1) Data is collected
2) Researched reads through/examines the data making themeselves familliar w/it
3) Researcher identifies coding units
4) Data is analyised by applying the coding units
5) A tally is made of the number of times the coding unit appears.
Evaluation of CONTENT ANALYSIS
*less ethical issues, behaviour investigated is already available to the public.
*it produces QUALITATIVE data= produces specific results relative to research, rich in detail-> leads to thermatic analysis and QUANTITIVE data= easily analysed, put into "graphs".
*but it may be SUBJECTIVE as media is investigated indirectly= research misinterpretates data.
*but it may lack OBJECTIVITY especially when more descriptive forms of thermatic anaylisis are used (bias=threatened validity)
What is a CASE STUDY?
An in-depth investigation, description and analysis of an individual/small group of people w/distinct features.
e.g. Clive Wearing