Content Analysis

In: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods

By: Heidi Julien

Edited by: Lisa M. Given
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods
Chapter Title: "Content Analysis"
Pub. Date: 2012
Access Date: September 13, 2017
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781412941631
Online ISBN: 9781412963909
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909
Print pages: 121-122
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Content analysis is the intellectual process of categorizing qualitative textual data into clusters
of similar entities, or conceptual categories, to identify consistent patterns and relationships
between variables or themes. Qualitative content analysis is sometimes referred to as latent
content analysis. This analytic method is a way of reducing data and making sense of them—of
deriving meaning. It is a commonly used method of analyzing a wide range of textual data,
including interview transcripts, recorded observations, narratives, responses to open-ended
questionnaire items, speeches, postings to listservs, and media such as drawings,
photographs, and video.

Content analysis is a method that is independent of theoretical perspective or framework (e.g.,

grounded theory, phenomenology) but has its beginnings as a quantitative method. Where
quantitative content analysis is helpful in answering “what” questions, qualitative content
analysis can be helpful in answering “why” questions and analyzing perceptions. It is
commonly associated with mass communications research, but it is widely applied in the social
sciences whenever textual data are analyzed. In qualitative research, content analysis is
interpretive, involving close reading of text. Qualitative researchers using a content analytic
approach recognize that text is open to subjective interpretation, reflects multiple meanings,
and is context dependent (e.g., part of a larger discourse). This entry describes how qualitative
content analysis is used and how to use it well.

When analyzing qualitative data such as interview transcripts, analyses across the whole set of
data typically produce clusters or codes that translate into “themes.” For example, an interview
study that explores the experience of new parenthood may produce interview transcripts that
are analyzed for content related to themes ranging from stress to social isolation to joy. Those
themes may have been identified a priori, so that the researcher seeks evidence for participants’
expressions relating to those themes, or may simply emerge from the analysis of the
transcripts. Textual data include nonwritten text, such as photographic data, equally open to
content analysis. In this case, the researcher may identify content as straightforwardly as
identifying objects evident in photographs or may conduct more subtle analyses of symbolic
communications that can be unconsciously discerned from a physical space. The level at which
content analysis occurs varies widely, from obvious surface-level groups of similar responses to
a particular interview question to deeper inductive insights inferred from more sustained,
iterative, and recursive interaction with textual data. For example, the varying connotations
associated with particular words used by participants, or the degrees of enthusiasm expressed
about an issue, are open to content analysis. Regardless of the level at which analysis occurs,
the fundamental principle is that content is recognized.

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In the case of the written word, that content is often subject related (i.e., analyses refer to the
“aboutness” of text). For example, content analysis could be applied to the official reports and
policies of an organization; such an analysis may identify the stated priorities of that
organization as well as reveal implicit political perspectives. Thus, content analysis is useful for
identifying both conscious and unconscious messages communicated by text (i.e., what is
stated explicitly as well as what is implied or revealed by the manner in which content is
expressed). The results of a content analysis may reveal recurrent instances of “items” or
themes, or they may reveal broader discourses. The “categories” or clusters of data identified
may represent discrete instances (i.e., something is apparent or not), or they may be
represented as degrees of attributes, such as direction and intensity, or qualities (i.e., a quality
such as joy is evident to some degree rather than simply present or absent). Identifying themes
or categories is usually an iterative process, so the researcher spends time revisiting categories
identified previously and combining or dividing them, resolving contradictions, as the text is
analyzed over and over. It is also important to note that a single piece of text (e.g., one
sentence from an interview transcript) may be relevant to more than one category or theme.
When applying labels to categories, it is good practice to use language consistent with that
used in the text under analysis. For example, if new parents in an interview study tend to use
the word joy to describe one of their experiences, then the researcher should use that word,
rather than a synonym such as happiness, to label that theme. This practice is related to the
need to remain true to the source of the text. As much as possible, the results of a content
analysis should make sense and resonate accurately with the producers of that text (e.g., with
interview participants).

In quantitative work, content analysis is applied in a deductive manner, producing frequencies

of preselected categories or values associated with particular variables. A qualitative approach
to content analysis, however, is typically inductive, beginning with deep close reading of text
and attempting to uncover the less obvious contextual or latent content therein. For example, a
researcher seeking to understand participants’ experiences or understandings of a
phenomenon of interest is likely to use such an inductive approach to analysis of interview data.
The quantitative or qualitative approaches may be combined within a single research study
depending on the purpose of the analysis.

Validity and reliability are key to robust content analysis. In qualitative terms, the researcher
doing a qualitative content analysis seeks trustworthiness and credibility by conducting iterative
analyses, seeking negative or contradictory examples, seeking confirmatory data through
methodological triangulation, and providing supporting examples for conclusions drawn. For
example, using more than one researcher to analyze the data and seeking agreement between

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different researchers on t h e c o n t e n t i d e n t i f i e d i s a c o m m o n m e t h o d o f i m p r o v i n g
trustworthiness. In qualitative content analysis, a reliability coefficient of .60 (i.e., 60%
agreement between different coders) is considered acceptable. Because meaning is context
dependent and subjective, a single piece of text can indeed be open to different qualitative
interpretations by different researchers. Reliability of judgment remains important nevertheless,
and researchers must always be mindful of the perspectives they bring to their analytic work as
well as of the context for the text being analyzed. In addition, once thematic categories are
identified, the careful researcher attempts to ensure that the groupings or categories of data are
carefully defined in ways that are comprehensive (i.e., they cover all categories identifiable in
the data set and all relevant data are categorized) and mutually exclusive (i.e., their definitions
do not overlap). These are important intellectual principles that increase trust worthiness of the
analyses and conclusions. The researcher also should consider what is missing or not present
in the text being analyzed. For example, if new parents do not mention any positive emotions in
interviews, then this absence is also worthy of attention and interpretation.

Content analysis is an intellectual process, but the outcomes of that thinking must be recorded
in some way. Practically speaking, content analysis can be accomplished using very low-tech
materials such as a pencil and paper, colored sticky notes, or colored felt pens. These tools are
likely sufficient for relatively small amounts of text such as a small number of interview
transcripts. However, several useful software packages, such as NVivo, are very helpful tools
for handling larger quantities of data. These tools can assist the researcher in organizing
intellectual work quickly and in bringing identified categories of data together for easy
comparison. These programs also offer tools to define categories, annotate text, write memos,
and calculate frequencies of categories and codes. Using a computer does not reduce the
need for intellectual effort on the part of the researcher, but doing so certainly provides help in
recording and organizing the results of that effort.

As an analytic method, content analysis is very flexible, providing a systematic way of

synthesizing a wide range of data. It can be a useful way of analyzing longitudinal data to
demonstrate change over time and is nonintrusive because it is applied to data already
collected or existing text.

HeidiJulien

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963909.n65
See also

Data Analysis
Document Analysis

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NVivo (Software)
Textual Analysis
Thematic Coding and Analysis
Themes

Further Readings

Given, L. M. , & Olson, H. A. Knowledge organization in research: A conceptual model for

organizing data. (2003).,25.157–176.

Krippendorf, K.(2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (2nd ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mayring, P. Qualitative content analysis. (2000).1(2).Available from http://qualitative-

research.net/fqs-texte/2-00/2-00mayring-e.htm

Mostyn, B.(1985). The content analysis of qualitative research data: A dynamic approach. In
Edited by: M.Brenner, J.Brown, & D.Canter (Eds.), The research interview: Uses and
approaches (pp. 115–145).London: Academic Press

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