Developing a coding scheme for

content analysis
A how-to approach
 Literature review
As is pretty much always the case, finding out
what people have done in the past is the best
way to prepare for your own research
Gives you the theoretical lay of the land
Helps you see how others have approached your
own concerns
Helps you determine what measures have been
used and how they have worked
Allows you to identify areas where additional
study is needed
 Constructs
To carry out a successful study, you will need
to identify constructs of significance for your
research
Remember our discussion of explication?
From the literature review and your own
experience/interests, what are the constructs
you want to measure?
Is there a theory here?
 Constructs
In order for your analysis to be valid, you must
first specify your constructs carefully
What are the characteristics of your construct?
What would be a case of sexism, for example?
(Note: perhaps genderism would be better).
What would not reflect sexism in your definition but
someone else might think would?
What would be an example of non- or anti-sexism?
 An example:
How would you define Respect for authority?
What behavioral examples would reflect it?
What examples would you say do not reflect
it, but some folks would say did?
What examples of lack of respect or disrespect
for authority can you think of?
 Based on your analysis of respect for
authority, what examples can you
think of?

Who are authorities?

What behaviors show respect? Lack of
respect or disrespect? What behaviors might
someone else say show respect but you
exclude from your list?
 Now identify features of content that
reflect your constructs
What would we look for in romance films that
would reflect the concept of genderism?
Males making important decisions
Women wearing skimpy clothing
Females showing greater sensitivity
Men always driving the cars
Etc.
Note: There are a great number of potential
indicatorsyou have to choose those that are the
best indicators and are practical to score
 Example
If a student does what the teacher in a TV
show says, is it an example of respect for
authority?
What else might be necessary?
Whatever you say, youre the boss.
Ill do it to save my A, but thats the only reason.
I really like you, but I think this is a dumb idea.
 Choosing indicators
Content analysis is quantitative, so you need
to develop categories that can be assigned
numbers
Use indicators that can be translated reasonably
into quantitative scores
Avoid developing category schemes that call
for value judgments and/or too much
interpretation on the part of the coder
 Objective v. subjective codes
Subjective categories (high, medium, low;
better, worse) are read quite differently by
various coders so their use invites unreliability
Try to construct objective categories as much
as possible
4 or more times v. often
Over 250 pounds v. large
 Good coding categories

Categories should be:

Exhaustive
Mutually exclusive
Derived from a single classification principle
Independent
Adequate to answer the questions asked of
the data
 Exhaustive

There should be a coding category that each

recording unit can be placed in
Can use other or none categories to make the
scheme exhaustive
 Mutually exclusive

Each recording unit should fit into only

one category on a given scoring
dimension
 Derived from a single
classification principle

Must keep conceptually different

dimensions of analysis separate
Code separately for each dimension
Example: Character presented as fearful and
inactive (separate fear and activity into
individual scoring dimensions)
 Independent

Each category should be independent of

other categoriesseek an absolute
value for each category
This will be violated if your categorization
scheme assigns units to categories according
to their relative position on some dimension
more biased, scarier
 Adequate to answer the questions
asked of the data
Must cover the entire concept or nearly so
Must exclude third variables/related concepts
that are not supposed to be measured by the
category scheme
Dont let influences other than those you are
studying creep in and affect your results
Differences among categories must be
meaningful
Large enough to matter
Dimension is appropriate
 The precision tradeoff

The more narrowly tailored and precise your

categories, the better the test of your research
questions or hypotheses
However, the finer the distinctions you ask your
coders to make, the more mistakes you will
generate
In this form of text analysis, when two coders put
the same coding unit into different categories, at
least one of the coders is wrong
 Good practice
Try not to make categories too narrow
e.g., 10-12 years old, 13-15, 16-18, etc.
Few instances
Coders have difficulty making such fine distinctions
Cover enough features to make valid judgments
Use multiple indicators of each construct
Use the indicators that are easiest to
measure/code
Only go to less clear-cut, more complicated indicators
after the straightforward ones have been exhausted
 Think of a critic when you
design your scheme
What would someone who doesnt believe
genderism exists say when I have completed
my study and present my findings? Someone
who is adamant that genderism is rampant in
the media?
Anticipate and deal with the most significant
critiques prior to finalizing your coding
scheme