Week 7: Unobstrusive Measures and Evaluation
Content analysis is the study of communication. Content analysis is a technique for gathering and analyzing the content of a text. The content refers to words, meanings, pictures, symbols, ideas, themes, or any message that can be communicated. The text is anything written, visual, or spoken that serves as a medium for communication. Content analysis lets a researcher reveal the content in a source of communication. It allows the researcher to probe into and discover content in a different way from the ordinary way of reading a book or watching a television program.
Content analysis utilizes two methods of coding or analysis: (1) manifest coding, and (2) latent coding.
Manifest coding means that a research counts events within communication. For example, if we were studying violence on television shows, we could count the number of violent events in each television show that we were examining. Another example would be examining the speeches in the last presidential campaign to see how many times the topic of terrorism was mentioned by the republican candidate and the democratic candidate. Manifest coding is quantitative and involves counting.
Latent coding is qualitative and involves ratings. For example, if we were studying violence on television shows, we could rate each television show on a scale from 1 to 5. A rating a five would mean a show is very violent and a rating of one would mean a show is not violent at all. Another example of latent coding is the current Movie rating system of G, PG, PG-13, and R. Latent coding would give one show or movie and overall rating, rather than counting events.
Research Exercise: Have cartoons become more violent?
You will choose two cartoons, (1)Bugs bunny and (2) Phineas and Ferb. Bugs bunny was one of the most popular cartoons in the 1950s. Phineas and Ferb is one of the most popular cartoons in the 2000s. Please watch 2 episodes of both types of cartoons on Youtube. You do not have to watch an entire episode of Phineas and Ferb, you can just watch 5 minutes. However, feel free to watch an entire episode, because your data may be much better. The primary variable (dependent variable) for this research study is violence.
(1) First, conduct a conduct analysis of the cartoons. Use manifest coding and latent coding. I actually want you to collect data and post your findings. For manifest coding you should create a table that shows your findings. You can also create a table for you latent coding scheme. You would therefore have two tables.
(2) Second, write about your findings in paragraph. What did you find interesting about your findings. Do you believe watching violence on TV or movies can lead to violent behavior? Do you believe playing violent video games can make a person more violent or aggressive?
