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-
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 categories
seek 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
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