ABSTRACT
Health communication scholars frequently use content analysis in their research efforts. The topics of study are interestingly diverse, and even the most cursory examination of PubMed.gov yields thousands of studies employing content analysis on topics as varied as HIV and Kenyan newspapers (Muzyka, Thompson, Bombak, Driedger, & Lorway, 2012), online smoking cessation (van Mierlo, Voci, Lee, Fournier, & Selby, 2012), and Brazilian brochures about Hansen’s disease (Santos, Ribeiro, & Monteiro, 2012). Content analysis is a method that allows researchers to analyze recorded communications, messages, or content. The content under analysis can come from traditional mass media channels such as TV programs, newspaper/magazine articles, books, or billboards. Content can also come from new Δ290media channels such as Twitter feeds, websites, or YouTube videos. In addition, the content can be public information presented to a mass audience (e.g., Facebook pages) or private information available only to a single individual (e.g., email messages). All types of recorded content can be analyzed using this method.
