ABSTRACT
Systematic analyses of messages can useful to researchers in two main ways – to investigate already-existing messages (e.g., social media postings, news stories) and to draw conclusions about research participants from their responses (e.g., open-ended questionnaire responses, focus group contributions, TAT outcomes). Two types of research methods commonly used to analyze messages are content analysis and thematic analysis. Both involve the coding of content in a precise, careful manner. Content analysis is a typically deductive, quantitative technique of measures applied to messages in an objective, reliable fashion. Two content analysis options include human coding and computer coding of message content. Thematic analysis involves an emergent and interactive process of interpretation of a set of messages, with some thematic structure as the typical outcome. Applications of these two sets of methods have been wide-reaching and varied. Further, due to their different approaches, they may be viewed as complementary.
