ABSTRACT
B. Berelson describes content analysis (CA) as a research technique for objective, systematic, and quantitative descriptions of manifest and latent content of communication. CA is a research method that systematically describes, categorizes, and/or makes inferences about communication messages. CA can be a useful methodological tool for a variety of research purposes. The majority of CA are quantitative in nature. Content categories are areas, themes, groupings, classes, or types with explicit boundaries into which units of content are coded for analysis. When conducting a CA, it is imperative to first conduct a thorough review of the literature to determine what categories other researchers have used in their content analyses of communication processes. A coding schedule is a sheet a researcher uses to track, record, and/or categorize the communication they are coding. Intercoder reliability is a statistical analysis of how similar and/or different coders are in coding content categories.
