ABSTRACT
There are two basic approaches to content analysis. The first of these is an a priori approach in which analysis is based upon a previously defined and outlined schematic system. Many of the analytic schemes used in the treatment of psychological tests are of this nature. The second is an a posteriori approach. In this, the categories of analysis are extracted from the material itself. As a first step in preparing the analytic scheme, all of the interviews were read by one of our staff members and the replies were broken down into "thought units". In carrying out the analysis, there were occasional modifications of the scheme. These consisted almost exclusively of the addition of new kinds of specification to each of the major categories as we found sequences of events that included thought units not present in the sample from which the scheme had been constructed.
