Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2025
First exams 2027
Content Analysis (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note
Exam code: 7182
Coding in content analysis
Content analysis
Content analysis is a technique for analysing qualitative data of various kinds, e.g., books, diaries or TV programmes
Data can be placed into categories and counted (quantitative) or can be analysed in themes (qualitative)
Content analysis can be used to analyse primary or secondary data, such as:
the transcript of a spoken conversation
a series of text messages sent between two people
the screenplay from a Hollywood film
The aim of content analysis is to summarise the main ideas presented in the spoken or written material via structured methods to draw conclusions, e.g.,
the transcript of a spoken conversation covers an argument between a married couple in which the words 'blame' and 'upset' are counted
a series of text messages between two people provide the police with examples of coercive control from one of the texters
the screenplay of a Hollywood film shows that the lead female character is frequently referred to by her first name, whereas the male character is referred to by his surname
Content analysis quantifies data through the use of coding
Coding
To analyse qualitative data using content analysis, the data must be coded, or broken down, into manageable coding units
This is done by watching a film clip or reading a diary entry several times to establish the coding units
The qualitative data is then analysed to see how frequently a coding unit appears, which produces numerical data
E.g., counting how many times a male or female character smokes in the film clip or counting the number of times 'hope' and 'scared' is written in a diary entry
This allows the researcher to identify patterns and themes in the data and then draw conclusions
E.g., male characters in the film are portrayed as smoking more frequently than females characters or the author of the diary writes 'scared' more often than 'hope'
The researcher will then need to test their findings for reliability via
Test-retest reliability: Run the content analysis again after sufficient time has past, using the same coding units on the same data and compare the results
Inter-rater reliability: A second rater conducts the content analysis with the same coding units and data and compares their findings with the first rater
If the results show a positive correlation of 0.8 or above, then this shows good inter-rater reliability
Waynforth & Dunbar (1995) conducted a content analysis by analysing lonely heart adverts in newspapers to see if men and women were looking for different things in relationship
They looked at 881 lonely heart adverts
They found that men aimed their adverts at younger women and tended to cite their resources as being more important than their attractiveness
Women aimed their adverts at older males and mentioned their attractiveness more than their resources
The researchers codified the above themes and gave them numerical values so that the qualitative responses were transformed into quantitative data
Evaluation of coding in content analysis
Strengths
Content analysis is unusual in the world of psychological research in that it accesses and analyses both qualitative and quantitative data
The original qualitative data is rich in meaning and detail, which brings with it external validity
The transformation of the qualitative data into quantitative data means that overall trends and patterns can emerge and are easily compared
These patterns can be used as evidence to support or test hypotheses
Content analysis enables researchers to investigate topics which might otherwise be off-limits due to ethical concerns
The secondary data they access is in the public domain
There is no need to gain informed consent to access or report on the material
This means that researchers have freedom of choice as to what material they access and how much of it they choose to use
Limitations
Content analysis uses material that has been produced outside of the research process, e.g. a script, a blog, a conversation transcript from decades ago
The researcher can only study the data, often without knowing the true context of its origin
This could result in the researcher making assumptions about what they are reading or viewing, which would affect the validity of the findings
Converting qualitative data into quantitative data means that the 'essence' of some of the original data is likely to be lost
A numerical value cannot adequately sum up the feelings and emotional content of the original qualitative data
This could affect the validity of the findings, as the true meaning of the data may not be represented in the findings
Worked Example
Here is an example of an AO2 question you might be asked on this topic.
AO2: You need to apply your knowledge and understanding, usually referring to the ‘stem’ in order to do so (the stem is the example given before the question).
A psychologist decides to conduct a case study on dissociative identity disorder, using one participant she has met at a clinic.
Q. How might the psychologist conduct a content analysis on the findings from this case study?
[3 marks]
Model answer:
Present three relevant points that follow the procedure involved:
The psychologist could have begun by reading through the interview transcripts of the participant and their therapist; [1 mark]
This would enable the psychologist to identify potential categories which emerged from the data, e.g., who the multiple personalities are, how often they appear, how they make the participant feel; [1 mark]
The psychologist would have read the interview transcripts again, counting the number of examples that fell into each category to look for patterns within the data; [1 mark]
You've read 0 of your 5 free revision notes this week
Unlock more, it's free!
Did this page help you?
