Ray Block, Jr.
PS 585
Research Methods

Today’s Blueprint
Last Class:

• Non-Experimental Research Designs
• Experimental vs. non-experimental designs
• Types of non-experimental designs

• Analyzing Records:
• What are records?
• What types of records do researchers analyze
• How do researchers analyze records?

What are Records?

• Records = Communications
• Records tell you about:
• Sources of communication
• Content of communication

• How people/organizations communicate information
• Defined broadly
• Written records (transcripts, statistics, etc.)
• Visual records (advertisements, pictures, etc.)
• Audio records (speeches, music, etc.)
• All of the above (videos, films, Internet, etc.)

• Take home points:
• Sources of communication are practically everywhere!!!
• There are records of practically everything!!!
• The sky’s the limit

• What people/organizations communicate (The “message”)
• What you get when you process records
• Processed using qualitative or quantitative techniques
• Caveat: This course will focus on the quantitative analysis of records

Types of Records

• Two types:
• Running records
• Episodic records

• Advantages:
• Cheaper
• Accessible
• Longitudinal data
• Disadvantages:
• No say-so in data collection
• Limited access
• Uncertain record keeping practices

• Advantages:
• Historical data
• Disadvantages:
• Expensive/time consuming
• Secondary sources
• Limited access
• Uncertain record keeping practices

• What is content analysis? The practice of categorizing communication content into certain themes based on certain rules
• What purpose does it serve? Content analysis is codified common sense—a set of procedures used to classify, summarize, and explain aspects of the world
• Uses of content analysis: Content analysis is very versatile:
1. Descriptive analysis
2. Theory-building
3. Testing hypotheses

• Describing a particular message
• Drawing conclusions about the content of a message based on these description

2) Theory Building: Researchers can use content analysis for theory-building purposes like:

• Answering research questions
• Testing hypotheses

• To test relationships among variables within content analyze (content variables)
• To test relationships among content variables and variables beyond the analysis (non-content variables
• The “centrality” of content (Riffe, Lacy, and Fico 1998):
• Researchers can use content analysis to address research questions or test hypotheses among content and non-content variables.
• Most researchers do descriptive content analysis (no inferences)
• Those who draw inferences from content seldom test relationships between content variables
• Those who test hypotheses seldom test relationships between content and non-content variables
• However:
• We can use content analysis to test relationships between variables that are internal and external to the analysis.
• Therefore:
• Content variables can serve as either the cause or the effect in your hypotheses

• Communication sources are practically everywhere
• There are records of practically everything
• You can make sense of these records with content analysis
• Content analysis can apply to content both inside and outside the analysis
• Content can be on both sides of the causal arrow

References (FYI):

• Denzin, Norman and Yvonna S. Lincoln, eds. 2000.  Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Riffe, Daniel, Steve Lacy, and Fred Fico. 1998. Analyzing Media Messages. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Rodson, C. 2002. Real World Research (2nd ed.). Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers.
• Schwandt, Thomas. 2001. Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications