Summary
Contents
The SAGE Key Concepts series provide students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. Key Concepts in Journalism offers a systematic and accessible introduction to the terms, processes, and effects of journalism;a combination of practical considerations with theoretical issues; and further reading suggestions. The authors bring an enormous range of experience in newspaper and broadcast journalism, at national and regional level, as well as their teaching expertise. This book will be essential reading for students in journalism, and an invaluable reference tool for their professional careers.
Content Analysis
Content Analysis
Content analysis is a research method aimed at recording the salient features of texts using a uniform system of categories. The content analyst designs and employs categories which are directed towards producing (usually quantitative) data in response to specific research questions or hypotheses. These data are then used to summarize and describe any patterns in the texts. Berelson offers a definition which has subsequently been widely adopted as the definitive description of traditional content analysis: ‘Content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication’ (1952: 263).
From this definition, Berelson outlines four requirements of content analysis, which we feel should be quoted here at length since they accurately specify the requirements needed for the ...