COM3703 - Media Studies: Content, Audiences And Production
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Summary COM3703 COMPLETE STUDYNOTES 2022/2023
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COM3703 - Media Studies: Content, Audiences And Production
Institution
University Of South Africa
COM3703 – MEDIA STUDIES: MEDIA CONTENT & AUDIENCES
CHAPTER 1: QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Content of mass communication contains numerous cluses about many of the other hidden
forces that helped to shape the message, by analyzing the content we can make inferences about
th...
COM3703 - Media Studies: Content, Audiences And Production
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COM3703 COMPLETE STUDY
NOTES 2022/2023
, lOMoARcPSD|15424936
COM3703 – MEDIA STUDIES: MEDIA CONTENT & AUDIENCES
CHAPTER 1: QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Content of mass communication contains numerous cluses about many of the other hidden
forces that helped to shape the message, by analyzing the content we can make inferences about
the people organisations and even the environment that helped to produce that content. By
analyzing two different newspapers we can see that they are target and designed for different
audiences. We can assume that media is responsible for establishing our view of reality, then it
becomes important that we know that messages are being sent out into our society. Content
analysis on its own is nor sufficient to explain the causes or effects of the media.
Two basic types of content analysis: quantitative and qualitative
Quantitative: involves counting, and applies the scientific method rigorously
Qualitative: no physical counting of data, more cynical in nature, and is used to penetrate the
deeper layers of a message, in a semiological or narrative analysis.
1.2 WHAT IS CONTENT ANALYSIS
Content analysis is a research method for the objective, systematic and quantitative description
of the manifest content of communication. Content analysis is a research method based on
measuring the amount of something found in a representative sample if a mass-mediated
popular art form.
A content analysis must be:
Systematic: means that the organisation of the study follows precise rules and a set procedure
and is applied to the sample being analyzed.
Objective: means the study should be easily duplicated by others. This is achieved by defining
the methodology precisely, so that another researcher can apply it to the same content and get
the same results. Objectivity is the opposite of subjectivity. If content analysis were subjective
then each researcher would produce a unique analysis, as in the case of qualitative content
analysis. Being objective means that the results are dependent on the procedure and not on the
interpretation of the researcher.
Quantitative: means that the analysis should give precise and accurate results. Quantitative data
are always either numerical values or frequencies.
1.3 USES OF CONTENT ANALYSIS
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Content analysis only allows us to make inferences about the communicator’s intention and the
recipients interpretation. These inferences are based on the researcher’s interpretation of the
content, and findings should be treated with a large degree if circumspection as such inference’s
borders guess work. Content analysis will allow us to identify and evaluate various relationship
between the variables of the message. Content analysis is particularly well suited to descriptive
and explanatory research.
Descriptive research
in field research we observe behavior and then write down what we observe, we can observe
messages so that we can describe a certain event. Content analysis, as a descriptive method, is a
starting point for establishing the effects of a particular set of messages, and we can link content
analysis with other methods, such survey research.
Explanatory research
We can also use content analysis to explain messages we have observed. For explanatory
research requires comparison between variables, past and present communications by the same
person or organisation. We can also compare competing genres in similar media, for example
articles in two different newspapers about the same subject. From the differences revealed by
such comparisons we can infer what emphasis has been places on the message. From any
emphasis we find, we can deduce certain things about the communicator and the recipient,
since these components of the communication process are not the direct objects of our study,
1.4 STEPS IN DOING CONTENT ANAYLSIS
Step 1: setting the scene Content Why is the problem a problem?
Problem statement
Research questions
Assumptions
Step 2: establishing the Literature Supporting theory
framework review Existing research
Step 3: how to do it Method Population
Target population
Accessible population
Unit of analysis
Construct categories
Quantification
Coding
Establish reliability
Establish validity
Step 4: doing it Findings Chart findings
Statistical analysis
Step 5: coming to a conclusion Interpretation Answer research question
contextualizing the research
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getting the research problem clearly defined is important. This means that our starting point is to
construct a statement of the problem that we want to resolve.
Key elements
- The problem statement must be written as a single, grammatically correct sentence
- There must be an indicated that interpretation of the data will take place
- Have you said precisely what you mean?
Once we are happy with the research problem, we can move on and establish the research
questions, state our assumptions and express the limitations of our research. If our
statement of the problem contains any jargon, we need to provide definitions of those
words. Our research must answer an important research question or validate a hypothesis.
The research question helps us further to delimit exactly what we are studying. A literature
review helps formulate our research question or hypothesis. Since this formally presents the
logic behind the theory and previous research on the topic we are going to study. We must
always keep the research question or hypothesis in mind while doing our content analysis as
this usually results in increased accuracy.
The literature review
Prime purpose of the literature review is to help us construct a framework in which we can then
conduct our research in order to resolve the problem. In order to fulfill this purpose we need to
look for theories and existing research that relates it our problem, as this provides us with a
deeper insight into resolving the problem.
Benefits of a literature review:
- It reveals past research relevant to our own, which then shows how other researchers
handled their research
- it can suggest methods and techniques of dealing with problematic aspects related to
our research and provides us with ways of dealing with these situations
- it can reveal sources of data that you did not know about
- it helps you to see your research problem in a historical context
- it can provide you with new ideas and approaches that may not have occurred to you
- it can assist you in evaluating your own research by comparing it with similar efforts
done by others
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