Analyzing content

Reading Summary:

Content Analysis is the first step in analyzing media content.  In content analysis you will describe and research meanings in media however, the results of the description do not permit one to make inferences about the effects of the media messages. The broad idea is coders will look at manifest content and turn non quantitative data into measurable quantitative data. First there must be a sample or pool of content you want to analyze. Then there must be a unit of analysis. Next a category or theme must be chosen to help define the content. Then a coding agreement must be found which shows the common data the coders found. Next, statistical analysis puts the coding agreement into statistical terms. Lastly, the. Authors interpret their findings and discuss implications of study. 

Outside Example:

I once took an Audio Visual Productions class and part of that class was dissecting films for underlying messages. I remember watching a short film called “Model Citizen.” The film is in black and white and highlights the idea that being a “model citizen” is not being yourself, but more of a robot. In the film you have to wear a universal mask and dress like everyone else. The film depicts that society standards destroy the unique image of humans and turns them into systematic robots. I was able to figure all of this out through dissection, but on the surface the film has a happy song playing and shows the humans “smiling.”

Reading Connection:

I found that dissecting a short film and performing a content analysis are very similar. In both you take the surface level or “manifest content” and analyze it. The only difference I have seen is that in content analysis you want quantitative data as in my class all you needed was qualitative data. However, if I was a coder and I performed a content analysis on this short film I believe I would arrive at the same conclusion as I did when I dissected it. For an example some quantitative data I could produce is the number of seemingly unhappy faces behind the masks, or how many people ended up being killed. In the end they both arrive at the conclusion that this system strips humans of their happiness and uniqueness.