Seminar in Mass Communication Research: Content Analysis

• Read the rest of Chapter 6 "Reliability" (pp. 138-155).
• Read "Answering the Call for a Standard Reliability Measure for Coding Data"
  

• Read textbook Chapter 4 "Measurement."
• Exercise: Units of Measurement
• Work with your team to identify the various units of content (see Table 4.1, p. 68) in the articles from last week. For each study, prepare a grid demonstrating the relationships among various study units and recording units (see Fig. 4.1, p. 81). Be sure to identify the measurement level for each recording unit.
• Be prepared to present/discuss your results with the class.

• Read the Methodology for conducting the content analysis used to create the Project for Excellence in Journalism News Index.
• Exercise: Agenda-Setting Research Design by Media Type.
  
• Work with your team to identify a minimum of ten (10) agenda-setting studies that content analyzed the assigned media type. Create a table comparing the studies and answering the following questions: What population of communication content units was examined? Was sampling used, and if so, what kind and how large? What time frame is examined? What units of content are placed in categories? What types of measurements are used? Be sure to include a bibliography. (See example.)
  
• Media types:
  
• Newspaper
• Television
• All other
• Be prepared to present/discuss your results with the class.
  

• Read textbook Chapter 3
  
• Read Pardun, C. J., L'Engle, K. L., and Brown, J. D. (2005) Linking Exposure to Outcomes: Early Adolescents' Consumption of Sexual Content in Six Media. Mass Communication and Society, 8(2), 75-91.
• Read CANDIDATE IMAGES IN SPANISH ELECTIONS: SECOND-LEVEL AGENDA-SETTING EFFECTS. By: McCombs, Maxwell; Llamas, Juan Pablo; Lopez-Escobar, Esteban; Rey, Federico. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Winter97, Vol. 74 Issue 4, p703-717.
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• PowerPoint: AgendaSetting2008.ppt
  

• Read textbook Chapters 1 & 2
• Find a scholarly article that uses content analysis as the primary research method (ideally, this article should be in an area that interests you and it should not appear in the reference list of your textbook).
• Write a short critique (max. 2 pages, double-spaced) of the article based on the material presented in Chapter 2 of your text.
• Bring one copy of the article along with 10 copies of your critique to class. Be prepared to present/discuss your article with the class.
• Read the original agenda-setting article by McCombs & Shaw (THE AGENDA-SETTING FUNCTION OF MASS MEDIA. By: McCombs, Maxwell E.; Shaw, Donald L.. Public Opinion Quarterly, Summer72, Vol. 36 Issue 2, p176-187):
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