Deck 11: How Do Researchers Study the Ways Meanings Are Communicated in Everyday Life Content Analysis

Question 1

Research methods that do not require interactions with participants are called ____________.

A) Survey research
B) Covert observation
C) Unobtrusive measures
D) Quasi-experiment

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Who coined the term unobtrusive measures?

A) Eugene Webb
B) Karl Marx
C) Max Weber
D) C. Wright Mills

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What did Webb and his team mean by examining physical traces as data?

A) Archival documents
B) Archival information
C) Unobtrusive measures
D) Evidence left by people in their environments

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The examination of texts, including written and visual materials, with interest in how materials contribute to and reflect meaning is known as ____________.

A) Content analysis
B) Analysis of existing data
C) Communication studies
D) Unobtrusive measures

Question 5

Which of the following is not a data source for content analysis?

A) Photographs
B) Diaries
C) All of these
D) Graffiti

Question 6

The impact on research when participants know that they are being studied is called _____________.

A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Reactive effects
D) Interviewer effects

Question 7

A research criterion concerned with the integrity of a particular study's conclusions is called ___________.

A) Validity
B) Reliability
C) Reactive effects
D) Interviewer effects

Question 8

Which of the following is not one of the criteria Scott recommended to assess the quality of the documents in unobtrusive research?

A) Authenticity
B) Credibility
C) Validity
D) Meaning

Question 9

Which criteria refers to whether the contents of a document are free from error and distortion?

A) Authenticity
B) Representativeness
C) Credibility
D) Meaning

Question 10

Dr. Raine choses a special college sports edition of a newspaper for his study on sports coverage in local news. What criteria might he need to consider when assessing the inclusion of this edition?

A) Authenticity
B) Representativeness
C) Credibility
D) Meaning

Question 11

A method that emphasizes people's inner experiences and their connections to larger societal events throughout the life course is called _____________.

A) Content analysis
B) Unobtrusive measures
C) Life course theory
D) Biographical method

Question 12

Which of the following is not a concern with using personal documents as a data source?

A) Authenticity
B) Accuracy
C) All of these
D) Representativeness

Question 13

Which of the following is the best reason that personal documents may lack representativeness?

A) Letters and diaries of wealthy, literate people were likely to be preserved.
B) It can be difficult to understand the meaning in personal documents.
C) It is not possible to craft literal understandings.
D) Personal documents can be formal or informal.

Question 14

Why was Thompson not able to find much evidence of Van Waters' sexual identity?

A) Van Waters never shared her identity as a lesbian publicly.
B) The charges that Van Waters was a lesbian were untrue.
C) Van Waters burned most of the daily letters she received from Thompson.
D) Most LGTBQIA2S+ individuals did not have records of their relationships.

Question 15

Which of the following is not a form of home photographs identified by Scott?

A) Representativeness
B) Idealization
C) Natural portrayal
D) Demystification

Question 16

An informal snapshot capturing action as it happens is which form of the home photograph?

A) Representative
B) Idealization
C) Natural portrayal
D) Demystification

Question 17

A portrait of a wedding party is what type of home photograph?

A) Representative
B) Idealization
C) Natural portrayal
D) Demystification

Question 18

When using photographs for analysis, researchers need to keep in mind that

A) There may be issues with representativeness.
B) Photographs accurately portray the social reality.
C) Photographs can be taken at face value.
D) Images allow for a realistic depiction of social life

Question 19

What was the site of the photographs used in Sutton's study?

A) County fairs
B) School playgrounds
C) LaGuardia Airport
D) Disney theme parks

Question 20

Which of the following is a reason that Sutton argues that positive feelings about visiting Disney parks are a post-visit reconstruction?

A) People do not look at photographs until after the visit.
B) People discard photographs that remind them of unpleasant experiences, while keeping photographs of pleasant experiences.
C) People only take photographs of pleasant experiences.
D) None of these

Question 21

Pauwels argues that digital technology has made it __________ for families to "construct fictions and fantasies."

A) Harder
B) Easier
C) Impossible
D) Unlikely

Question 22

Materials like company newsletters, organizational charts, meeting minutes, and memos are called _________________.

A) Archives
B) Official documents
C) Policy documents
D) Content analysis

Question 23

Dr. Chen wants to understand the official stories and messaging of liberal arts colleges. What is the best data source for her to consider?

A) Policy research
B) Photographs
C) Existing data
D) Official documents

Question 24

Which types of data collection did Jessen use in her study of school choice policies?

A) Content analysis and surveys
B) Content analysis and interviews
C) Content analysis and participant observation
D) Content analysis and analysis of existing data

Question 25

Jessen's analysis of official documents found that ____________.

A) Students with higher accessibility needs were placed at large schools.
B) Students with higher accessibility needs were placed at small schools.
C) Families faced barriers in finding schools to meet their students' needs.
D) Official narratives accurately reflected the experience of parents and administrators

Question 26

Newspapers, magazines, and print media are all types of ________________.

A) Visual media
B) Official documents
C) Content analysis
D) Mass media outputs

Question 27

Gearheart and Trumbly-Lamsam used which data source for their study of the health information Native Americans receive?

A) Television commercials
B) Official documents
C) Newsletters
D) Newspapers

Question 28

Byng used which type of data source for her student of Muslim women's veiling?

A) Photographs
B) Stories in newspapers
C) Television programs
D) Laws passed

Question 29

Which of the following is not a reason that it can be difficult to determine the authenticity of mass media outputs?

A) Authors are not always identified.
B) It is not always clear if an account is prepared by someone with expertise.
C) Publications maintain a consistent tone so they may not include all voices.
D) Partial or biased perspectives is often reflected in sources.

Question 30

Which of the following is not one of the five Ws?

A) What
B) Which
C) Why
D) When

Question 31

_________ are documents, images, and other recorded materials that can be analyzed.

A) Official statistics
B) Texts
C) Data
D) None of these

Question 32

What was the data source used by Golinkoff and team's research on homelessness?

A) Signs
B) Websites
C) Official documents
D) Tweets

Question 33

Heuer and team's study of images accompanying online news stories found that ______ percent of the images depicted people with fat bodies in a stigmatizing manner?

A) Underplaying credentials
B) Adopt a meaningful role in the setting
C) Be ready for tests of competence and credibility
D) Don't give people reasons to dislike you

Question 34

How long did Ranita Ray stay in the field for her study of socioeconomically disadvantaged young women of color?

A) 40%
B) 72%
C) 56%
D) Less than 10%

Question 35

Which of the following was not a finding of Sanders and team's research on the effectiveness of Nike's campaign on funding health programs targeting Native Americans?

A) States with higher proportions of Indigenous people had more campaign followers than other states.
B) Tweets in the campaign with text-based ethnic identity cues were retreated more often than visual ethnicity cues.
C) Followers of the campaign tended to be in urban areas versus rural areas.
D) Tweets in the campaign with visual ethnic identity cues were retreated more often than text-based ethnicity cues.

Question 36

What is not a problem with using websites as a data source for content analysis?

A) None of these
B) Anyone can set up a website
C) The content is often changing
D) Only some sites come up in searches

Question 37

Which of the following is not a question that is helpful in evaluating a document?

A) Who produced the document?
B) Is the material genuine?
C) Is the meaning clear?
D) Has the document be duplicated?

Question 38

Buildings, graffiti, and the built environment are _______________.

A) Not appropriate sources since there is no text.
B) They can signify ideas and social dynamics.
C) Non-meaningful aspects of the structure
D) Examples of quantitative analysis

Question 39

When it comes to sampling in a content analysis study, ____________.

A) Researchers typically include all items in a population.
B) Only probability sampling methods are appropriate.
C) Researchers must define the parameters of the population and select a representative sample.
D) Procedures are specific to this type of methodology.

Question 40

Lamont, Park and Ayala-Hurtado found in their study of Donald Trump's rhetoric that

A) He mentioned LGTBQIA2S+ people the least of all groups and in mostly positive terms.
B) Workers were referenced less often than immigrants.
C) Latinx immigrants were described as terrorists
D) African Americans were the most frequently mentioned group.

Question 41

_______________ content analysis focuses on how frequently images, words or ideas are used.

A) Qualitative
B) Visual
C) Quantitative
D) Verbal

Question 42

_______________ content analysis examines both the content and the contextual meaning of communication using an inductive strategy.

A) Qualitative
B) Visual
C) Quantitative
D) Verbal

Question 43

The process that researchers use to categorize data for analysis is called _________.

A) Qualitative content analysis
B) Quantitative content analysis
C) Validity
D) Coding

Question 44

What type of content analysis did Leopold and Bell perform in their study of the Black Lives Matter movement?

A) Qualitative
B) Quantitative
C) Visual
D) Both Qualitative and Quantitative

Question 45

What is included in a coding schedule?

A) Data examples
B) All of these
C) All possible codes
D) Frequencies

Question 46

The degree to which an individual coder is consistent over time in the coding of an item is called _____________.

A) Intra-coder reliability
B) Inter-coder reliability
C) Reliability
D) Validity

Question 47

Jagger's research on ads in the classified section found that _____________.

A) Men were more likely to stress the importance of economic resources than women .
B) Men were slightly more likely to promote their physical appearance than women.
C) Women were more likely to promote themselves using lifestyle choices.
D) Women were somewhat more likely to promote themselves in terms of physical appearance.

Question 48

Hall and team's research of dating profiles found that women were more likely to misrepresent their _______, while men were more likely to mislead about their ______.

A) Age; weight
B) Weight; income
C) Weight; age
D) Relationship goals; income

Question 49

Researchers can focus on _________, which is whether authors of content convey their principles or standards for what is right or wrong.

A) Words
B) Subjects
C) Themes
D) Value positions

Question 50

Fenton, Bryman, and Deacon found that sociology was the _______ most common discipline referred to when mass media reported about social science research.

A) Fourth
B) Second
C) First
D) None of these

Question 51

Content analysis can involve qualitative or quantitative methods.

Question 52

Surveys are an example of an unobtrusive measure since there is not direct contact between the researcher and the respondent.

Question 53

Content analysis typically focuses on data that has already been collected.

Question 54

The content that can be studied in content analysis must be from a written source.

Question 55

Because content analysis is unobtrusive, there are no ethical concerns that researchers must attend to.

Question 56

When a research project is impacted by the participants knowing they are being studied, this is known as reactive effects

Question 57

When assessing the quality of a document for inclusion in a research project, authenticity has to do with whether or not the document is genuine.

Question 58

Representativeness refers to whether or not the contents of a document is free from error and/or distortion

Question 59

Personal documents are an excellent source of data because researchers can get a clear picture of the social reality.

Question 60

Historical documents are important sources of data in a content analysis study because they are easily applied to the larger society of the time.

Question 61

Freedman had difficulty finding evidence of the relationship between Van Waters and Thompson likely because Van Waters burned many of her letters.

Question 62

When using photographs as a data source, it is important not to take them at face value.

Question 63

Mowatt's examination of photos of lynchings in the late 19^th and early 20^th century showed that white people treated these acts as a recreational activity.

Question 64

Sutton's research of Disney theme parks found that generally people only kept photos that reminded them of the happy parts of their visit.

Question 65

Official documents are reliable documents at face-value.

Question 66

Jessen found that the Office of Civil Rights was correct in their assessment that there was no violation of students' civil rights when it came to school choice.

Question 67

Because it is so pervasive, it is not difficult to determine the authenticity of mass media outputs.

Question 68

The five W's are who, what, where, why, and when.

Question 69

Most researchers use extensive hidden recording equipment to take field notes so that they do not distract from the interactions.

Question 70

Content analysis can include non-textual sources.

Question 71

Websites are a good source of content for analysis because it is easy to determine if the person who created the site is an authority in that area.

Question 72

Because content analysis uses an unobtrusive approach, there is less concern about sampling than in other methodologies.

Question 73

Lamont, Park, and Ayala-Hurtado (2017) found in their content analysis of Donald Trump's campaign speeches that he often used negative terms to describe people of color.

Question 74

The coding manual provides a complete list of all categories for each dimension to be coded in a study.

Question 75

When using a value position as the unit of analysis, a quantitative approach would work best.

Question 76

What are some of the key features of content analysis? What does it mean that this research is called "unobtrusive?"

Question 77

What are the sources of data for content analysis research and what can researchers understand or learn from each type?

Question 78

How can a researcher assess the quality of documents included in a content analysis? Explain the criteria that can be used in your own words.

Question 79

Why are authenticity, accuracy, and representation concerns with the analysis of personal documents? Do these concerns mean that this information should not be used? Why or why not?

Question 80

What are Scott's (1990) recommendations when it comes to analysing photographs in a content analysis? What can we learn from photographs and how is our understanding limited?