Deck 7: Content Analysis

Question 1

You are studying the diaries of a variety of pregnant women. Content analysis will help you understand ______.

A) the relationship between social class and likelihood of choosing natural childbirth over more medicalized methods of delivery
B) the effect of pregnancy on the women's perception of gender roles
C) the effect of the diaries on the people who read them
D) the cultural norms and expectations about pregnancy and birth that these women draw upon as they write about their experiences of it

Answer 1

the cultural norms and expectations about pregnancy and birth that these women draw upon as they write about their experiences of it

Question 2

You are studying the diaries of pregnant women. You are interested in how pregnancy fits into beauty norms. You count the number of times that they describe their bodies or changes in physical appearance, including keeping a running total of the particular words they use to describe their appearance. You are conducting what kind of content analysis?

A) quantitative
B) qualitative
C) critical
D) interpretivist

Answer 2

quantitative

Question 3

If you are conducting both qualitative and quantitative content analysis, which of the following are you most likely to use as your methodology?

A) positivism only
B) interpretivism only
C) positivism for the quantitative and interpretivist for the qualitative
D) positivism for the qualitative and interpretivist for the quantitative

Answer 3

positivism for the quantitative and interpretivist for the qualitative

Question 4

The goal of critical methodology is to ______.

A) show readers the hidden messages in the analyzed materials that they probably haven't noticed before
B) get inside the minds of the people who created the materials and understand the world through their eyes
C) test hypotheses and theories scientifically
D) understand the effect of the materials on consumers

Question 5

Objectivity for the critical social scientist means ______.

A) putting their own views and experiences aside
B) remaining neutral about their results and not to try to influence them in any direction
C) questioning the taken-for-granted in order to see things as they really are rather than as we have been led to believe
D) using scientific methods to remove as much personal bias as possible

Question 6

Critical methodologists are likely to sample for data by ______.

A) using random sampling to collect a representative sample
B) using convenience sampling for whatever is easiest to obtain
C) using snowball sampling
D) sampling material that best help build a convincing case

Question 7

How is theory most often used in qualitative content analysis research?

A) as the basis for changes suggested by applied researchers when drawing their conclusions from their analysis
B) to form and test hypotheses
C) to test theories of the middle range
D) as a lens through which to collect and interpret data

Question 8

Describe the ways in which theoretical perspective can affect the components of qualitative content analysis research.

Question 9

Which of the following is the most appropriate research question for content analysis?

A) How do tweets and Facebook posts about the killing of Black men by police officers affect public reaction to the police?
B) How do home improvement television shows portray gender roles?
C) What are the television viewing habits of teenagers?
D) What is the relationship between social media and bullying?

Question 10

Which of the following is the most appropriate research question for content analysis?

A) Why are there so many sexual references in music videos?
B) How does watching music videos affect young boys' ideas about femininity and masculinity?
C) How is male sexuality most often portrayed in pop culture today?
D) How do music videos reinforce toxic masculinity?

Question 11

How does watching crime shows affect people's perceptions of the amount of crime being committed in their community? Why is this a poor research question for content analysis?

A) It can't be studied with content analysis.
B) It doesn't specify a unit of analysis.
C) It is a hypothetical and is therefore unanswerable.
D) It doesn't make a comparison over time.

Question 12

How do anti-Trump memes affect support for President Trump's new policies? Why is this a poor research question for content analysis?

A) It doesn't specify a unit of analysis.
B) The memes are exaggerations, not accurate portrayals of President Trump, so shouldn't be used for content analysis.
C) It is a cause and effect question, and those aren't appropriate for content analysis.
D) It portrays obvious rather than subtle cultural messages.

Question 13

You are comparing television sitcoms with primarily Black actors from the 1980s to those in the current decade. You decide to select the 10 most-watched episodes from each of the five highest-rated Black sitcoms from each decade. You are using which type of sampling?

A) stratified sampling
B) theoretical sampling
C) convenience sampling
D) cluster sampling

Question 14

You are comparing songs from the Billboard Top 100 list from the 1970s to the current decade. You randomly select a number of weekly Billboard Chart lists from each of the two decades and analyze each song on the list. What type of sampling method are you using?

A) stratified sampling
B) theoretical sampling
C) convenience sampling
D) cluster sampling

Question 15

You are studying gender as portrayed in Marvel comics. Since most of the villains are male, and you want to be sure to capture gender portrayals of females as well, you divide them by the gender of the primary villain, and then do a simple random sample. Which sampling method are you using?

A) cluster sampling
B) stratified random sampling
C) theoretical sampling
D) systematic sampling

Question 16

You are analyzing the weekly covers on Time Magazine from 1945 to 2018 to see how representation of women has changed over time. Which of the following would be the most appropriate sampling method?

A) census
B) simple random sampling
C) convenience sampling
D) theoretical sampling

Question 17

You are analyzing pen pal e-mails between children in Kenya and the United States. Three social studies teachers at a junior high school in the United States have been using this pen pal project in their classes to promote cultural understanding and have been collecting copies of the e-mails over the last 10 years. Together, they have collected almost 50,000 e-mails. You draw the names of 25 students out of a hat and then read all of the e-mails exchanged between each of those students and their pen pals. Which form of sampling are you using?

A) stratified
B) theoretical
C) cluster
D) convenience

Question 18

Sometimes rather than using a coding sheet, researchers will instead upload the objects into a software package and code in the software program. What type of content analysis uses this technique?

A) quantitative content analysis
B) qualitative content analysis
C) both quantitative and qualitative content analyses
D) either quantitative or qualitative, but at the cost of lowering the validity of the research

Question 19

You create a multipage coding sheet for your quantitative content analysis. For each variable, you need to make sure that the categories are ______.

A) Exhaustive
B) randomized
C) open-ended
D) loosely structured

Question 20

Creating a coding sheet is the process of ______ for quantitative content analysis.

A) sampling
B) operationalizing
C) coding
D) conceptualizing

Question 21

Sometimes researchers don't use coding sheets for qualitative content analysis. What do they use instead?

A) codebooks
B) field notes
C) visual recordings of what they observe
D) qualitative analysis software

Question 22

In qualitative content analysis, coding sheets prompt with what kinds of questions?

A) open-ended
B) close-ended
C) loosely structured
D) randomized

Question 23

You are analyzing blogs written by single men and women about their experiences with dating. Will you need to get IRB approval for this research?

A) Yes, you would need to get IRB approval, but you don't need to get informed consent.
B) Yes, you would need to get IRB approval and informed consent.
C) No, you do not need to get IRB approval nor informed consent.
D) Yes, you would need to get an informed consent, but you don't need IRB approval.

Question 24

You are analyzing published memoirs of past and present women politicians in the United States. Will you need to get IRB approval for this research?

A) Yes, you would need to get IRB approval, but you don't need to get informed consent.
B) Yes, you would need to get IRB approval and informed consent.
C) No, you do not need to get IRB approval nor informed consent.
D) Yes, you would need to get an informed consent, but you don't need IRB approval.

Question 25

You are analyzing privately held letters and e-mails from now-deceased American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan written to their romantic partners that the partners have kept. Will you need to get informed consent for this research?

A) Yes, you would need to get informed consent from the romantic partner.
B) Yes, you would need to get informed consent from the U.S. military in case there is anything that could hurt the U.S. position in Afghanistan.
C) No, you would not need to get informed consent but you will need to get IRB approval.
D) No, you would not need to get either informed consent or IRB approval.

Question 26

You are analyzing Instagram posts by people who have cancer or other life-threatening illnesses. Will you need to get informed consent?

A) Yes, you would need to get informed consent from the person with the illness.
B) Yes, you would need to get informed consent from the family of the person with the illness.
C) No, you would not need to get informed consent but you will need to get IRB approval.
D) No, you would not need to get either informed consent or IRB approval.

Question 27

You should pretest your coding sheet on ______.

A) a highly diverse subsample of your larger sample
B) a randomly chosen subsample of your larger sample
C) a sample similar to your larger sample, but not actually drawn from it
D) a randomly chosen sample of the general population

Question 28

In addition to all the usual things included, a codebook for quantitative content analysis should also include ______.

A) Examples
B) space for your interpretations
C) space for open-ended answers
D) guidelines for choosing the response categories

Question 29

Quantitative content analysts should train the research team by having each member of the team code the same practice materials and then discuss their answers among the team. This is done in order to improve ______.

A) intercoder reliability
B) generalizability
C) intercoder validity
D) objectivity

Question 30

Through your analysis, you identify four different fundamental aspects of what it means to challenge racial stereotypes: critique, belief, action, and response. What type of pattern is this?

A) type
B) process
C) structure
D) magnitude

Question 31

Through your analysis of advertisements in women's health magazines, you find that references to age, physical health, and beauty are often used. This is what type of pattern?

A) type
B) process
C) structure
D) magnitude

Question 32

A valid qualitative analysis is one that ______.

A) uses examples to show the reader that the researcher's interpretations are supported by the data
B) has a high intercoder reliability rating
C) gathers the same detailed information from each object analyzed
D) finds at least three different kinds of patterns in the data during axial coding

Question 33

A valid quantitative analysis is one that ______

A) uses examples to show the reader that the researcher's interpretations are supported by the data
B) has a high intercoder reliability rating
C) gathers the same detailed information from each object analyzed
D) has variables that are well measured in the coding sheet

Question 34

List three benefits of conducting content analysis.

Question 35

What kinds of things can content analysis tell us, and what can't it tell us?

Question 36

Write a research question appropriate for content analysis.

Question 37

Write a research question appropriate for content analysis, and then describe the materials you would use to answer that research question.

Question 38

Write a research question appropriate for quantitative content analysis. Conceptualize and operationalize one variable that you would need to measure to answer this research question.

Question 39

Write a research question appropriate for qualitative content analysis. Conceptualize and operationalize one major idea that you would analyze via a coding sheet in order to answer your research question.

Question 40

You are doing a content analysis of war movies since 1945. Describe the steps you would take to sample for this research.

Question 41

You are doing a content analysis of music videos broadcast on MTV in the 1990s featuring female vocalists. What sampling decisions would you have to make? Describe all the steps you ultimately would take to draw your sample.

Question 42

You are analyzing pen pal e-mails between children in Kenya and the United States. Three social studies teachers at a junior high school in the United States have been using this pen pal project in their classes to promote cultural understanding and have been collecting copies of the e-mails over the last 10 years. Together, they have collected almost 50,000 e-mails. What sampling decisions would you have to make? Describe all the steps you ultimately would take to draw your sample.

Question 43

You are analyzing blogs written by single men and women about their experiences with dating. What sampling decisions would you have to make? Describe all the steps you ultimately would take to draw your sample.

Question 44

You are studying the portrayal of the intersection of gender and social class in infomercials. What sampling method would you choose? Explain the various decisions that led you to make this choice.

Question 45

Under what conditions would you use a census as your sampling method in content analysis research?

Question 46

You are analyzing privately held letters and e-mails written by now-deceased American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan to their romantic partners. What steps would you need to take to protect the letter writers and other people talked about in the letters and to generally keep the research in line with ethical guidelines?

Question 47

What steps would you take to increase intercoder reliability?

Question 48

How would you clean your data for quantitative content analysis?

Question 49

You are conducting qualitative content analysis. How would the steps you take to collect and analyze your data differ if you use coding sheets as compared to not using them?

Question 50

Describe open, axial, and selective coding in qualitative data analysis.

Question 51

Why do qualitative content analysts use memos?

Question 52

Compare how you would demonstrate validity differently for qualitative content analysis than for quantitative content analysis.

Question 53

What is the difference between reliability and validity for quantitative content analysis?

Question 54

You are interested in how relationships are formed and/or maintained while one or both partners are incarcerated. You are conducting content analysis of privately held letters between prison inmates and their romantic partners. Write a research question appropriate for content analysis.

Question 55

Describe the steps you would take to sample for this research.

Question 56

Which sampling method would you use and why?

Question 57

Conceptualize and operationalize one major idea that you would include on a coding sheet in order to help you answer your research question.

Question 58

What steps would you need to take to protect the letter writers and other people talked about in the letters and to generally keep the research in line with ethical guidelines?

Question 59

You are conducting content analysis on female Instagram celebrity posts to better understand the portrayal of beauty as a status symbol in U.S. pop culture. Write a research question appropriate for content analysis.

Question 60

Which sampling method would you use and why?

Question 61

Describe the steps you would take to sample for this research.

Question 62

Conceptualize and operationalize one major idea that you would include on a coding sheet in order to help you answer your research question.

Question 63

What steps would you need to take to protect the post authors and to generally keep the research in line with ethical guidelines?

Question 64

You are conducting content analysis of online dating profiles to better understand how men and women portray themselves when seeking a partner. Write a research question appropriate for content analysis.

Question 65

Which sampling method would you use and why?

Question 66

Describe the steps you would take to sample for this research.

Question 67

Conceptualize and operationalize one major idea that you would include on a coding sheet in order to help you answer your research question.

Question 68

What steps would you need to take to protect the post authors and to generally keep the research in line with ethical guidelines?