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11.3 Content analysis 301

11.3 CONTENT ANALYSIS

Widely used in vastly different domains, content analysis refers to the process of
developing a representative description of text or other unstructured input. Stemler
(2001) summarized previous work (i.e., Berelson, 1952) and stated that content
analysis is a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text
into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding. A broader definition
proposed by Holsti (1969) allows for other types of information, defining content
analysis as “any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically
identifying specified characteristics of messages” (p. 14). According to this defini-
tion, content analysis not only applies to textual information, but also to multimedia
materials, such as drawings, music, and videos.
Content analysis is normally in-depth analysis that searches for theoretical inter-
pretations that may generate new knowledge. As described by Corbin and Strauss
(Corbin and Strauss, 2014), this type of analysis “presents description that embod-
ies well-constructed themes/categories, development of context, and explanations of
process or change over time” (p. 51). Although many people think content analysis
is a qualitative research method, both quantitative and qualitative techniques can be
used in the process of content analysis (Neuendorf, 2002).

11.3.1 WHAT IS CONTENT?

The target of content analysis usually covers two categories: media content and audi-
ence content. Media content can be any material in printed publications (e.g., books,
journals, magazines, newspapers, and brochures), broadcast programs (e.g., TV or
radio programs), websites (e.g., news websites, web portals, personal websites, or
blogs), or any other types of recording (e.g., photos, films, or music).
Audience content is feedback directly or indirectly collected from an audi-
ence group. Audience content can be collected through a variety of methods such
as surveys, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, diaries, and observations.
Traditionally, information collected via those methods is text based. In the HCI field,
researchers and practitioners frequently collect both text-based information and
multimedia-based information from the participants. Text or multimedia informa-
tion used for content analysis can be collected through a variety of methods listed in
Table 11.1. For more detailed information on each of those data collection methods,
please refer to Chapters 5–9.

11.3.2 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER BEFORE CONTENT ANALYSIS
Before you start analyzing the data, you need to consider several questions that can
help frame the scope of the content analysis as well as the specific techniques that
should be used for the analysis (Krippendorff, 1980).
First, you need to have a clear definition for the data set that is going to be analyzed.
In some studies the definition of the data set is very straightforward. For example, if