Fall 2004
T510 Research Methods in Message Analysis
Class number: 26412
TR 1-2:15, TV 169
Susan Eastman

This is a seminar about methods of conducting content analysis of
video, online, and print entertainment and information.  For
Telecommunications and Journalism graduate students, it may fulfill
the MA requirement for a methods course and may be part of the
methods requirement for Journalism and Telecom PhD students.  It can
also help students who prepare to do theses.

There will be readings in three textbooks and about two-dozen
journal articles to summarize that illustrate various applications
of content analysis.  As a group, the class will conduct an original
research project, carrying it out from conception to journal or
conference submission.

Our objectives are to assess current practices, investigate the best
ways of conducting and reporting analyses of different types of
content, and then apply the best methods to a study we develop.
From an empirical, social scientific perspective, we will look at
(1) how to choose messages to (and sometimes from) audiences and
users for study; (2) how one might analyze them and interpret the
findings, including the influences of defining and measuring units
of analysis; and (3) how the requirements of reliability and
validity impose limits on data selection, collection, processing,
analysis, interpretation, and display of findings.  Grading will be
based on in class participation in discussions of readings and
proposals, preparation of a specific proposal, a midterm examination
about textbook readings and lectures, and individual contributions
to the final research project.

Parts of the following three textbooks will be required reading, and
copies of journal articles will be supplied or placed on reserve in
the Main Library.

Riffe, D., Lacy, S., & Fico, F. G.  (1998).  Analyzing media
messages: Using quantitative content analysis in research.  Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.   [paper]

Neuendorf, K. A.  (2002).  The content analysis guidebook.  Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage. [paper]

Reese, S.D., Gandy, Jr., O. H., & Grant, A. E. (Eds.).  (2001).
Framing public life: Perspectives on media and our understanding of
the social world.    Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.  [cloth]