Mass Media Research: An Introduction, 8th Edition Instructor’s Manual (стр. 4 )

True/False

Subjects who are required to answer a long questionnaire are more likely to have negative attitudes about the interview experience. (T) In-depth interviews may provide more accurate responses to sensitive issues than do other survey techniques. (T) One advantage of focus groups is that the results can always be generalized to the population. (F) Case studies are most valuable when researchers want to collect a lot of information. (T) Both positivist and interpretive researchers consider multiple realities in their studies. (F) Ethnographic studies are generally conducted over long periods of time. (T)

Fill in the Blank

Case studies can be described as (particularistic) since they focus on a specific situation, event, program, or phenomenon. (Member checks) is a technique for checking reliability and validity of qualitative research. (Snowball) sampling is a technique where a field observation participant refers the researcher to other potential participants who, in turn, refers her or him to other potential participants. The field researcher must have a/an (exit) plan so that leaving the setting of the study will not be upsetting to the subjects. (Ethnographic research) can be similar to a case study, although field observation is usually the central method used, but the name is often misused as a synonym for qualitative research in general. One of the problems with online focus groups is that the moderator cannot see the (nonverbal behaviors) of the group.

Short Answer

Discuss advantages and disadvantages of field observations. Some researchers claim that, excluding data collection, there are no fundamental differences between qualitative and quantitative research. What is your opinion about this perspective? Describe a project where a qualitative method would serve as a first step for a quantitative study. Describe a project where a qualitative study would follow a quantitative study.

Chapter 6 - Content Analysis

Overview

This chapter discusses content analysis. Content analysis is popular with mass media researchers because it is an efficient way to investigate the content of the media. Modern content analysis developed from research by the military in World War II. After the war, researchers used content analysis to study propaganda in newspapers and radio. Mass media researchers in academic areas adopted this method to analyze content on cultural products, such as magazine, newspaper, radio, and TV.

There are five main purposes of content analysis but remember that it is difficult to classify and categorize studies as varied and diverse as those using content analysis. Content analysis is useful for: 1) describing communication content; 2) testing hypotheses of message characteristics; 3) comparing media content to the “real world;” 4) assessing the image of particular groups in society; and 5) establishing a starting point for studies of media effects.

Despite its usefulness, content analysis alone cannot serve as a basis for making statements about the effects of content on an audience. That is, a certain amount of exposure to a TV commercial is not equal to the same amount of product purchasing by the audience. In addition, there are some additional limitations of content analysis: 1) different researchers may use varying definition to measure a single concept; 2) many topics or characters receive little exposure in the mass media; and 3) content analysis is frequently time-consuming and expensive.

Content analysis is conducted in several discrete stages: 1) formulating the research question or hypothesis; 2) defining the population in question; 3) selecting an appropriate sample from the population; 4) selecting and defining a unit of analysis 5) constructing the categories of content to be analyzed; 6) establishing a quantification system; 7) training coders and conducting a pilot study; 8) coding the content according to establishing definitions; 9) analyzing the collected data; and 10) drawing conclusions and searching for indications.

In content analysis, reliability and validity checks are very important before researchers begin the main data collection phase of their project. This chapter introduces several formulas to compute intercoder reliability. After selecting a subsample (usually 10%-20%) from the population, researchers should measure the degree of agreement among coders in terms of Holsti’s percentage of agreement, Scott pi, or Cohen’s kappa. As a rule, most published content analyses report a minimum reliability coefficient of about 90% or above when using Holsti’s formula, and about.75 or above when using pi or alpha.

This chapter also covers Internet research as related to content analysis. However, although there are many areas to investigate, including the content of banner or pop-up ads, chat room discussions, personal web pages, email, homepages of commercial media, political campaign websites, and online news coverage, reliability may be questioned because there is no sampling frame and the content of existing sites is constantly changing. Internet research provides content analysts with many challenges.

Exercises

Have students conduct a content analysis of the front page of the school newspaper. Show a 15-minute clip of “Cops” to your students and code the ethnicity of suspects and police officers on the coding sheet after some training. Using Holsti’s percentage of agreement, calculate intercoder reliability.

Multiple Choice

1.  What is an inappropriate definition of content analysis? Content analysis is…

a)  Systematic

b)  Objective

c)  Introspective

d)  Quantitative

2.  One purpose of content analysis is to. . .

a)  Describe media effects

b)  Test hypotheses of audience behaviors

c)  Compare media content with the real world

d)  Assess the correlation between content and behavior

3.  What is a method of sampling in content analysis?

a)  Composite week

b)  Likert scale

c)  Semantic differential

d)  Snowball sampling

4.  Of following, which is an inappropriate statement? Content analysis categories must:

a)  Be mutually exclusive

b)  Have the property of exhaustivity

c)  Be reliable

d)  Should be inexpensive

5.  Of following, which is a formula to check intercoder reliability?

a)  Holsti’s pi

b)  Kappa’s pi

c)  Cohen’s pi

d)  Scott’s pi

6.  In content analysis, what is the most commonly used statistical tool?

a)  Regression

b)  Chi-square

c)  MANOVA

d)  Correlation

7.  In a content analysis, the unit of analysis:

a)  Is selected after all the data have been coded

b)  Must be measured at the interval level

c)  Must be operationally defined

d)  Is determined by the sampling technique

8.  Most descriptive content analysis relies on_____ validity.

a)  Face

b)  Concurrent

c)  Predictive

d)  Constant

True/False

All content under consideration is treated in exactly the same manner. (T) It is rare to achieve perfect objectivity in a content analysis. (T) Content analysis can serve as the sole basis for claims about media effects. (F) Content analyses do not have well-formulated research questions or hypotheses in the private sector. (F) A pilot study should be conducted with a fresh set of coders who are given some initial training to impart familiarity with the instructions and the methods of the study. (T)

Fill in the Blank

Two dimensions are usually used to determine the appropriate universe for a content analysis: (topic area) and (time period). A (composite week) refers to a technique using a sample of one Monday, one Tuesday, and so on, until all weekdays have been included. Quantification in content analysis can involve all four of the levels of data measurement, although usually only (nominal), (interval), and (ratio) data are used. The smallest element of a content analysis is the (unit of analysis).

Short Answer

When you content analyze Internet websites, what are some factors that might have an impact on reliability? What type of sampling procedure would you use in an analysis of the front-page headline of the New York Times from 1965-2001? Why? Discuss the five purposes or uses of content analysis that can be applied in mass media research.

Chapter 7 - Survey Research

Overview

This chapter introduces the basics of survey research. There are two major types of surveys: descriptive and analytical. The former attempts to describe or document current conditions or attitudes whereas the latter tries to describe and explain why a situation exists. The advantages and disadvantages of survey research are rveys have several advantages including, 1) they can be used to investigate problems in realistic settings; 2) the cost of surveys is reasonable considering the amount of information gathered; 3) a large amount of data can be collected with relative ease from a variety of people; 4) surveys are not constrained by geographic boundaries; and 5) data helpful to survey research already exist.

While survey research has many advantages over other research approaches, it is not a perfect research methodology because: 1) independent variables cannot be manipulated the way they are in laboratory experiments; 2) inappropriate wording or placement of questions within a questionnaire can bias results; 3) the wrong respondents may be included in survey research; and 4) some survey research is difficult to conduct.

This chapter provides practical procedures for constructing questionnaires, question wording, and questionnaire design. It also includes examples to show how a question or an interviewing approach may elicit a specific response.

The chapter introduces researchers to a variety of data collection methods: mail surveys, telephone surveys, personal interviews, computer assisted personal interviewing, mall interviews, disk-by-mail surveys, Internet surveys, and group administration. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed.