Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology

Content Analysis is considered one of the most important methodologies in communication research. Author Klaus Krippendorff's masterly summation of this method provides an introductory overview of the technique, as well as a comprehensive discussion of the key elements that need to be considered when it is used.

This book commences with a brief history, definitions, and conceptual framework. Considering the uses and kinds of inference that must be addressed, Krippendorf provides a sound introduction as to what can and what cannot be done with content analytic methods. He provides a logical design section, offers a way for designing units of analysis, and lays out a straightforward and understandable recording process as well as the data languages and inferential constructs necessary to undertake a content analytic research program. The uses of frequencies, associations, contingencies, discriminant analysis, clustering, and contextual classification provides the reader with opportunities for using the data generated. In addition, Content Analysis makes an important contribution to reliability and validity in communication research and should set the standard in this matter for students and professionals alike.