Available Materials and Content Analysis
The first purpose of the use of available materials is to explore the nature of the data and the subjects, to get an insight into the total situation. A second purpose of available materials is to suggest hypothesis. A third use of available materials is to test hypothesis.
Content analysis is a method of studying and analyzing communications in a systematic, objective, and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables. Most content analysis has not been done to measure variables, as such. Rather, it has been used to determine the relative emphasis or frequency of various communication phenomena; propaganda, trends, styles, changes in content, readability.
Definition and Categorization of Universe
Categorization, or the partitioning of U, is perhaps the most important part of content anslysis. It is most important because it is a direct reflection of the theory and the problem of any study. It spells out, in effect, the variables of the hypothesis.
Units of Analysis
Berelson lists five major units of analysis: words, themes, characters, items, and space-time measures. The word is the smallest unit. The theme is a very useful though much more difficult unit. A theme is often a sentence, a proposition about something. Themes are combined into sets of themes. Like the theme, the item unit is important. The item is a whole production, an essay, a news story, a television program, a class recititation or discussion.
In my study: I believe that I can use the following catgorizations- Word Meaning, Contextual Meaning, Organization, Thought, Specifics, Express Ideas, Inferences, Literary Devices, and Determine Writer Purpose. These categories can be utilized to signify the passage of the Abstract to Concrete formation of the process of the C.T.C.C. idea, as discussed earlier in the Concept Paper.
Reference: Kerlinger, F. N. Foundations of Behavioral Research, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.New York, 1967
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