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Content Coding

Learn how to create new measures through content coding, including defining variables, operationalizing them, training coders, and analyzing data. Includes guidelines for coding books and revisions.

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Content Coding

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  1. Content Coding Another way to “create” new measures

  2. What is source material to code? • Could be past: • Archival, Meta-analysis • Could be present: • Observational, Survey, Experiment • Could any aspect of Person or Situation • Affect, Behavior, Cognition, Physiology/Biology • Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Intergroup, Societal

  3. What to do after you find it? • Define Variables • Operationalize Variables • Create Coding Book • Train Coders • Pilot Test • Code the Material • Statistically Analyze Codings • Revise Coding or Coders (if necessary)

  4. (1) Define Variables • See prior material in class about Research Topics, Questions, Hypotheses Also… • Must have clear definition, be documented, explicit, and open to scrutiny • Must identify your inclusion and exclusion criteria • This is partly an a priori determination of what to investigate • This is partly an on-going dynamic process where you review the literature and decide what to investigate • This is partly an ad-hoc statement or summary of what you investigated

  5. (2) Operationalize Variables • See prior material in class about translating hypotheses into measures

  6. (3) Create Coding Book • Coding Book is a blue-print that identifies all variables and how to transform into quantitative analysis • What to include… (some options) • All your variables • Research respondents – sample size, age, sex, location, and all other demographic characteristics, etc. • Source information - publication form, date of publication, institution, country of publication, etc. • Historical and Contextual information – time frame, historical events that occurred during the time frame, linguistic or culture influences, etc. IF coding for surveys/experiments… • Type of IV - description, theory, type, levels, etc. • Type of DV - description, theory, type, levels, etc. • Aspects of Procedures – type, level, design • Aspects of Hypothesis/Theory

  7. (4) Train Coders • Identify number • If subjective coding, need two or more, and ideally three to five. • If objective, then one coder is sufficient • Meeting(s) • Train on coding manual • Resolve comprehension issues, ambiguity issues

  8. (5) Pilot Test • What to test? • Maybe includes small portion of actual material to be coded • Maybe includes similar, but not exact, material to be coded • Practice to produce consistency • Did the coder code the same way from the first entry to the last entry? • Might become more proficient and knowledgeable at end so code differently than first entry • Is there a break in coding of days, week, months? • Possibly refine coding manual and procedures

  9. (6) Code the Material • Coding the entire range of source material • Possible interim meetings to compare/contrast and discuss problems

  10. (7) Statistically Analyze • See Spring Statistics class

  11. (8) Revise Coding or Coders • If statistical analysis shows inconsistencies… • If coding errors discovered after the fact… • If coding bias discovered after the fact… • If realize want to include more source material or more variables… …, then repeat steps 1-7 including new coding or new coders

  12. Advanced Sources • The Handbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology, Edited by Reis and Judd, has good chapters on content coding: Chapter 12 and Chapter 8

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