An Example of A content Analysis Study

1. An Example of A content Analysis Study Regina Soedarmara

2. Research Report Why? Research Perspective What research Framework Guided Our Study? What methodology used? What were the Findings?

3. WHY“Portrayal of Teachers in Children’s Literature and Film” Background Began gathering a text set of picture storybooks that focused on teachers, teaching and the school environment Beware of the negative images of teachers Beware that not many teachers had not had the opportunity to critically examine images of their own profession in the popular media Teacher unaware of the negative portrayals in children’s literature Research or Opinion? Gather articles from several different books. Give example Rationale Pre-service teachers need to analyze via media images their personal motivations and expectations of the teaching profession and enter into teaching with clear understandings of how the broad culture perceives their work.

4. Research Perspective

5. What Research Framework? Justification of method To answer questions concerning the elements of children’s texts Examine the ‘character’ of the texts Sampling, data collection, data analysis and interpretation Multiple readings of the picture storybooks

6. Research Methodology Sample Use Follett Library Resources database –find 62 titles and 96 teacher images published from 1965 to present Noted details of each teacher representation in aspects of appearance, language, subject, approach and effectiveness. Good Definition The specific details that were seeking under each category for each teacher represented in the sample literature are further describe Entered data in categories about each teacher representation onto forms, then reviewed in order to group the individually represented teachers into 4 more specific categories: positive, negative representations,mixed review and neutral.

7. What were the findings? Good Details The teachers in children’s picture storybooks is portrayed as white, non-Hispanik women 8 representations of African-American 2 Asians No Native Americans The teacher in picture storybooks who is sensitive, competent and able to manage a classroom effectively is a minority 42% teacher described as a ‘positive teacher’ which include an ability to construct meaningful learning environments, compassions, respect and management skills The negative outnumbered the positive images 15% were represented as ‘neutral’ The teacher in children’s picture story books is static, unchanging and flat. Teacher aren’t shown as learners. The teacher in children’s picture story books is polarized- 15% neutral images, 2 out of 96 qualified as a mixed review

8. Analysis of the Study

9. Purpose / Justification • A clear statement of purpose is not found. • The abstract suggests it’s “to probe the power of stereotypes/cliches.” • But it appears that the purpose is “to provide further evidence on the way in which teachers are portrayed in children’s picture storybooks. • The study is adequately justified in terms of importance to children’s education and public perception of teachers.

10. Definitions • Clear definitions are provided for the major categories of the content analysis and for the details of teacher representation. • The term “image” should have been defined because it is prominent throughout and has several possible meanings.

11. Prior Research & Hypothesis • Numerous references are given but there is insufficient detail to enable the reader to determine whether the “conclusion” cited are based on a study or opinion. • No hypothesis are stated. The implied hypothesis is “teacher images in storybooks are generally unrealistic and negative”

12. Sample • The sample was: • All picture storybooks addressing teachers and schools • Between 1965-2005 • Consists of 96 teacher images from 62 books • The target population (intended age range) of the books are not stated clearly.

13. Instrumentation • The method of deriving categories is well described. • Reliability was assessed through inter-rater agreement. • The definitions of major categories seem straightforward and supported by the rater. • Good examples are given and support validity.

14. Internal Validity • Internal validity is not a major issue because the study does not focus on relationships. • Definitions of major categories imply high correlations among the variables in each category. • The author fails to address the effect of possible changes over time (from 1965-2005). • Question of whether their results are accurate for recent storybooks could have been studied.

15. Results /Interpretation • Presented as percentages in each of the categories. • Examples given greatly help clarify the findings. • In general, the interpretation is consistent with the results. • The author’s conclusion is not the customary conclusion based on the study but rather an extension into implications from a much broader context.