Quantitative Newspaper Content Analysis – Christian Caron

Each student will be designing, conducting and writing up the results of a research project. The objectives are both to apply some of the sociological knowledge learned during the course, and to gain an appreciation for what is involved in the practice of sociology through the pursuit of an actual research project. The particular type of research project students will pursue is a quantitative newspaper content analysis. Content analysis is the study of recorded human communication. This includes detailed, systematic analysis of “text” to identify patterns or themes. Content analysis examine data in order to understand what they mean to people, what they enable or prevent, and what the information conveyed by them does. A quantitative analysis differs from a qualitative analysis because it attempts to ‘quantify’ the problem by way of generating numerical data you can then use to uncover patterns in research. We do this by classifying features, counting them, and attempting to explain what is being observed. The skills and knowledge necessary will be developed through weekly tutorials taking place between September and March, and digitally on Portal through your own TA’s Corner. Your portfolio will contain your work-in-progress through the various stages of the project. Your ultimate research report you will submit for assessment at the end of March will include sections on your topic/literature review, on your designed research question and its rationale, on your operationalization/coding scheme, on data collection/sampling, on your findings, on your discussion of these findings and offering a tentative answer, on the strengths and weaknesses of your research project. Completing this project you will learn about the key role played by each of these aspects of the research design process, and how together can possibly lead to sociological knowledge. The research report HAS to be between 7.5 and 8 double-spaced pages (not including title page, bibliography, and the appendix), 12pt font (Arial or Times New Roman), with one inch margin all around. Note: turning in a longer report is not an option. Part of the difficulty associated with the research report writing process is summarizing your research in a concise way by making decisions about how to best use the space you have. The outcome of your work needs to be written following the structure of a research report which should include the following sections, in order (you will use these as sub-heading in your report) and sticking to the page requirements: Title page (does not count towards 7.5-8 pages) 1-Introduction (½ page) 2-Topic/Lit Review (1 page) 3-Research Question/Rationale (½ page) 4-Operationalization/Coding Schemes (2 pages) 5-Sampling/Data Gathering (½ page) 6-Findings/Crosstabs (1 page) 7-Discussion/Data Analysis/Answer (1 page) 8-Reflection/Strengths/Challenges (½ page) 9-Conclusion (½ page)