Content Analysis

Content analysis involves a series of steps designed to code, categorize, and summarize the elements within the content of what is being studied.  For example, we might want to analyze the statements that students make in evaluating faculty, the level of sophistication in students' analyses of whatever they might be studying and reporting, the content of student newspapers, the content of Presidential candidates' speeches, movie scripts, visual effects in TV news, and so forth.  The methods are not simple, may be aided by the use of specific computer tools, and may be quite time-consuming to employ.  Nevertheless, content analysis can serve researchers in a wide variety of ways and may provide insights into assessment results that we cannot otherwise capture. 

Resources:  

Colorado State University's Writing Guide:  Discussion of content analysis, including examples and bibliography

Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, by Klaus Krippendorf. Second Edition, 2004.

Content Analysis Software