Working Draft
David L. Altheide
Arizona State University
Ethnographic content analysis (ECA) refers
to an integrated method, procedure, and technique for locating, identifying,
retrieving, and analyzing documents for their relevance, significance, and
meaning (Altheide 1987; Altheide
1996). The emphasis is on
discovery and description, including search for contexts, underlying meanings,
patterns, and processes, rather than mere quantity or numerical relationships
between two or more variables (Altheide 1996).
A document is defined as any symbolic
representation and meaning that can be recorded and/or retrieved for analysis. Document analysis will
expand as recording technologies improve and become more accessible, including
print and electronic media, audio tapes, visuals (e.g., photos, home videos),
clothing/fashion, internet materials, information bases (e.g., Lexis/Nexis),
field notes, etc.
ECA
or qualitative document analysis involves emergent and theoretical sampling (Glaser and Strauss 1967) of documents from information bases (including those developed by a
researcher, e.g., field notes), development of a protocol for more systematic
analysis, and then constant comparisons to clarify themes, frames, and
discourse. For example, if one is
interested in studying “TV violence,” it is not an act of violence per se that
is socially significant, but rather, how that act is linked to a course of action or a scenario as part
of an entertainment emphasis, e.g.,
"bad guys get shot by good guys in order to achieve justice." Or, that the use of violence is somehow
linked to bravery, cunning, skill, and of course, sex. The latter are themes or general messages
that are reiterated in specific scenarios. The aim, then, is to query how
behavior and events are placed in context, and what themes, frames, and
discourse are being presented. The
basic steps include:
·
Pursue
a specific problem to be investigated.
·
Become
familiar with the process and context of the information source, e.g.,
ethnographic studies of newspapers, television stations, etc. Explore possible sources (perhaps documents)
of information.
·
Become familiar with several (6-10) examples
of relevant documents, noting particularly the format. Select a unit of
analysis, e.g., each article (this may change).
·
List several items or categories (variables)
to guide data collection and draft a protocol (data collection sheet).
·
Test
the protocol by collecting data from several documents.
·
Revise
the protocol and select several additional cases to further refine the
protocol.
A dynamic use of ECA is by
"tracking discourse," or following certain issues, words, themes, and
frames over a period of time, across different issues, and across different
news media. Initial manifest coding incorporates emergent coding and
theoretical sampling in order to monitor changes in coverage and emphasis over
time and across topics. For example, in
a study of "fear" a protocol was constructed to obtain data about
date, location, author, format, topic, sources, theme, emphasis, and
grammatical use of fear (as noun, verb, adverb). The contexts for using the word “fear” were clarified through
theoretical sampling and constant comparison to delineate patterns and thematic
emphases (Altheide 2002). Materials were enumerated,
charted, and analyzed qualitatively using a Word Processor and a qualitative
data analysis program--NUD*IST-- as well as quantitatively.
Altheide, David L. 1987.
"Ethnographic Content Analysis." Qualitative
Sociology 10: 65-77.
—. 1996. Qualitative Media Analysis.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
—. 2002. Creating Fear: News and the Construction of
Crisis. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Glaser, Barney G., and
Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. Discovery of
grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine Pub.
Co.