Content analysis questions attached below
Content analysis assignment and marking grid Purpose: The goal of this assignment is to help you develop a better understanding of how qualitative analysis is conducted. Instead of statistical analysis, most qualitative researchers use some form of content analysis. We will discuss about content analysis in more details as part of the module on qualitative research (week 7). Content may be obtained from various sources such as interviews, focus groups, policy documents, media articles, etc. For this activity, I will ask you to do a content analysis of news articles on any topic related to public health, addictions and/or Aboriginal health. This is relevant because news articles have a broad audience and they can shape individuals’ opinions and attitudes. As indicated in the syllabus, this assignment is due on March 22. I have described below the steps that I expect you to take in order to complete this assignment successfully. 1. Choose a topic related to public health, addictions and/or Aboriginal health (this may be the same topic that you have used for your questionnaire or a different topic; it is your choice!). 2. Identify five news articles about the topic. Articles can come from newspapers (e.g., Lethbridge Herald, Globe and Mail, New York Times, etc.), websites of TV stations (e.g., CBC, CTV, etc.) or online news websites (e.g., Huffington Post, Metro, etc.), but not from personal blogs, business websites, or academic journals. They must be from different journalists (or columnists) to ensure that views expressed are diverse. Articles do not need to be long, but they must be related to the topic that you chose. 3. After reading the selected articles a few times, please identify the 4 main themes that emerge from the articles [note that if this was a ‘real’ qualitative study, I would not restrict the number of themes; I am doing so to ensure consistency in grading and to keep the assignment manageable for your workload]. If you cannot find at least 4 themes in the articles, this might suggest that they lack diversity. In this case, consider replacing at least one article. Please make sure that each theme identified is covered in at least 2 articles to allow for comparison. 4. Read the articles again and highlight the content of the text that relates to the identified themes (this is what qualitative researchers mean when they speak about “coding” text). You don’t need to submit copies of the articles with highlighting; this is just a way to assign parts of the text to the themes that you identified. 5. Based on your coding, please compare and contrast the content that relates to each theme separately. 6. Please consider whether the articles showed evidence of media bias. Media bias happens when the information is presented in such a way that it suits the interests of the journalist or the company who owns the journal. For more information about media bias, you can read this encyclopedia entry: https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/media-bias-in-canada https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/media-bias-in-canada Additional information Please submit your assignment via Moodle and make sure that it includes the components listed below. The percentage allocated to each component is provided in square brackets. Writing quality (including grammar, flow of ideas and formatting) is also worth 10%. 1. A brief introduction (one page maximum) about the importance of the topic and how you selected your articles. The introduction should end with a list of the main themes that you identified [10%; one page maximum] 2. A comparison of the articles based on the main themes that you identified in no more than four pages double-spaced (using standard margins and font size). To this end, please compare and contrast the views expressed in the articles. You should do that for each theme one by one. You can include a few short quotes from the articles to support your interpretations, but your comparison should not look like a collage of quotes. In other words, I should be able to see that you have interpreted the articles in your own words. For each theme, you should do a synthesis of the information from the articles; it should not look like separate Coles Notes (or Cliffs Notes)! [60% – 15% for each theme; about four pages in total]. 3. A discussion of media bias [15%; no more than two pages]. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the sources of bias that can affect the content of media articles. The discussion should finish with a brief conclusion about your content analysis. 4. References and citations [5%] should be provided in a consistent style. The five media articles should be listed in the references. If you use other references in your assignment, please use bold font for the media articles so that we can identify them easily. The assignment should be double-spaced and should include a title page. If you have any question, please let me know. Marking grid Component (marks) 100% 80% 60% 40% 0% Introduction and list of main themes from the articles (5%) The introduction is clear and concise and the list fully captures the main recurrent themes from the articles The introduction is clear and the list captures most of the main recurrent themes from the articles The introduction is generally clear and the list captures two of the main recurrent themes from the articles The list captures only one of the main themes from the articles The introduction lacks clarity and the list does not capture the main recurrent themes from the articles Content analysis for theme 1 (15%) A nuanced and thorough synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided In general, a nuanced synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided The analysis reads like separate Coles/Cliffs notes for each article rather than a synthesis The analysis provides a vague description of how the theme emerged in the articles The analysis does not provide a clear description of how the theme emerged in the articles Content analysis for theme 2 (15%) A nuanced and thorough synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided In general, a nuanced synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided The analysis reads like separate Coles/Cliffs notes for each article rather than a synthesis The analysis provides a vague description of how the theme emerged in the articles The analysis does not provide a clear description of how the theme emerged in the articles Content analysis for theme 3 (15%) A nuanced and thorough synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided In general, a nuanced synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided The analysis reads like separate Coles/Cliffs notes for each article rather than a synthesis The analysis provides a vague description of how the theme emerged in the articles The analysis does not provide a clear description of how the theme emerged in the articles Content analysis for theme 4 (15%) A nuanced and thorough synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided In general, a nuanced synthesis of the theme as discussed in the articles is provided The analysis reads like separate Coles/Cliffs notes for each article rather than a synthesis The analysis provides a vague description of how the theme emerged in the articles The analysis does not provide a clear description of how the theme emerged in the articles Discussion of media bias (15%) The discussion is thorough, nuanced and insightful. It demonstrates excellent critical analysis skills The discussion is fairly nuanced and insightful. It demonstrates good critical analysis skills The discussion shows some nuance and demonstrates acceptable critical analysis skills The discussion lacks nuance and depth. It demonstrates insufficient critical analysis skills The discussion clearly lacks nuance, depth and understanding of the concept of media bias Presentation of the assignment (e.g., The assignment is very well structured. The assignment is well structured. The structure, formatting and flow of The flow of ideas is sometimes unclear. The assignment includes so many grammar, syntax, punctuation, flow of ideas, formatting) (10%) The flow of ideas, formatting, and grammar is excellent The flow of ideas, formatting, and grammar is good ideas are acceptable. There are many grammar errors, but in general, the text is not difficult to read The assignment includes many errors and is sometimes difficult to read errors that it is very difficult to understand References and citations (5%) A complete list is provided and a consistent style is used for citations and references A complete list is provided. Citations and references are generally presented in a consistent way. Citations or references are presented in an inconsistent way. The list is incomplete. Citations and references are often presented in an inconsistent way. The list is incomplete or missing. Citations and references are presented in an inconsistent way. Markers cannot tell the 5 articles used for the content analysis