Description

The name of this technique can be quite misleading for someone unfamiliar with research methods. Contradictory to its name, content analysis technique does not examine the meanings of individual messages. Rather, it analyzes the way the messages have been delivered. Content analysis is a systematic, objective and quantitative analysis of message characteristics . Content analysis can be used to examine any piece of writing or occurrence of recorded communication. Utilizing the Meaning Extraction Method, combined with the content analysis, can provide the major themes occurring within the sample data, based on the co-occurrence of high frequency content words . Analyzing vast amounts of data is both challenging and time consuming. It is important to note that the presentation of information is just as, if not more, important then the message itself. Furthermore, even subtle changes in presentation provide valuable insights into message trends that are vital to the overall analysis.

For example, intelligence analysts can apply content analysis to current political speeches comparing those targeted at domestic and international audiences. Or they can analyze propaganda for hidden policy objectives or even fears within the leadership or bureaucracy. In Lying words: Predicting deception from linguistic style study, the researchers examined numerous truthful statements and lies. The final data suggested that truth-tellers used more 1st person singular words and fewer negative emotion words. The Do bilinguals have two personalities? A special case of frame switching study suggested that when bilinguals switch languages, their personality changes. In the Content Analysis of Jihadi Extremist Groups’ Videos , the researchers analyzed the data to see how terrorist’s groups campaigns and mode of operation changes over time to help suggest counterintelligence strategies.