Content Analysis Assignment

A content analysis is when you count things. Not just random things, of course. You count things that you've determined will help you deal with hypotheses. You have to come up wtihn dependent and independent variables, establish relationships between them and propose hyptoheses. You have to determine how you define your variables - and then how you measure them (what you're going to count). We have practiced these steps in class, so take notes and be thinking about your project. Here is a sample of a content analysis article I did that you can look at - i analyzed 400 websites. This isn't the final version of the writing, but the data anslysis is pretty much all there.

The proposal for the project is due on 9/19 - what you need to include is listed on your syllabus. The literature review for this project is due 10/3. The completed assigment is due at the beginning of class on Monday October 24.

Here some content you can choose to analyze for your project. I'm putting limits on what you can study for this project for two reasons. For some topics, cool as they might seem, there is just nothing to read about for the literature review part of the paper or not enough data to code. The second reason is that there are some topics that I am sick of reading about or have absolutely no interest in at all - i can't get excited about reading papers on those topics and don't want that to affect your grade. So here are the topics I think would work out ok for content analysis projects. You can look in games themselves, in ads for games, on covers of videogame magazines, in trailers for games, in movies made about/from video games, websites about videogames, tv ads for videogames, the actual video game box. The content has to relate to video games in some way. That means - no ads from Maxim for cars, no stories from Seventeen about how to get a boyfriend.

  • representations of gender
  • representations of violence
  • representations of game players
  • representations of race
  • representations of genre
  • what kind of games get promoted on mag covers
  • levels of brand integration in advergames
  • how companies promote their videogames on the web
  • relationship between ratings and game content (or game trailer)

The paper has to be least 10 pages long. It may very well be longer. This includes your literature review, a description of your data and your coding process (your definitions), your statistical analysis and whether your hypotheses are supported or not, and then your discussion and conclusion. You have to have a bibliography - that isn't included in the 10 pages

Here are the guidelines for how i want the paper formatted and what I'm looking for.

  • Turned in on time - no late papers will be accepted unless approved by me ahead of time. Late = 0 points. No excuses. No "the printer ate my homework" or "my disk crashed" or "I got a virus". Save it in a couple of places. Save it often. Print out drafts in case you have to retype it if the disk is corrupt. Don't wait till class starts to print - that's too late. The lab is open late.
  • The paper should show evidence that you have synthesized information from a variety of sources. One way to show this is to have multiple sources on each topic - not one single source for a section of the paper. One way NOT to show this is to have lots of quotes from different articles - that doesn't show that you have synthesized the material, just that you know how to cut and paste.
  • Writing should show results of some analysis - talk about the numbers in your tables. Tell what the numbers mean - by themselves and in relation to other numbers, findings in other articles. Don't just make list of facts - show evidence of some thoughtfulness
  • Correct bibliography style - and use in-text citations. I am going to be a stickler about this this semester. You need to know how to do these for classes you will take later on in Park. So learn proper bibliography style and learn it now.
  • After style - the quality of the bibliography is important. Meet the minimum number of (high quality) bibliography items. That minimum is 5 sources - more is always better.
  • Correct length (not too short, longer is ok)
  • No grammar or typing mistakes - proofread, spell check, print out and edit - don't turn in first drafts as final products.
  • The paper should be double spaced (not triple), in 12 point or smaller font, Times or Times Roman. One inch margins all around (not 1.5 inches that for some reason Word thinks is standard - learn how to change margins.) Staple the paper in the upper left corner - no paperclips, no dog eared corners - look professional. No folders or plastic covers - just a title page with project name and group members. Be sure to include page numbers. These criteria are important - they're not magic - but you have to learn to follow directions because clients may have very specific production requirements that you will have to follow. So get used to it. These things will be checked first - if they're not met - you'll get the paper back to be redone.

This page last updated 12 September 2005 by Kim Gregson


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