Uses of Content Analysis
Ole Holsti (1969) groups 15 uses of content analysis into three basic categories:
- make inferences about the antecedents of a communication
- describe and make inferences about characteristics of a communication
- make inferences about the effects of a communication.
He also places these uses into the context of the basic communication paradigm.
The following table shows fifteen uses of content analysis in terms of their general purpose, element of the communication paradigm to which they apply, and the general question they are intended to answer.
| Uses of Content Analysis by Purpose, Communication Element, and Question | ||||
| Purpose | Element | Question | Use | |
| Make inferences about the antecedents of communications | Source | Who? |
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| Encoding process | Why? |
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| Describe & make inferences about the characteristics of communications | Channel | How? |
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| Message | What? |
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| Recipient | To whom? |
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| Make inferences about the consequences of communications | Decoding process | With what effect? |
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| Note. Purpose, communication element, & question from Holsti (1969). Uses primarily from Berelson (1952) as adapted by Holsti (1969). | ||||
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