School of Communication Simon Fraser University

Jan Marontate Spring 2010

School of Communication Simon Fraser University

(Burnaby)

CMNS 801-5: Design and Methodology in Communication Research

Handout 15: Readings on Website Analysis

Required and recommended readings on Web based Content Analysis (Marsha Newbery)

Required Readings

Herring, S. C. (2004). Content Analysis for New Media: Rethinking the Paradigm. New Research for New Media: Innovative Research Methodologies Symposium Working Papers and Readings (pp. 47-66). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Herring discusses the use of Content Analysis (CA) for researching new media such as websites and computer-mediated communications. She argues that the traditional paradigm and methods of CA need to be expanded to deal with the unique challenges posed by researching the web. The article provides a short over-view of traditional and non-traditional approaches to Content Analysis and a good review of the main challenges posed when using this method to analyze new media.

Schneider, S. M., & Foot, K. A. (2004). The Web as an Object of Study. New Media & Society , 6 (1), 114-122.

In this short article the authors present their multi-method approach ‘web sphere analysis’ as a strategy for the defining of web-based texts and study of the world wide web. In addition they highlight three sets of approaches currently being used in web-related research and point out limitations in each approach. This is a short but highly-cited article that is an interesting addition to the scholarly discussion of the issues facing web-related research methods.

Brugger, N. (2009). Website History and the website as an object of study. New Media & Society , 11 (1&2), 115-132.

In this article Brugger examines the website as a unit of analysis, focusing on the field of website history and the problem of how to define the website as medium and text. He comments somewhat on other methods, including the Schneider and Foot ‘web sphere’ approach. He then reviews the challenges faced by the researcher in working with archived websites. Although his focus is on website history, his discussion is useful for any researcher working with the web as text.

Recommended:

Paul, C. (2007). Hub and terminal: Developing a method for textual analysis on the World Wide Web. Firstmonday , 12 (11).

Paul argues that traditional off line approaches for defining ‘texts’ for qualitative analysis are problematic on the world wide web. He proposes a ‘hub and terminal’ approach that relies on the hyperlink as the ‘glue’ that allows the researcher to delimit websites as texts. His approach has the advantage of being able to account for thematic connections and top level ownership to help the researcher understand where the appropriate boundaries might be for their particular study.

Weare, C., & Wan-Ying, L. (2000). Content Analysis of the World Wide Web: Opportunities and Challenges. Social Science Computer Review , 18 (3), 272-292.

The authors undertake a review of web-based content analysis studies and point out issues and opportunities that occur along each phase of traditional content analysis framework. (i.e.: sampling, unitization, categorization, etc) Despite being ‘old’ in web terms, the article is a good overview of the basic issues that exist with online content analysis.

Herring, S. C. (2009) Web Content Analysis: Expanding the Paradigm. To appear in The International Handbook of Internet Research. Springer. Hunsinger, J., Allen, M., Klastrup, L. eds

This article is largely an update of Herring’s earlier 2004 work, but replaces the analysis of sampling and coding issues with examples of expanded content analysis methods used in blogging research. It is useful for those interested in various web analysis methods as she expands on her call for a new methodological paradigm with a more developed outline of what she calls “Web Content Analysis”.

Brugger, N. (2007). The website as a unit of analysis: Bolter and Manovich revisited. Northern Lights , 5, 75-88.

In this article Brugger provides an over-view of the methodological issues facing web research, arguing that the website as a unit of text is the core unit of analysis. He compares his views specifically with the works of Bolter’s “Writing Space” and Manovich’s “The Language of New Media”, looking at their conceptions of ‘websites’ and calls for a stable and standard method of understanding websites. This is most useful when read in combination with his 2009 article.

Deacon, D. (2007). Yesterday’s Papers and Today’s Technology. Digital Newspaper Archives and ‘Push Button’ Content Analysis. European Journal of Communication, 22.1: 5–25.

Deacon considers the methodological aspects of using digital newspaper archives for analysis of media content. He points specifically to issues relating to validity (dependence on key-word searches, time limitations, lack of visual context) and reliability (inter and intra archive reliability, omissions, and unitization inconsistencies) that impact the usefulness of online archives. This is a useful article for pointing to important limitations of online search technology and calling for caution when using new technology for media research.

White, M. D., & Marsh E. E. (2006). Content Analysis: A Flexible Methodology. Library Trends. 55(1): 22-45

Drawing heavily on the work of Krippendorf and Neuendorf, the authors provide a useful overview of the differences between quantitative and qualitative Content analysis methodologies. They highlight various types studies that have used Content Analysis methodology with an eye to illustrating the types of research questions that can be addressed with this method. The authors review the basic procedures of formulating research questions, sampling, coding and analysis that are used for quantitative CA and then examine how each are different in a qualitative study.

Brugger, N. (2005). Archiving Websites: General Considerations and Strategies. The Centre for Internet Research, Arhaus, Denmark.

This is a lengthy but practical report on ‘micro-archiving’ of websites, which Brugger suggests is appropriate for use by students and researchers who have limited access to technology and support. He discusses possible archiving strategies and their methodological implications. This would be a useful document for anyone contemplating the practicalities of studying and archiving websites.