6 ECTS credits
169 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1020517BNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Studenten communicatiewetenschappen die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, moeten geslaagd zijn voor 'Kwantitatieve methoden' en 'Kwalitatieve methoden' en geslaagd zijn voor minstens 60 ECTS-credits op bachelorniveau. Studenten sociologie moeten geslaagd zijn voor 'Inleiding onderzoeksmethoden voor mens- en maatschappijwetenschappen' en 'Kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden' en geslaagd zijn voor minstens 60 ECTS-credits op bachelorniveau. Studenten in het schakelprogramma of voorbereidingsprogramma communicatiewetenschappen die dit opleidingsonderdeel opnemen, zijn in hun vooropleiding bij voorkeur geslaagd voor een inleidend vak statistiek of hebben ook 'Kwantitatieve methoden' opgenomen. In de module kwantitatieve inhoudsanalyse wordt namelijk vertrokken van een basiskennis statistische data-analyse en SPSS.
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Communication Sciences
Educational team
Ronald Geerts
Jo Renate Bauwens (course titular)
Jana Goyvaerts
Activities and contact hours

21 contact hours Lecture
12 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
136 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

When the city of Brussels appears in the news, it is primarily with stories related to crime and insecurity. This is also the case in films. Already the titles of films set in Brussels, such as Black, Waste Land or Hellhole, suggest as much. On the covers of the weekly HUMO, women more often than men are depicted naked or scantily dressed. And Cowboy Henk is a socially critical comics hero. Since 2000, Belgian press coverage on Belgium's colonial past in Congo has become increasingly critical. Films and TV series on this topic are scarce.

These kinds of conclusions are reached applying content analysis. In this course you will learn to perform a content analysis yourself. More specifically, you will work with media content or media texts and discover how to analyze them in a quantitative and qualitative way. By media texts we mean the wide range of symbolic content created by the media and culture industry: TV programs, newspaper coverage, magazines, advertising, documentary, film, comics, etc.

Each year the course is centred around one overarching theme and explores this through two analytical approaches. In previous academic years, for example, we worked on the representation of Brussels in the media; on how the weekly HUMO reflects society and social change,; and on the representation of Belgian colonial history in Belgian media.

In the quantitative content analysis part, we perform a step by step quantitative content analysis. Various aspects of this method are explained:

  • Basic principles
  • Procedures (such as coder training)
  • Research tools (such as codebook and coding sheet)
  • Steps to go through (such as material selection)
  • Quality controls (such as reliability test)

The qualitative analysis of media texts focuses on narrative analysis.

  • We first examine how narrative structures are ubiquitous in social reality, why we constantly tell each other stories and how we use them.
  • We also examine what form and structure narratives take and how we can analyze them.
  • We focus on how the constituent parts of a narrative or narrative structure generate meanings, or in other words tell us something about reality.

As a methodology course, this course is aimed at learning to apply and execute all steps that entail a quantitative and qualitative analysis of media texts. In the lectures and tutorials, supported with slides and reader texts, you will become acquainted with the research phases, the underlying thinking frameworks, the principles, working methods and research instruments of the two types of content analysis. But you only really learn and understand a method if you implement it yourself. That is why there is no exam for this course, but an assignment in which you apply all this knowledge in practice.

Course material
Course text (Required) : (bundel readerteksten door de titularissen samengesteld)
Digital course material (Required) : (slides die de hoorcolleges en werkcolleges ondersteunen)
Additional info

This course is taught by two professors. Professor Bauwens is responsible for the introductory lectures and the quantitative content analysis, while Professor Geerts takes care of the narrative analysis.

For the assignments, students are assisted by one or more assistants.

Learning Outcomes

General Competencies

After completing this course, students can:

  • explain the guiding principles, principles and points of attention from the two content analysis research approaches discussed
  • explain the distinction between quantitative and qualitative analysis of media content
  • understand the principles of the approaches provided and their methodological consequences
  • distinguish the different phases in quantitative content analysis and narrative analysis
  • looking for relevant media texts to perform their analyses on
  • apply the subject matter (acquired knowledge and insights), under supervision, in their own research on one central theme that is provided by the education team
  • translate the system of content analysis methods into your own research
  • develop a relevant sub-question yourself that can be answered on the basis of the methodological approach and text units
  • reflect critically on the possibilities, limitations, strengths and weaknesses of various content analysis methods
  • synthesize the findings from the various studies
  • compare the findings from the various studies
  • to link the findings from the various studies
  • make a critical self-evaluation of the own research process

This course contributes to the following general learning objectives of the bachelor communication sciences and the students:

  • have insight into the underlying representation of man and society and (the historical development of) the premises of the various paradigms, the main theoretical movements, concepts and research traditions in general, and their approach to the relationship between media, communication and society in particular.
  • have knowledge about and insight into the research methods applicable in the field.
  • demonstrate a critical attitude towards source material and literature.
  • can develop their own scientifically substantiated judgment and act in the spirit of free research - that is from an open, critical-constructive and adogmatic attitude. They do not look for 'ultimate truths', but respond with an open attitude to scientific debates and the relative uncertainty of insights.
  • reflect on their own position as scientists, and critically identify and explicate their own assumptions.
  • demonstrate an honest, ethical and committed attitude that makes it possible to contribute in relevant ways to current scientific and social debates.
  • have the ability to communicate information, existing insights and their own research findings to various target groups, both in writing, orally and via the necessary multimedia support.
  • are able to learn and act independently, creatively, critically and enterprisingly.
  • apply knowledge of, and insight into, the various research methods and techniques of communication studies under supervision, at a general and starting level
  • are able to set up and complete research in the communication studies field inspired by, in the context of, or by analogy with existing research.

 

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Practical Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Quantitative Content Analysis with a relative weight of 60 which comprises 60% of the final mark.

    Note: Voor het onderdeel ‘kwantitatieve inhoudsanalyse’ (60%) bestaat de opdracht uit:

    1/ PROBLEMATISERING van de thematiek: a.d.h.v. wetenschappelijke literatuur een relevante probleemstelling en onderzoeksvraag ontwikkelen die betrekking heeft op het thema; op basis van de probleemstelling 3 hypothesen formuleren
    2/ ONDERZOEKSINSTRUMENTEN ontwerpen: input geven voor het ontwerp van een collectief codeboek mét codeerfiche
    3/ DATAVERZAMELING: de teksteenheden verzamelen volgens een aangereikte steekproefmethode
    4/ CODEREN: de teksteenheden coderen volgens het collectieve codeboek en codeerfiche
    5/ DATA-ANALYSE: een statistische analyse maken van de data
    6/ RAPPORTAGE: de resultaten bespreken en conclusies trekken met het oog op de probleemstelling, onderzoeksvraag en hypothesen
  • Narrative Analysis with a relative weight of 40 which comprises 40% of the final mark.

    Note: Voor het onderdeel ‘narratieve analyse’ (40%) bestaat de opdracht uit:

    1/ Behalve uitzondering wordt dezelfde PROBLEMATISERING van de thematiek gebruikt als voor de opdracht kwantitatieve inhoudsanalyse
    2/ Keuze van te analyseren narratieve tekst (volgens thematiek)
    4/ Narratieve analyse volgens de aangegeven procedure
    5/ Bespreken van de resultaten en conclusies over wat de teksten ons leren over de thematiek

Additional info regarding evaluation

The assessment consists of a two-part exam assignment in which the students make an analysis of the way in which different media address one specific theme / case - determined annually by the education team. The students work together in duos. In the assignment, the two analysis methods, which are presented in the lectures and tutorials, must be correctly applied. The assignment therefore consists of 2 components: a quantitative content analysis and a narrative analysis. The same duos work together for both components.

The students are assessed as a duo on various aspects:

  • the implementation of the various steps involved in the elaboration of the quantitative content analysis;
  •  the implementation of the various steps involved in the elaboration of a narrative analysis of media texts;
  • the quality of the written report

Students will find a concrete explanation of the exam assignment in the manual that is distributed via Canvas every academic year and which is discussed with the students in the first lecture.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Communication Studies: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Political Science and Sociology: - afstudeerrichting sociologie, minor communicatiewetenschappen (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Communication Studies: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Preparatory Programme Master of Science in Communication Studies: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)