Content Analysis, Anthropology & Ethnography, and the Comparison

Content Analysis

It is defined as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding. Qualitative data capable to be converted into quantitative data.

Advantages

• It gathers useful informations from different aspects. For example; films, book contents, drawings and images.
• Low-price research method.
• No human contact.
• High ecological validity. (People will be writing about their real experience and feelings.)
• Easy to understand as everything is written down and it’s very straightforward.
• When it’s an excellent finish, it’s considered as relatively exact research.

Disadvantages

• Extremely time consuming.
• If the coding is done wrongly, the data gathered / findings are invalid.
• limited material available .
• It describes rather than explaining the reason behind it.(It is like explaining what, instead of why)
• The results of an analysis can be subjective opinions of an individual
• Increasing of errors when analysis is use to obtain a higher level of interpretation.

How to use this method?

There are questions that has to discussed: 

1. Which data are analyzed?
2. How are they defined?
3. What is the population from which they are drawn?
4. What is the context relative to which the data are analyzed?
5. What are the boundaries of the analysis?
6. What is the target of the inferences?

But problems can occur when documents are being assembled like this following:

• When a substantial number of documents from the population are missing, the content analysis must be abandoned
• Inappropriate records should be discarded, but a record should be kept of the reasons
• Some documents might match the requirements for analysis but just be cannot coded

Anthropology and Ethnology

Anthropology

It is a qualitative research method. It involves the study of media such as photography, film, art, music & dance. It studies the visual representations and its repercussions, so as a result it involves the study of cultures, relationships, humans, environments and societies. It is to understand, disseminate and analyse of visual forms.

Advantages

• Extremely detailed and in-depth
• Gives a lot of insight
• Sources are from the actual time period, increases accuracy

Disadvantages

• Extremely time consuming
• Ambiguous nature of sources and collected data
• Preference of written records over visual data

How to use this method?

• Identify the field study
• Develop questions as guidance
• Gather media resources/scout for photographs, videos, movements, paintings, articles etc.
• Thorough reading and understanding, cross-referencing
• Gather all necessary data
• Analysis of data
• Develop findings

Ethnology

It is qualitative research methods or process comes largely from the field of anthropology. This is where the art and science to define a group/culture. there will be no defined observation will be predicted and no ending point of the research. To conduct on-site or in a naturalistic setting in which real people live. In other words, learn from people from the inside.

Advantages

• It is personalized since you as the researcher are both observer and
• participant in the lives of those people
• Requires no expensive or elaborate tools or equipment
• Can be carried out almost at any place

Disadvantages

• Extremely time consuming
• Balancing the requirements of both participating and observing can be
• very difficult
• Ethical issues that may arise

How to use this method?

• Identify and locate a culture sharing group
• Choose cultural theme, issues or theories to study about
• Data collected within the context the culture group works or lives
• Ethnographer analyse the data collected from the group
• Come out with an overall interpretation
• Forge a holistic cultural portrait

After presentation last week, the lecturer gave us homework for Chinese New Year. The homework is movie viewing and she provided us some questions for us to answer. The movie I have to watched is James Cameron's Avatar. A good, long duration, and worth the time to watch movie. It's good thing the lecturer gave us this movie, or else I will get bored.

Questions and Answers about the movie viewing:

There are three (3) types of data collection methods in Field Studies. Intensive Interviewing, Group Interviewing and Observations.
1) In Intensive Interviewing, the person giving the information is called an ‘informant’. Name the ‘informant’ in the movie and explain how he/she shares information with the researcher.

Colonel Miles Quaritch –he omises Jake that the company will restore his legs if he gathers information about the Na'vi and the clan's gathering place.
intesive

Neytiri – introduce culture and society, teaching jake sully the way of the people, walk like them, live like them

Neytiri – Planning, asking

Jake Sully – Giving the information to colonel. Giving hope to the people that they have to fight against the sky people.

In Field Studies, there are four (4) types of researchers. Overt Participant Observer, Overt Non-Participant Observer, Covert Participant Observer and Covert Non-Participant Observer.
2) The researchers in the movie are overt observers. Name the character that is a participant observer and the one that is a non-participant observer. Describe how both of them collect information.
 Participant Observer
Jake Sully – try to learn the people. Send by colonel to gain trust, in order to make them move from home avoiding death.
 Non-participant observer
Grace – Try to connect with the people and blending in
Colonel – he doesn’t know Jake is choosing the other side.
Jake Sully – try to learn the people. Send by colonel to gain trust, in order to make them move from home avoiding death.
Dr. Norm Spellman – helping grace gathering sample
  Field Studies is a combination of emic and etic research.
3) In the movie, describe the kind of information gathered that can be constituted as emic/etic data

Etic
Grace and team gather info and military sees in their perspective
Jake sully as well before he understand the society

Emic
Grace and team see on their perspective
Jake sully become emic after he sees everything
 Data collection
Jake sully is vloging
Grace takes note