1. Home
  2. Science grid: The public understanding of science (2016)
  3. Seale

Analysis of health communication texts: UK press coverage of debates about assisted dying

Clive Seale

Abstract


Conventionally, social researchers analyse media messages by reading text and coding it. This is time consuming and restricts many studies to small samples. Nowadays very large amounts of text are available in electronic form, offering potential insights into the health messages they contain, but which appear daunting to the analyst with limited resources using conventional methods. I explain and illustrate methods for the computer-assisted analysis of media texts, using specialised software (Wordsmith Tools and Wordstat). These allow the analyst to provide a statistical overview of the key features of texts, to compare them (looking at change over time, for example) and to select illustrative quotations that epitomise the trends identified. 
 

Keywords


media texts; data analysis; computer assisted analysis; keyword analysis; text mining

Full Text: PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.6886

References


Eaton, L. (2009, 12 October). Trial that pays patients to take antipsychotic drugs comes under attack. British Medical Journal, 339, b4202. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b4202

Hall, C. (2007, January 27). NICE wants incentives for addicts days after refusing cancer drug. The Daily Telegraph, p. 8.

Parke, H., Ashcroft, R., Brown, R., Marteau, T. M., & Seale, C. (2013). Financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviour: An analysis of UK media coverage. Health Expectations, 16(3), 292–304. doi: 10.1111/j.1369-7625.2011.00719.x

Seale, C. (2005). Portrayals of treatment decision-making on popular breast and prostate cancer web sites. European Journal of Cancer Care, 14(2), 171–174. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2354.2005.00544.x

Seale, C. (2006). Gender acommodation in online cancer support groups. Health, 10(3), 345–360. doi: 10.1177/1363459306064495

Seale, C. (2008). Mapping the field of medical sociology: A comparative analysis of journals. Sociology of Health and Illness, 30(5), 677–695. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2008.01090.x

Seale, C., Boden, S., Lowe, P., Steinberg, D., & Williams, S. (2007). Media constructions of sleep and sleep disorders: A study of UK national newspapers. Social Science and Medicine, 65(3), 418–430.

Seale, C., & Charteris-Black, J. (2008a). The interaction of class and gender in illness narratives. Sociology, 42(3), 453–469. doi: 10.1177/0038038508088835

Seale, C., & Charteris-Black, J. (2008b). The interaction of age and gender in illness narratives. Ageing and Society, 28(7), 1025–1043. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X0800737X

Seale, C., & Charteris-Black, J. (2010). Keyword analysis: A new tool for qualitative research. In I. L. Bourgeault, R. DeVries, & R. Dingwall (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative methods in health research (pp. 536–556). London: SAGE.

Seale, C., Charteris-Black, J., Dumelow, C., Locock, J., & Ziebland, S. (2008). The effect of joint interviewing on the performance of gender. Field Methods, 20, 107–128. doi: 10.1177/1525822X07313837

Seale, C., Charteris-Black, J., & Ziebland, S. (2006). Gender, cancer experience and internet use: S comparative keyword analysis of interviews and online cancer support groups. Social Science and Medicine, 62(10), 2577–2590. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.11.016

Shearer, A. (1969, 30 April). Elderly should be «allowed to die». The Guardian, p. 5.

Shepherd, E., & Seale, C. (2014). Eating disorders in the media: The changing nature of newspaper reports. European Eating Disorders Review, 18(6), 486–495. In K. Eli, & S. Ulijaszek (Eds.), Obesity, eating disorders and the media (pp. 91–106). Farnham: Ashgate.

South Wales Echo. (2009, 30 April). New grant for mums-to-be. South Wales Echo, p. 9.

Street-Porter, J. (2008, 13 November). What we really need to solve our obesity epidemic. Belfast Telegraph, p. 36.

The Guardian (1935, 5 September). Problem of human suffering: Scientific euthanasia. Doctor urges its adoption. The Guardian, p. 6.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share