Conduct a thematic content analysis using inductive coding

Qualitative methods of research
Overview: Conduct a thematic content analysis using inductive coding. This coding involves gathering
and assessing primary data, developing a code tree based on inductive assessments of that data, coding
the data, and then making broad observations and analysis based on that coding. There are multiple
options for data sources. The submission will include two documents: one with the primary source data
and the other with discussion of analysis. Both are described below.
Instructions:
● Primary Source Data
○ Select Type of Data: Data can come from one of a few sources (listed below), but should
be a total of 4-5 typed pages of text. This text should be accumulated into a single
document and submitted with the assignment. You should identify the source(s) of the
data. Data sources may include one of the following:
○ Political Text: You may choose to select primary political texts for analysis that
may, but are not required to, overlap with your final research report. You should
select at least two texts that total 4-5 typed pages. The texts should be primary
source, so could include speech transcripts, testimony transcripts, op-eds, or
similar types of text.
● Analysis Paper: This paper should be about 4 pages in length (double spaced) including table
formatting, with each of the below sections clearly delineated with appropriate headings.
○ Introduction: You should include an introductory paragraph to provide an overview of the
topic or data source you have selected and why.
○ Justify Data Range: You should provide 1-2 paragraphs on why and how you selected
your data range and what biases may have been introduced or avoided by doing so. For
political texts, this should involve a description of why certain texts were chosen and not
others.
○ Code Tree and Code Count:
○ Code Tree: Using the source data, you should then inductively analyze the data
to identify the major and minor themes that appear in the text. Using these
themes, you should build a code-tree, which will be included in the paper. This
final code tree should be included as a 2-column table in the report. There should
be 5-10 parent codes, with child codes included as appropriate.
○ Code Count: Using the code tree, you should then code your data and collect the
total counts for each code, which should be included in the code tree table. All
text coded for a child code should also be coded as the parent code, but
not all parent codes will have child codes (i.e., “up-coding”).
○ Sample Table: The code count table format example:
Code Name Code Count
Parent Code 23
Child Code 11
Sub-Child Code 4
Sub-Child Code 5
Child Code 7
Parent Code 6
○ Analysis of Text: Using this coding scheme, you should then prepare a 1-page written
analysis of your chosen text. This analysis should identify the major themes within the
text, as measured both by code count and perceived importance of the topic. It should
use relevant or quotes to support major points, and also include contradictory points if
and where relevant.
○ Reflection on the Coding Process: At the end, you should reflect on this experience in
2 paragraphs. This should include, but is not limited to, how content analysis was useful,
any challenges you experienced, why you chose to exclude any codes (e.g. for low code
count), why you chose to include codes that did have a low count, what the limitations of
your analysis were and why, and how other qualitative or quantitative measures could
further support your analyses.