20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very thorough - but lamentable when it comes to discussing Text/Content Analysis Softwares., February 6, 2006
This is an excellent book that could have earned its fifth star if the author had nudged the content somewhat closer to the world of practical research. There's tons of good theory here, and I'm glad the author has included a history of content analysis also - but I felt the author didn't fully address the exigencies of the practical market or social researcher. Among the many uses of content analysis under discussion, the researchers' use of verbatims from surveys, or the analysis of transcripts from focus groups each receive only a glancing reference.
Still, Krippendorff discusses the subject with a lot more depth than an analyst might anticipate - after all codifying and measuring the subtle nuances of text (with respect to its context) is not a black and white matter of doing word counts and bar graphs.
Where this volume loses a star is on the subject of computer assisted text analysis (CATA). Here, Krippendorff cops out, stating that software evolution has been rapid, (true!) but then referring us to papers written in...1995. This is not good enough: not when the jacket says this edition includes "new information on computer-aided text analysis." Content Analysis was published in 2004 after all. Grrr!
But that's one star off, and it simply means that if you want a user guide to softwares, and how to employ these, then you need to look elsewhere. A simple Google search on Text Analysis Softwares will yield what you may need.
Overall, to be fair, Krippendorff sticks to the subtitle and gives us "an introduction to methodology" and this means that the book stays mostly in theoretical territory. The territory is extensive enough however for researchers who really want to grapple with the complexities of this as one of the very richest areas of cultural or marketing research. In summary, I feel a more user-oriented, (and stylistically more lively,) guide has yet to be written. In the meantime this lays a thorough foundation that is well worth a read. Put on your 'specialist' hat.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterpiece in Content Analysis literature, June 9, 2007
This is a masterpiece by a leading scholar. Of course, absolute beginners are suggested to first read some other introductory (better more than one ;-) ) text on content analysis, because this book is quite advanced (even though the title tells that it is an introduction...) and discusses issues that would not sometimes be comprehended without having some prior knowledge and range of perspectives in the field. Otherwise, it is thorough, reflexive and innovative, always making you think and argue with the writer while reading.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Promising parts, terrible whole, August 12, 2006
This book has some interesting insights in the content analysis, especially the analytical framework within which it occurs, but it is greatly marred by an insistent need to be hopelessly obscure in its writing. The author seems to be purposely attempting to put things in as difficult jargon (both in the sense of scholarly but more importantly in the sense of 'strange') as possible. This book strikes me as infinitely inferior to the book by Fico et al on the same topic.
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