Quantitative Content Analysis: Its Use in Technical Communication

Quantitative content analysis can enrich research in technical communication by identifying the frequency of thematic or rhetorical patterns and then exploring their relationship through inferential statistics. Over the last decade, the field has published few content analyses, and several of these...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on professional communication 2010-12, Vol.53 (4), p.346-357
Main Authors: Boettger, Ryan K, Palmer, Laura A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Content analysis
Content management
Design engineering
Dilution
Enrichment
Exact sciences and technology
Frames
Information and communication sciences
Information publishing, dissemination and reproduction
Information science. Documentation
quantitative research
Research initiatives
research methods
Rhetoric
Sciences and techniques of general use
Scientific and technical writing
Statistical inference
Statistics
Studies
Technical communication
Versatility
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Summary:Quantitative content analysis can enrich research in technical communication by identifying the frequency of thematic or rhetorical patterns and then exploring their relationship through inferential statistics. Over the last decade, the field has published few content analyses, and several of these applications have been qualitative, diluting the method's inherent rigor. This paper describes the versatility of quantitative content analysis and offers a broader application for its use in the field. This discussion frames two original case studies that illustrate the design variability that content analysis offers researchers.
ISSN:0361-1434
1558-1500
DOI:10.1109/TPC.2010.2077450