Thematic Proximity in Content Analysis

Andreas Armborst

SAGE Open, 2017, vol. 7, issue 2, 2158244017707797

Abstract: This article explains how to calculate thematic proximity within a mixed methods content analysis approach. Thematic proximity of two themes can indicate the presence of meta-themes. Meta-themes are themes which acquire their meaning through the systematic co-occurrence of two or more other themes. By combining qualitative and quantitative techniques of content analysis, the researcher can reveal these latent text patterns. Using a study on Jihadi media as a showcase, the article describes how to detect meta-themes through content analysis. To this end, the article introduces a novel theme-correlation coefficient that adds valuable information to traditional theme relation metrics. It enables researchers to make new empirical observations in text data.

Keywords: content analysis; concept mapping; qualitative content analysis; mixed methods; communication studies; communication; social sciences; human communication; Jihadi ideology; Jihadism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:7:y:2017:i:2:p:2158244017707797

DOI: 10.1177/2158244017707797

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