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

Authors

  • Clive Seale Brunel University London (UK).

DOI:

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

Keywords:

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

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. 

 

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Author Biography

Clive Seale, Brunel University London (UK).

Professor of Sociology at Brunel University in London (UK). He was editor for the journal Sociology of Health & Illness 2006-2012 and is the author of many papers and books such as Media & health and Qualitative research practice . In recent years, his research has focused on end-of-life care and health care communication.  

References

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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

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

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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.

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Published

2016-06-15

How to Cite

Seale, C. (2016). Analysis of health communication texts: UK press coverage of debates about assisted dying. Metode Science Studies Journal, (6), 235–240. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.6886
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Issue

Science grid: The public understanding of science (2016)

Section

Communicating health. Medical outreach efforts in the media

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