CONTENT-ANALYSIS IN LEADERSHIP RESEARCH - EXAMPLES, PROCEDURES, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE USE

Content analysis is a method for analyzing written and oral textual ma terials which is used sparingly by organizational researchers. This pa per reminds leadership researchers that content analysis is in their m ethodology toolbox and reviews: what content analysis is and how it ha s evolved; examples of its use in leadership research; the variety of analysis techniques for which the results are suitable; and the streng ths and weaknesses associated with this method. In addition, a suggest ed procedure is presented to assist researchers in using content analy sis. Finally, the role of content analysis in future leadership resear ch is considered.