A CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF CONTENT ANALYSES - 25 YEARS OF JOURNALISM QUARTERLY

Examination of the increasing number of articles employing quantitativ e content analysis in 1971-95 Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterl y showed primary focus on news/editorial content in U.S. media. Nearly half examined newspapers, and half were coauthored. Most used conveni ence or purposive samples. Few involved a second research method or ex tra-media data, explicit theoretical grounding, or research questions of hypotheses. Half reported intercoder reliability, and two-fifths us ed only descriptive statistics. Analysis of trends shows growth in coa uthorship and reporting of reliability, and increasing emphasis on mor e sophisticated statistical analysis. No parallel trend exists, howeve r, in use of explicit hypotheses/research questions or theoretical gro unding.