Theory-building with Nud.ist: Using computer assisted qualitative analysisin a media case study

We examine Nud.ist software in terms of its etheory-buildingi properties in order to access the extent to which Nud. ist can be used, not only to deve lop content categories, but also to develop a research method using two pot entially incompatible approaches. The methods, content analysis and discourse analysis, were used in a single case study on education news in the press. Our case study, on how news abo ut education issues gets constructed and framed by the national press into generalized themes and narratives, was initially informed by an extensive c ontent analysis of the news over a twelve month period. Having identified v ariations in press coverage, we then collected large quantities of media te xt on education issues, using Nud. ist to organize and to recode the subseq uent data. Having categorized the news extracts our aim was to then explore whether Nud. ist could assist a discourse analysis of the text.