Teaching Computerized Content Analysis for Undergraduate Research Papers

Content analysis is the process of turning text into data, with either automated or manual techniques, and it provides a feasible and attractive option for undergraduate students to develop and utilize original data. This article presents a cohesive framework for teaching computerized content analysis in undergraduate political science courses. The article discusses examples of how we have taught the techniques in our own classrooms and provides a framework for a content-analysis research assignment. We describe coding, sources of text data available to students, software recommendations appropriate for students, and write-up issues. In the process, we also discuss various learning opportunities that arise from both the strengths and weaknesses of computerized content analysis as a methodological strategy.