Content analysis is an analytic method used in either quantitative or qualitative research for the systematic reduction and interpretation of text or video data. Data can be generated from a variety of sources including (a) individual or focus group interviews; (b) responses to open-ended survey items; (c) text from social media; (d) printed materials such as research articles, newspapers, or books; (e) video-taped simulations; or (f) naturally occurring conversational events. It is also used in case study research. The aim of content analysis is to describe data as an abstract interpretation.

Use of content analysis as a research technique dates to the 1900s when it was used in communication research primarily to describe the quantity (frequency) rather than quality (meaning) of content contained in textual data. ...