An In-Class Assignment for Doing Content Analysis

I love content analysis. Recently, I messed around with the idea of doing a content analysis of the HDTV show Love it or List It. An idea for an in-class assignment in my Research Methods course occurred to me yesterday when I was scrolling through pictures on my iPhone. I've had my iPhone for two years. It was fun to look back and reminisce through two years of pictures. I noticed that most of my pictures are of my kids. I tend to take pictures of my younger son when he sleeps in my car. I have some pictures of my older son after getting a haircut, and pictures of him reading. I have pictures of the kids eating. I also take the occasional selfie. Another category is pictures that capture home improvement projects in progress. I also take a lot of pictures of events and scenery in the city of Buffalo. There are lots of family pictures: my wife, my parents, my in-laws. I'll show a few pictures at the end.

As for the assignment, I'll ask students to pay attention to any themes they notice in looking through their pictures. I will, of course, tell them they don't have to share any information they deem to be sensitive. I'm guessing 20-year-olds take pictures that aren't all PG-13. But I imagine they could still break down their pictures into different categories. This will serve as an exercise to supplement an example of content analysis of teen magazines I share in class. Other good examples of content analysis include Philip Cohen's analysis of gender of New York Times writers and an analysis of sociology textbooks by Peter Kaufman and Richard Bente.

So here are some pictures that illustrate two main themes: kids and selfies. This is a sample of what's on my phone. What's on yours?

His first New York City pretzel!

Toward a Content Analysis of Love It or List It

What might a coding sheet look like for a content analysis of Love It or List It? 

Reason couple is deciding to move:

______More square footage

______Bigger yard

______Desperate for open concept kitchen

______I have no clue because current house is perfect

______Location

The couple:

______Likes each other

______Hates each other

______If you can't be with the one you love, buy a bigger house in a higher status neighborhood.

Budget:

______$200,000-$499,999

______$500,000-$999,999

______$1 million+

______How do these couples have a $1 million budget?

______What about people buying houses for less than $200,000?

The couple freaks out at some point in the episode because:

______The appliances aren't amazing.

______The storage options aren't amazing.

______The en suite isn't amazing (Who says en suite?!)

______I told you I want to stay in my current neighborhood!                                                                             

______There's no pool!

______Commute is too long.

______Only one and half bathrooms? 

The researcher doing the coding gets angry or jealous or some combination thereof because:

_____How are you not blown away by that bathroom?

_____Do you really need marble?

_____I admit to wanting that fireplace.

____You keep talking about entertaining but the New York Times said people don't have parties anymore.                                                                             

                                                                                      

____You seem wicked entitled and annoying and why am I watching this?

                                                                                        

The couple:

____is mildly annoying.

____is super annoying.

____One person in this couple is alright. 

The couple:

__________________________________________ Loves it

__________________________________________ Lists it