David L. Altheide

Bio: David L. Altheide is an academic researcher from Arizona State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mass media & News media. The author has an hindex of 32, co-authored 107 publications receiving 8366 citations. Previous affiliations of David L. Altheide include American Sociological Association.

Qualitative media analysis

Abstract: Chapter 1. Plugged in Research Chapter 2. Ethnographic Content Analysis Chapter 3. Process of Qualitative Document Analysis Chapter 4. Newspapers, Magazines, and Electronic Documents Chapter 5. Electronic Reality I Chapter 6. Electronic Reality II Chapter 7. Tracking Discourse Chapter 8. Field Notes and Other Data

Reflections: Ethnographic content analysis

Abstract: An ethnographic approach to document analysis is offered based on principles of qualitative data collection and analysis. It is proposed that numeric as well as narrative data be collected when studying such documents as TV new and movies. Ethnographic content analysis is briefly contrasted with conventional modes of quantitative content analysis to illustrate the usefulness of constant comparison for discovering emergent patterns, emphases and themes in an analysis of TV news coverage of the Iranian hostage situation. It is suggested that an ethnographic perspective can help delineate patterns of human action when document analysis is conceptualized as fieldwork.

Ethnographic Content Analysis

Abstract: ABS TRACT. An ethnographic approach to document analysis is offered based on principles of qualitative data collection and analysis. It is proposed that numeric as well as narrative data be collected when studying such documents as TV new and movies. Ethnographic content analysis is briefly contrasted with conventional modes of quantitative content analysis to illustrate the usefulness of constant comparison for discovering emergent patterns, emphases and themes in an analysis of TV news coverage of the Iranian hostage situation. It is suggested that an ethnographic perspective can help delineate patterns of human action when document analysis is conceptualized as fieldwork. It has been claimed that all research directly or indirectly involves participant observation in the selection of a topic, method of study, data collection, analysis and interpretation (cf. Cicourel, 1964; Johnson, 1975; Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983). While it may seem evident that any sustained inquiry is constituted through a complex and reflexive interaction process, it is also apparent that some research methods, e.g., ethnography, embrace this process; while others, e.g., survey research and content analysis, disavow it. In what follows, I suggest that several aspects of an ethnographic research approach can be applied to content analysis to produce ethnographic content analysis (ECA), which may be defined as the reflexive analysis of documents (cf. Plummer, 1983). ECA has been less widely recognized as a distinctive method, although various facets of this approach are apparent in document analyses by historians, literary scholars, and social scientists (cf. Plummer, 1983; Glaser and Strauss, 1967). However, to my knowledge, the method for accomplishing such “grounding” with documents has not been set forth

Terrorism and the politics of fear

Abstract: This article examines how news reports about terrorism in five nationally prominent U.S. newspapers reflect the terms and discourse associated with the politics of fear, or decision makers' promotion and use of audience beliefs and assumptions about danger, risk, and fear, to achieve certain goals. Qualitative data analysis of the prevalence and meaning of the words fear, victim, terrorism, and crime 18 months before and after the attacks of September 11, 2001, shows that terrorism and crime are now linked very closely with the expanding use of fear, there was a dramatic increase in linking terrorism to fear, coverage of crime and fear persisted but at a very low rate, and there was a large increase in news reports linking terrorism to victim. The implications for the social constructionist approach to social problems and social control are discussed.

The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers

Abstract: An Introduction to Codes and Coding Chapter Summary Purposes of the Manual What Is a Code? Codifying and Categorizing What Gets Coded? The Mechanics of Coding The Numbers of Codes Manual and CAQDAS Coding Solo and Team Coding Necessary Personal Attributes for Coding On Method Writing Analytic Memos Chapter Summary The Purposes of Analytic Memo-Writing What Is an Analytic Memo? Examples of Analytic Memos Coding and Categorizing Analytic Memos Grounded Theory and Its Coding Canon Analytic Memos on Visual Data First-Cycle Coding Methods Chapter Summary The Coding Cycles Selecting the Appropriate Coding Method(s) Overview of First-Cycle Coding Methods The Coding Methods Profiles Grammatical Methods Elemental Methods Affective Methods Literary and Language Methods Exploratory Methods Forms for Additional First-Cycle Coding Methods Theming the Data Procedural Methods After First-Cycle Coding Chapter Summary Post-Coding Transitions Eclectic Coding Code Mapping and Landscaping Operational Model Diagramming Additional Transition Methods Transitioning to Second-Cycle Coding Methods Second-Cycle Coding Methods Chapter Summary The Goals of Second-Cycle Methods Overview of Second-Cycle Coding Methods Second-Cycle Coding Methods Forms for Additional Second-Cycle Coding Methods After Second-Cycle Coding Chapter Summary Post-Coding and Pre-Writing Transitions Focusing Strategies From Coding to Theorizing Formatting Matters Writing about Coding Ordering and Re-Ordering Assistance from Others Closure Appendix A: A Glossary of Coding Methods Appendix B: A Glossary of Analytic Recommendations Appendix C: Field Note, Interview Transcript and Document Samples for Coding Appendix D: Exercises and Activities for Coding and Qualitative Data Analytic Skill Development References Index

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups

Abstract: Background. Qualitative research explores complex phenomena encountered by clinicians, health care providers, policy makers and consumers. Although partial checklists are available, no consolidated reporting framework exists for any type of qualitative design. Objective. To develop a checklist for explicit and comprehensive reporting of qualitative studies (indepth interviews and focus groups). Methods. We performed a comprehensive search in Cochrane and Campbell Protocols, Medline, CINAHL, systematic reviews of qualitative studies, author or reviewer guidelines of major medical journals and reference lists of relevant publications for existing checklists used to assess qualitative studies. Seventy-six items from 22 checklists were compiled into a comprehensive list. All items were grouped into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Duplicate items and those that were ambiguous, too broadly defined and impractical to assess were removed. Results. Items most frequently included in the checklists related to sampling method, setting for data collection, method of data collection, respondent validation of findings, method of recording data, description of the derivation of themes and inclusion of supporting quotations. We grouped all items into three domains: (i) research team and reflexivity, (ii) study design and (iii) data analysis and reporting. Conclusions. The criteria included in COREQ, a 32-item checklist, can help researchers to report important aspects of the research team, study methods, context of the study, findings, analysis and interpretations.

Whatever happened to qualitative description

Abstract: The general view of descriptive research as a lower level form of inquiry has influenced some researchers conducting qualitative research to claim methods they are really not using and not to claim the method they are using: namely, qualitative description. Qualitative descriptive studies have as their goal a comprehensive summary of events in the everyday terms of those events. Researchers conducting qualitative descriptive studies stay close to their data and to the surface of words and events. Qualitative descriptive designs typically are an eclectic but reasonable combination of sampling, and data collection, analysis, and re-presentation techniques. Qualitative descriptive study is the method of choice when straight descriptions of phenomena are desired.

Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract: (2000). Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 39, Getting Good Qualitative Data to Improve Eduational Practice, pp. 124-130.

Verification Strategies for Establishing Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research

Abstract: The rejection of reliability and validity in qualitative inquiry in the 1980s has resulted in an interesting shift for "ensuring rigor" from the investigator’s actions during the course of the research, to the reader or consumer of qualitative inquiry. The emphasis on strategies that are implemented during the research process has been replaced by strategies for evaluating trustworthiness and utility that are implemented once a study is completed. In this article, we argue that reliability and validity remain appropriate concepts for attaining rigor in qualitative research. We argue that qualitative researchers should reclaim responsibility for reliability and validity by implementing verification strategies integral and self-correcting during the conduct of inquiry itself. This ensures the attainment of rigor using strategies inherent within each qualitative design, and moves the responsibility for incorporating and maintaining reliability and validity from external reviewers’ judgements to the investigators themselves. Finally, we make a plea for a return to terminology for ensuring rigor that is used by mainstream science.