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The role of content analysis in political research

 

  • It is widely applicable to political documents
    • Speeches by political figures
    • Political party platforms or manifestos
    • Judicial decisions
    • Treaties
  • It has not been not widely used, because
    • It had been a labor-intensive, like "panning for gold"
      • Large quantities of text had to be processed
      • The expected yield was uncertain and often small
      • E.g., examining Nazi texts for changing references to "democracy"
    • It was not taught in political science courses