Coding Choices for Textual Analysis: A Comparison of Content Analysis and Map Analysis

TLDR

Content analysis extracts concepts from texts, whereas map analysis extracts concepts and their relationships, thereby subsuming content analysis. The study enumerates the coding decisions required before applying content‑analytic methods and the additional choices needed for map‑analytic procedures.

Abstract

Content and map analysis, procedures for coding and understanding texts, are described and contrasted. Where content analysis focuses on the extraction of concepts from texts, map analysis focuses on the extraction of both concepts and the relationships among them. Map analysis thus subsumes content analysis. Coding choices that must be made prior to employing content-analytic procedures are enumerated, as are additional coding choices necessary for employing map-analytic procedures. The discussion focuses on general issues that transcend specific software procedures for coding texts from either a content-analytic or map-analytic perspective.