Abstract
Quantitative data analysis is fun! Or it should be. Providing the research was soundly designed, analysing the data rewards you with either the insights you sought to gain or with new questions to investigate further. Quantitative methods are often used in media policy research, for example to obtain viewers’ attitudes to public service broadcasting, audience ratings for different types of media or evaluating how media content is impacted by regulation. In this chapter we offer a peek into this wonderful world, broadly describing the necessary steps to prepare and analyse your data, giving some practical pointers, cautions and best-practices along the way. We will discuss data cleaning and preparation, choosing the correct analysis technique, interpreting the results and reporting your data. Since each of these steps could on their own fill multiple books (and have already done so) we will limit ourselves to discussing the basic principles. More detailed information can be found in these many other books, five of which we highlight later on. Throughout this chapter it should become clear that when quantitatively analysing data (a) working systematically is crucial, (b) data preparation and analysis can never make up for sloppy research design or bad sampling and (c) clarity and transparency in describing research results and the techniques and tests used to obtain them is vital to allow interpretation and replication by other researchers.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
American Sociological Association. (2018). Code of ethics. Retrieved from www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/asa_code_of_ethics-june2018.pdf.
Babbie, E. R. (2010). The practice of social research (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bourdon, J., & Méadel, C. (2015). Ratings as politics. Television audience measurement and the state: An international comparison. International Journal of Communication, 9(1): 2243–2262.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cheng, A.-S., Fleischmann, K. R., Wang, P., Ishita, E., & Oard, D. W. (2012). The role of innovation and wealth in the net neutrality debate: A content analysis of human values in congressional and FCC hearings. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(7), 1360–1373.
Combs, J. G. (2010). Big samples and small effects: Let’s not trade relevance and rigor for power. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 9–13.
Donders, K., Van den Bulck, H., & Raats, T. (2018). The politics of pleasing: A critical analysis of multistakeholderism in Public Service Media policies in Flanders. Media, Culture and Society, online first. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443718782004.
Drew, C. J., Hardman, M. L., & Hosp, J. L. (2008). Designing and conducting research in education. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Field, A. P. (2017). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
International Communication Association. (n.d.). Mission statement. Retrieved from www.icahdq.org/page/MissionStatement.
Manheim, J. B., & Brians, C. L. (2011). Empirical political analysis: Quantitative and qualitative research methods. Boston: Longman.
McNabb, D. E. (2008). Research methods in public administration and nonprofit management: Quantitative and qualitative approaches (2nd ed.). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
McQuail, D. (1994). Mass communication theory: An introduction (3rd ed.). London: Sage.
Moore, D. S., & McCabe, G. P. (1997). Introduction to the practice of statistics (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman.
National Communication Association. (1999). A code of professional ethics for the communication scholar/teacher. Retrieved from www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/1999_Public_Statements_A_Code_of_Professional_Ethics_for_%20the_Communication_Scholar_Teacher_November.pdf.
National Council on Public Polls. (n.d.). The good & bad of weighting the data. Retrieved from http://www.ncpp.org/?q=node/39.
Paulussen, S., Panis, K., & Dhoest, A. (2015). De Vlaming over de VRT. Publieksbevraging 2015. Onderzoeksrapport in opdracht van de Vlaamse Overheid, Departement Cultuur, Jeugd, Sport en Media. Antwerpen: Universiteit Antwerpen, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, Departement Communicatiewetenschappen.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research methods for business students (4th ed.). Edinburgh Gate; Harlow: Pearson Education.
Sharma, S. (1996). Applied multivariate techniques. New York: Wiley.
Signorielli, N. (2005). Age-based ratings, content designations, and television content: Is there a problem? Mass Communication & Society, 8(4), 277–298.
Singh, K. (2007). Quantitative social research methods. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Social Research Association. (2003). Ethical guidelines. Retrieved from the-sra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ethics03.pdf.
Further Reading
Babbie, E. R. (2014). The practice of social research (14th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods (5th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Field, A. P. (2017). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.
McNabb, D. E. (2008). Research methods in public administration and nonprofit management: Quantitative and qualitative approaches (2nd ed.). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Moore, D. S., McCabe, G. P., & Craig, B. A. (2009). Introduction to the practice of statistics. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Sharma, S. (1996). Applied multivariate techniques. New York: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Minnebo, J., Cambré, B. (2019). Statistical Analysis. In: Van den Bulck, H., Puppis, M., Donders, K., Van Audenhove, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16065-4_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16065-4_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16064-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16065-4
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)