Content Analysis

1
Content Analysis

• Academic Subject Specialist Positions in the
  United States A Content Analysis of Announcements
  from 1990 through 1998.
• Emily Glenn Anne Osterman
• Ron Epps Rebecca Rhodes
• April Wells

2
What is content analysis?

• Focus on communication
• Focus on particular aspects
• A count of the appearance of these aspects

3
Categories should be

• Solidly defined
• Mutually exclusive
• Relevant

4
The two types

• Conceptual
• Relational

5
Things to be wary of

• Creeping subjectivity
• Variation inside categories
• Reductive nature of the method

6
How have researchers in library science used
content analysis?

• To analyze popular materials
• To evaluate reference sources
• To discover library trends through job postings

7
Purpose of study

• To examine trends in subject specialist position
  announcements during the 1990s
• To analyze the characteristics of academic
  libraries hiring of subject specialists in three
  areas
• Business
• Social Science
• Science

8
Researchers Questions

• Required qualifications, work experiences,
  educational backgrounds?
• Degree in field?
• Responsibilities?
• Desired skills, experience, educational
  backgrounds?

9
 How was the Research Methodology Applied to the
Problem/Question? 

• Did White Generally Follow the Steps ?
• Yes, he generally followed the how to steps of
  conducting content analysis, but some of his
  descriptions were brief!
• What Categories Were the Researchers Coding the
  Content?
• The categories in which the researchers were
  coding was the contents of job announcements for
  business, social science, and science librarians.
• What Levels of Analysis Were Used?
• The level of analysis was individual words. The
  researcher chose to code for the single word AND
  sets of words as they appear in the job title of
  the position announcement. Each position
  announcement was individually analyzed.

10

• How Many Different Concepts Should The Researcher
  Code For ?
• There were ten different concepts outlined in the
  procedures section. They were applied to all
  announcements were interactive and
  pre-determined.
•  
• Existence Or Frequency Of Concepts?
• The researcher decided to code for frequency in
  order to analyze the most frequently requested
  characteristics of these kinds of librarians.
•  
• How To Distinguish Among Concepts?
• White lumped like terms together. He accounted
  for tenses and word order in the procedures
  section, specifically mentioning other...related
  terms. He mentions awareness of context of terms
  early in the procedures section.

11

• Irrelevant Information
• White eliminated duplicate job announcements and
  announcements for searches that had been
  reopened.
• Also, any job announcements that were reposted
  within 12 months were analyzed to determine if
  the content was the same. If so, they were
  eliminated.
• The Coding...
• This article did not mention of the coding was
  done by hand, or with a computer program.
•  
• Were Results Analyzed ?
• White made note of specific trends over time
  (especially increasing familiarity with
  electronic resources).
• He also proposed that changes in general
  librarianship are echoed in the job announcements
  of positions on special librarians.

12
Findings in Categories

• Position Titles
• Reporting Hierarchy
• Tenure/Faculty Track
• Job Responsibilities

• MLS/Degree Req.
• Required Skills
• Desired Skills
• Electronic Resources
• Salary listed

13
Salary Findings

• Average of All Announcements 1990-1998
• Business-29,719
• Social Science-30,153
• Science-28,128
• Higher than Average (Bowker)
• Increase Above Inflation

14
Problems in Finding Reports

• Totals not Percents
• Not Well Organized
• Dont Clearly Reference Sources
• Too Many Categories

15
Significance

• Shows how the descriptions and requirements for
  subject librarians have changed during the period
  of the study.
• The study shows how technology requirements have
  increased during the period of the study.

16
Disagreements With the Author

• This study provides insight into the job
  responsibilities, salaries, requirements, and
  desired qualifications of subject specialists in
  academic libraries (p.381).
• The study shows how the position description has
  changed, but it hasnt examined the work that the
  librarian is actually doing.
• The study only shows what the desired
  qualifications are, not what qualifications the
  accepted applicant had.
• The study didnt show what the salary that the
  applicant who accepted the job had, only what the
  advertised salary was.

17
Usefulness of Article

• Study useful for showing the terminology that is
  used to describe open positions.
• Study useful for those looking for employment as
  a subject librarian, to show what the terminology
  used means.
• The study is not useful for the day to day work
  of the library.

18
Summary

• Article tries to examine too many variables.
• There are too many charts and tables in the
  article, could have been summarized with
  percentages and statistics and been easier to
  follow.
• The article does show trends in the wording and
  requirements that have been used in job postings.