Computer-Assisted Text Analysis

This book provides an up-to-date picture of the main methods for the quantitative analysis of text. Popping begins by overviewing the background and the conceptual foundations of the field, introducing the latest developments. He then concentrates on a comprehensive coverage of the traditional thematic approaches of text analysis, followed by the newer developments in semantic and network text analysis methodologies. Finally, the author examines the relationship between content analysis and other kinds of text analysis - from qualitative research, linguistic analysis and information retrieval.Computer-assisted Text Analysis focuses on the methodological and practical issues of coding and handling data, including sampling, reliability and validity issues, and includes a useful appendix of computer programs for text analysis.The methods described are applicable across a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities as well as, for example, practitioners from the fields ofpolitical science, journalism., communication, marketing and information systems.

Roel Popping is with the Department of Sociology and the Department of Social Science Information Technology at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands