UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

Content analysis is a research technique used to make replicable and valid inferences from texts or other meaningful matter to the contexts of their use. It involves systematically coding units of content into categories and then counting or analysing these frequencies. This allows researchers to quantify and interpret patterns in communication messages. Therefore, the systematic descriptive and quantitative study of message content is called content analysis.

Option A:
Content analysis requires clear definitions of coding categories and rules so that different coders can classify material consistently. It can be applied to newspapers, television programmes, social media posts and interview transcripts. These features correspond closely to the description in the stem.

Option B:
Ethnography is a qualitative method involving immersion in a cultural or social setting to understand practices and meanings through observation and participation. It does not primarily involve quantitative coding and frequency counts of communication content. Hence, ethnography is not the correct completion.

Option C:
A case study focuses on an in-depth examination of a particular case or small number of cases using multiple sources of evidence; it may use content analysis as one tool but is not itself defined as a communication content technique. Thus, case study is not appropriate here.

Option D:
Phenomenology explores lived experiences and the essence of phenomena from the viewpoint of participants, relying mainly on qualitative descriptions and interpretations rather than systematic quantitative coding of texts. Therefore, phenomenology does not fit the definition in the question.