Content Analysis: A Technique for Measuring Attitudes Expressed in Environmental Education Literature

Abstract

Environmental education researchers have done little in the area of public relations material assessment, especially when photographs have been involved. Content analysis is an approach to documentary research involving archive material. The five steps of (1) defining the population, (2) determining the sample, (3) isolating the unit of analysis, (4) encoding the data, and (5) conducting the statistical analysis are necessary in conducting content analysis research. These five steps are discussed with examples of methods and results from a 1986 study of national forest brochures. This study included the written material, graphics of the title panel, as well as photographs. Results indicated that the brochures might identify more people actively engaged in appropriate forest recreation pursuits, depict a larger number of undomesticated animals, benefit from a lower reading level, and use a greater variety of graphic techniques on the title panel.