Monday 29 October 2012

If I can get Harry Potter involved, I am game

For my Peer Review assignment I have decided to rip apart (jks) President or Dictator? A Comparison of Cuban-American Media Coverage of Cuban News by G. D. Peterson et al. The reason I choose this particular article is because I am interested in content analysis. I think that it (content analysis) will be a method that is relevant to the research that my research proposal is proposing...enter Harry Potter. 

When I was looking for online resources on content analysis I came across this: Teaching Content Analysis Through Harry Potter. I try, very deliberately, to integrate Harry Potter (sans prologue) and various other fantasy series/novel/movies into my life, and here is an opportunity for me to do it academically and relevantly, score! Adam M. Messinger (the author) presents a compact crash course on context analysis by analyzing music from the Harry Potter films. He begins by briefly defining content analysis and its processes (sampling, coding, theory developing). Messinger then uses this method to analyze the music found in Harry Potter to uncover its (the music's) message with the aid of a coding sheet. The article was not spectacular, but it did clarify a few things about the method through application. Also, because it was meant as an learning exercise for undergraduates, it was easy to understand and it related the intents and purposes of content analysis clearly. It is fun and worth reading if you want to obtain a general understanding of content analysis (which I did not get from Luker). However, be warned: you will get Hedwig's theme song stuck in your head...which is not necessarily a bad thing.   


1 comment:

  1. I absolutely love this blog post. I might look up the article to read for fun.

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