In: Psychology
Compare and contrast content analysis, surveys, and experiments as research methodologies.
Content analysis is a method used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of a text. Researchers argue them to be valid, replicable and objective inferences regarding the messages on the basis of certain rules. The suject material usually used for this comprises of: etters, diaries, newspaper, columns, folk songs, short stories, messages on radio, television, texts or symbols.
Surveys on the other hand comprises of collecting information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions. It could be a questionnaire which requires to be filled by respondents, interview schedules including telephonic interview surveys, etc. The respondents could also be given questions that are a mix of open ended and close ended.
Experiments are an empirical method wherein controlled and manipulated settings are used to understand the relationship between factors. The relationship may be a causal one or a correlational relationship. All the three methods are used for different purposes or conditions.