About the Journal

The Database of Variables for Content Analysis DOCA provides open accessible examples of variables and their categories (values) used in content analysis. It is hosted by an open publishing environment at the University of Zurich.

DOCA has now been accessible for more than half a year. This provides grounds for us to evaluate the database. We would therefore be very grateful if you could take a maximum of 10 minutes to answer a few questions. The questionnaire is aimed both at people who know DOCA (or have even already used it) and at people who have never heard of DOCA before.

We are particularly interested in the perceived benefits and areas of application, the assessment of the content and the usability. We would like to use these findings to optimize DOCA. Thank you!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us: mfg@ikmz.uzh.ch

 

If you already know DOCA, please start the questionnaire. 

 

LINK

 

If you don't know DOCA yet, please take 2-3 minutes and browse the DOCA pages and then start the questionnaire:

• learn about the goals: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/doca/aboutthedatabase
• get familiar with the structure and the thematic sections: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/doca/index
• search for variables or author names: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/doca/search/search
• learn what criteria are used to select variables, how contributions are structured, or how to participate as an author: https://www.hope.uzh.ch/doca/faq

If you don't have much time or just need a refresher, please read the following short text "DOCA in a nutshell" and then start the questionnaire.

“DOCA in a nutshell”

DOCA provides entries for single variables (e.g. actors, issues,…) and more complex constructs (often measured by more than one variable e.g., americanization).

Each Database entry follows (more or less) the following structure:

1. A brief description of the variable or construct
2. A brief description of the most common field of application / theoretical foundation
3. (If applicable) References/combination with other methods of data collection
4. A sample operationalization including

• information about the selected study (research question/s; analyzed medium)
• information about the variable or construct (level of analysis, reliability score, categories/values)

5. (If available) the Codebook / Protocol or other relevant material

You can find relevant variables by either searching for a specific variable/construct or an author within your research area of interest. Alternatively, you can browse through the five thematic sections of the database:

- Basic variables

- Variables for research on news & journalism

- Variables for research on fiction & entertainment

- Variables for research on (professional) communicators & strategic communication

- Variables for research on user-generated media content