Selecting daily newspapers for content analysis in China: A comparison of sampling methods and sample sizes

Yunya Song*, Tsan-Kuo Chang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study compares different sampling methods and sample sizes in the selection of daily newspapers in China for content analysis of the news. Results show that the method of constructed week sampling is more efficient than simple random sampling or consecutive day sampling, and a single constructed week allows reliable estimates of news content in a population of six months of newspaper editions even for highly volatile variables. The weekday-plus-Saturday constructed week sampling, an often-used sampling stratification approach in content analyses of Chinese daily newspapers, however, requires a larger sample size, depending on the types of variables being analyzed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)356-369
Number of pages14
JournalJournalism Studies
Volume13
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2012

Keywords

  • Chinese daily newspaper
  • comparative analysis
  • constructed week
  • content analysis
  • newspaper sample size
  • newspaper sampling methods

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