Content Analysis in International Political Economy

Abstract

Abstract Content analysis is a research technique used to systematically describe the content of communication, with a view to its interpretation. Over the past two decades this technique has become highly relevant to key questions addressed by International Political Economy (IPE) scholars. This chapter traces the history of content analysis, its varieties, and ways in which it has transformed some research agendas in IPE. As such, the analysis shows that the method has come a long way, from a simple and opaque register (word frequencies, three-point coding schemes, non-transparent coding rules) to a register that is technically sophisticated (automated machine learning, sentiment analysis, author-topic modeling, text mining), transparent and layered with other formal methods (network analysis, sequence analysis, regression analysis). This sophistication has greatly benefited IPE and should be applauded. Yet with growing technical sophistication there emerges the danger of technological fetishism. The chapter suggests that IPE scholars should be mindful of this risk, keep the method flexible, pluralistic, and in touch with the qualitative evidence that has anchored the fundamentals of IPE.