Interpreting the Arts and Crafts Movement in America through Content Analysis

Abstract

This article explains the use of content analysis as a methodological tool for analyzing art movements, styles, or trends. It describes how the method was used to identify key themes and presentation modes of the American Arts and Crafts movement as disseminated by two mass–circulation journals between 1901 and 1910. Findings indicate that the thematic content of House Beautiful and The Craftsman centered on the architectural expression of desired national characteristics and the moral and aesthetic aspects of architecture, and that they differed significantly in their publication of design and decorative themes. An instructional case study example shows how content analysis, in conjunction with traditional research methods, can be used by design historians, social historians, and material culturalists to derive quantitative data capable of providing a “cultural contour” of the past.