RESEARCH DESIGN: MATERIAL AND METHODS
2.1.1 The method of qualitative content analysis: Theoretical background and procedures and procedures
The current study employed the “qualitative content analysis (QCA)”
method, considering its quality to portray the content of the textual information by identifying common patterns and themes in the text being analysed. In this dissertation, QCA is defined as a research method for the analysis of the content of text data through the systematic reliance on coding and categorization of data in assessing and grouping of written text in themes.
It is an approach employed in the social sciences to study the content of text data72 or the analysis of documents and texts (which may be printed or visual) that seeks to quantify content in terms of predetermined categories and in a systematic and replicable manner.73 A flexible method can be applied to a variety of media. It is usually treated as a research method because of its distinctive
72 Hsieh, Hsiu-Fang and Shannon, Sarah E. Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research,
2005, 15 (9); 1278 (Hsieh & Shannon 2005: 1278).
73 Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research (12th ed.). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2010: 530. (Babbie 2010).
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approach to analysis.74, 75 This method involves combining a disciplined emphasis on legal subject matter with a presumption that other researchers would have the chance to replicate the research results obtained. As Dhir points out, QCA aims to “make replicable and valid inferences from texts (other meaningful matter) to the contexts of their use”76 QCA could be described as a qualitative analytic method or a form of socio-legal research method for identifying, summarizing, organizing and analysing patterns or themes considered important or interesting within qualitative data; to tackle research question or issue being raised.77,78 It enables research in legal field more reliable with the essential epistemological underpinnings of related social science research.79 It is described as "the study of recorded human communications, such as books, websites, paintings and laws."80
As Baldwin and Davis observe, qualitative research in law emphasizes the use of direct methods of the institutions, rules, procedures, and personnel of the law, with an ultimate aim of understanding how they work and what effects they have.81 They went on to point out that qualitative research methods emphasize a thorough understanding of legal processes, usually concentrating on a small number of interactions, but assessing these from a multiple type of context, and perhaps over long periods of time. It may seem that the greatest strength of this approach tends to lie in its ability to reveal a greater understanding of the complexity involved in legal processes82, and the complex inherent link between process and outcome. It is also useful to explore people’s interpretations and the meaning they assign to legal events.83
74 Bryman, Alan. Social Research Methods, Oxford University Press, 2004:181.
(Bryman 2004).
75 Withrow, Brian L. Research methods in crime and justice. Routledge: UK. 2014:301.
76 Dhir, Tekjart Aaron A. Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity: Corporate Law, Governance and Diversity. Cambridge University Press: NY. 2015: 177 (Dhir 2015:177).
77 Braun, Virginia. and Clarke, Victoria. Using thematic analysis in psychology.
Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2006, 3 (2): 77-101.
78 Dhir 2015:177.
79 Hall & Wright 2008:65.
80 Babbie 2010: 530.
81 Baldwin and Davis 2003: 880.
82 Withrow, Brian L. Research methods in crime and justice. Routledge: UK. 2014:301.
83 Miles, Mathew B. and Huberman, Michael A. Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd edn.), London: Sage.1994 cited in Baldwin and Davis 2003:891. (Miles & Huberman 2003).
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Qualitative content analysis84 is one of numerous research methods used to analyse text data. Investigations carried out with content analysis showed that its use has a long history that is rich in tradition. The epistemological foundations of content analysis rely on Legal Realism, the analytical school of jurisprudence that discards Legal Formalism's search for autonomous legal doctrines that limit legal actors.85 Holmes famously proclaimed that "prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law." 86 Content analysis is of considerable importance in conventional doctrinal analysis as well as for more theoretically influenced work in major fields of jurisprudence, for example economic analysis or critical theory.87
Qualitative content analysis is being used in the identification of the characteristics of a wide spectrum of concepts of the Social Sciences.
Krippendorff88 found that scientific research in communication content can be traced to at least the late 1600s, when a need arose over the potential spread of non-religious matters and newspapers were evaluated by the Church because of its concern.89 This technique was introduced in the fields of study interrelating communication, sociology, and journalism in the 1950s and has been justified as a valid research tool in a thousand studies aimed at assessing a wide range of
84 Qualitative content analysis extends further than purely counting words to assessing language comprehensively with the objective of grouping large number of texts into a well-organized number of categories that represent similar meanings or connotations (Weber, Robert P. Basic Content Analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990.). (Weber 1990).
These categorized data can signify either explicit communication or inferred communication. The main purpose of content analysis is “to provide knowledge and understanding of the phenomenon under study” (Downe-Wamboldt, B. Content analysis: Method, applications, and issues. Health Care for Women International, 1992:314).(Downe-Wamboldt 1992).
85 See generally Brian Leiter, Rethinking Legal Realism: Toward a Naturalized Jurisprudence, 76 TEXAS L. REV. 267 1997).
86 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., The Path of the Law, 10 HARV. L. REV. 457, 461 (1897)
87 Hall, Mark A. and. Wright, Ronald F. Systematic Content Analysis of Judicial Opinions, Cal. L. Rev 2008:77 (Hall & Wright 2008:77).
88 Krippendorff, Klaus. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Beverly Hills, California: Sage 1980. (Krippendorff 1980)., cited in: Lewicki, Roy J, Gray, Barbara and Elliott, Michael. Making Sense if Intractable Environmental Conflicts:
Frames and Cases. U.S.A.: Island Press. (Krippendorff 1980).
89 ibid. See also Franzosi, Roberto (ed.). Content analysis. (SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods series: (Vols. 1-4)). London: SAGE Publications. 2008.
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data.90,91,92. Legal scholars systematically 93 selected and coded cases in the fields of labour law and zoning. The use of non-legal sources by courts and several other judicial approaches also occupied some early case coders.94 It is documented that famous legal scholars like Karl Llewellyn created a version of content analysis to study judicial rhetoric and decision-making.95 Another famous scholar called Richard Posner employed content analysis while researching the seminal study of negligence law. The research consisted of 1,528 cases.96.
Legal researchers systematically 97 chose and coded cases in the areas of labour law and zoning. Courts' utilization of non-legal sources and different
90 Fan, David P. Predictions of public opinion from the mass media: Computer content analysis and mathematical modeling. New York: Green Press 1988, cited in: Lewicki, Roy J, Gray, Barbara and Elliott, Michael. Making Sense if Intractable Environmental Conflicts: Frames and Cases. U.S.A.: Island Press. (Fan 1988).
91 Krippendorff 1980.
92 Strauss, Anselm and Cobin, Juliet. Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbery Park: Sage 1990 cited in: Lewicki, Roy J, Gray, Barbara and Elliott, Michael. Making Sense if Intractable Environmental Conflicts:
Frames and Cases. U.S.A.: Island Press. (Strauss and Cobin 1990).
93 Hall & Wright 2008:66 citing: Werner F. Grunbaumn & Albert Newhouse, Quantitative Analysis of Judicial Decisions: Some Problems in Prediction, 3 Hous. L.
Rev. 201 (1965).
Cf. Charles M. Haar, et al., Computer Power and Legal Reasoning: A Case Study of Judicial Decision Prediction in Zoning Amendment Cases, 2 AM. B. FOUND. RES. J.
651, 742 (1977) (referring to their content analysis as a "computerized restatement" of zoning law).
94Hall & Wright 2008:66 citing: Neil N. Bernstein, The Supreme Court and Secondary Source Material: 1965 Term, 57 Geo. L.J. 55 (1968); Richard A. Daynard, The Use of Social Policy in Judicial Decision Making, 56 Cornell L. Rev. 919 (1971).
95 Hall & Wright 2008:66 citing: Karl N. Llewellyn The common law tradition deciding appeals 102-103 (1960).
96Hall & Wright 2008:66 citing: Richard A. Posner, A Theory of Negligence, 1 J. Legal Stud. 29 (1972) (coding trial court records);, p. 29.
97See Werner F. Grunbaumn & Albert Newhouse, Quantitative Analysis of Judicial Decisions: Some Problems in Prediction, 3 HOUS. L. REV. 201 (1965);
Cf. Charles M. Haar, et al., Computer Power and Legal Reasoning: A Case Study of Judicial Decision Prediction in Zoning Amendment Cases, 2 AM. B. FOUND. RES. J.
651, 742 (1977) (referring to their content analysis as a "computerized restatement" of zoning law)
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other legal methods additionally involved some early case coders.98 It is recognised that acclaimed legal researchers like Karl Llewellyn made a variant of content analysis to examine judicial rhetoric and decision making.99 Another popular researcher called Richard Posner, utilized content analysis while looking into an original study of negligence law. The research consisted of 1,528 cases.100.
The use of QCA does have some weaknesses.101 The analytic themes are dependent on the particular content and problem at hand. This being the case, they can be made comprehensive by means of illustrations from different sources. The foregoing observation is consistent with the findings of Krippendorff,102 who conducted a research and found that QCA may be employed in researching on social problems but findings may only substantiate judgments with consequences when investigators make use of “concepts, categories and language of laws, enforceable agreements, or other institutional standards”103 relevant to the institutions affected with these issues and challenges.
2.1.2 Benefits of qualitative content analysis in the current study In this study, the compiled literature data were examined using QCA, with particular reference to forest laws and policies in the Sudan. QCA was generally used for the purpose of understanding the scientific aspects of the law itself as established in judicial opinions and other legal texts, a topic that plays to the advantage of legal researchers.104 More specifically, the main reason for the use
98 E.g., Neil N. Bernstein, The Supreme Court and Secondary Source Material: 1965 Term, 57 GEO. L.J. 55 (1968); Richard A. Daynard, The Use of Social Policy in Judicial DecisionMaking, 56 CORNELL L. REV. 919 (1971).
99 Llewellyn, Karl N. The common law tradition: Deciding appeals. Vol. 16. Quid Pro Books, 2016: 102-103.
100 Richard A. Posner, A Theory of Negligence, 1 J. LEGAL STUD. 29 (1972) (coding trial court records);, p. 29.
101 Berelson 1952:138
102 Krippendorff, Klaus. Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Los Angeles: Sage 2013:61(Krippendorff 2013).
103 Krippendorff 2013:61
104Hall, Mark A. and. Wright, Ronald F. Systematic Content Analysis of Judicial Opinions, Cal. L. Rev 2008:64 (Hall & Wright 2008:64).
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of content analysis in the current research is owing to the fact that the investigator finds it to be a versatile method that offers important advantages as stated below:105
1. QCA provides a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the issue under study;106
2. QCA provides detailed examination of the content of legal material;107 3. The coverage of content analysis spans the wide spectrum of subject areas
as well as having a focus on questions related to legal research methods,
“judicial decision making, and statutory interpretation;”108
4. It offers a scientific approach to clarify various environmental conventions and strategies regarding environmental protection and sustainable forest management;
5. It helps clarify the objectivity of social science to our level of understanding of law, 109 and management policy;
6. It plays a major role in conventional doctrinal analysis and may theoretically be a significant influence in fields of jurisprudence.110
7. It can facilitate valuable insights into historical/cultural events over time via the analysis of texts;
8. It helps to generate results that are more objective; easy to replicate;111 9. It has more ability to easily cover wide spectrum of cases;
105 Hall & Wright 2008: 87; See also: The Colorado State University Writing Centre (CSUWC). An Introduction to Content Analysis. The Colorado State University Writing Centre, USA. 2004:29. Available at: http://www.umsl.edu/~wilmarthp/mrpc-web-resources/content-analysis.pdf [Accessed:10th December, 2017]. (CSUWC 2004:29).
106 Withrow, Brian L. Research methods in crime and justice. Routledge: UK. 2014 (Withrow 2014: 301);
107 Salehijam, Maryam. The Value of Systematic Content Analysis in Legal Research Tilburg International Law Review. (2018) 23(1): 5. ( Salehijam 2018;5).
108 Hall & Wright 2008:73.
109 Hall, Mark A. and. Wright, Ronald F. Systematic Content Analysis of Judicial Opinions, Cal. L. Rev 2008:64 (Hall & Wright 2008:64).
110 Hall, Mark A. and. Wright, Ronald F. Systematic Content Analysis of Judicial Opinions, Cal. L. Rev 2008:77 (Hall & Wright 2008:77).
111 Dhir, Tekjart Aaron A. Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity: Corporate Law, Governance and Diversity. Cambridge University Press: NY. 2015: 177 (Dhir 2015:177).
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10. It is in itself a mixed method that allows two types of methods, namely quantitative and qualitative methods;
11. It can become close to text which can be flexible enough to alternate between particular categories and relationships;
12. It can also allow the coded form of texts to be statistically analysed.
13. It helps in interpreting texts for the aim of developing expert systems (owing to the ability to code both knowledge and rules in perspective of categorical statements with respect to the relationships between concepts);112
14. It offers comprehension of complicated “models of human concepts and their dynamics, and language use;”113
15. It enables research in the legal field to be more reliable with the essential epistemological underpinnings of related social science research. The method involves combination of a disciplined emphasis on legal subject matter with a presumption that other researchers would have the chance to replicate the research results obtained.114,115