The Environmental Justice and Sustainability Research Toolbox

Key Topics in Engage in Module:

1. Content analysis
2. Archival research and using archives
3. Coding software

Module Learning Outcomes:

• Understand key steps in conducting in content analysis.
• Learn how to engage in archival research through the Archives & Special Collections resources at the SCU Library.
• Learn how archival research can complement other research methods.
• Understand the different types of coding software.

I. Content Analysis

Readings:

• Berke, P., & Godschalk, D. (2009). Searching for the Good Plan: A Meta-Analysis of Plan Quality Studies. Journal of Planning Literature, 23(3), 227–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412208327014
• Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
• Neuendorf, K. (2017). The content analysis guidebook (Second ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781071802878

II. Archival Research

Readings:

• Carter, R. G. (2006). Of things said and unsaid: Power, archival silences, and power in Silence. Archivaria, 215-233.
• Caswell, M., Migoni, A. A., Geraci, N., & Cifor, M. (2017). 'To Be Able to Imagine Otherwise': community archives and the importance of representation. Archives & Records, 38(1), 5-26. 
• Flinn, A., Stevens, M., & Shepherd, E. (2009). Whos memories, whose archives? Independent community archives, autonomy and the mainstream. Archival Science, 9(1-2), 71.
• Wakimoto, D. K., Bruce, C., & Partridge, H. (2013). Archivist as activist: lessons from three queer community archives in California. Archival Science, 13(4), 293-316.

Videos:

III. Coding Software

Readings:

• Long J. (2021, April 6). Calculating Krippendorff's Alpha in R. RPubs. https://rpubs.com/jacoblong/content-analysis-krippendorff-alpha-R
• Salkind, N. J. (2010). Encyclopedia of research design (Vols. 1-0). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412961288

Videos:

Research Archival Research Guide:

• BIPOC SCU Student Archival Resources - Introduction

Individual Assignment on Archival Research:

• Read the article "Sisterhood & Scholarship While Black". Write how you could model the author's approach by connecting archival data that would help you explore your own positionality and an issue that you care about.

Team Assignment:

• Case study of how climate change is covered in mainstream newspapers. Read this summary article about changes over time. Read the academic article by Boykoff et al. showing the research of trends over time. Find 10 articles that mention climate change in 3 local/regional newspapers (look for ones published in the last two weeks). Use the five categories in the Boykoff et al. article to count the number of climate change articles per publication and quickly clarify coverage. Discuss these results in the context of the article, and assess the broader work of the Media and Climate Change Observatory.