News Media Tracking of Tobacco Control: A Review of Sampling Methodologies

Authors: Douglas Evans, W.¹; Ulasevich, Alec²

Source: Journal of Health Communication, Volume 10, Number 5, July-August 2005 , pp. 403-417(15)

Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd

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Abstract:

News media tracking can be used to understand the content of news coverage and quantify its influence on public opinion and the social environment. We hypothesize that a parsimonious sampling of public health news coverage can gather statistically equivalent information to capture a census of coverage. We tested two general approaches to sampling. First, we randomly selected articles within a timeframe. Second, we randomly selected dates during 2000. None of these strategies showed a substantial deviation from the 2000 census of articles. We conclude that sampling coverage can produce estimates statistically equivalent to a census. Researchers should utilize coverage sampling.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/10810730591009781

Affiliations: 1: RTI International, Washington, DC, USA 2: American Institutes for Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

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