Jakarta, August 21, 2026 — The Association of Indonesian Communication Science Lecturers and Researchers (ADPIKI) strengthened the methodological competencies of its members through the “ADPIKI Methodology Series #1” masterclass, focusing on the application of qualitative content analysis in communication research on Friday (August 21, 2026).
Held online, the masterclass featured Dr. Eriyanto, M.Si., Vice Chair of the Expert Council of ADPIKI’s Central Executive Board and Head of the Communication Science Graduate Program at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, as the main speaker.
Eriyanto explained that qualitative content analysis is a systematic method for analyzing texts, images, news reports, advertisements, films, and other forms of communication by organizing data into categories to identify and interpret meanings relevant to research questions.
He noted that categories in qualitative content analysis can be developed deductively based on existing theories, inductively from the data, or through a combination of both approaches.
Eriyanto also distinguished qualitative content analysis from quantitative content analysis, semiotics, and discourse analysis. While quantitative content analysis focuses more heavily on measuring the frequency and distribution of categories, semiotics examines the meaning of signs, while discourse analysis explores language construction, identity, and power relations.
Qualitative content analysis, meanwhile, is designed to systematically identify patterns, categories, themes, and meanings within communication materials while allowing researchers to take the broader context of the data into account.
“Qualitative content analysis is not free interpretation. The interpretation process must be guided by clear rules, from determining the unit of analysis and developing categories to conducting coding trials and consistently applying the categories to the entire research dataset,” Eriyanto said.
He further highlighted the coding frame as one of the method’s key tools. The framework consists of main categories and subcategories, with the main categories defining the primary aspects examined in the research and the subcategories describing more specific variations of meaning within the data.
A well-designed coding framework enables researchers to reduce complex data, focus on information relevant to their research questions, and identify patterns and relationships between categories in a more structured manner.
During the masterclass, Eriyanto also introduced three qualitative content analysis designs: structural qualitative content analysis, evaluative qualitative content analysis, and qualitative content analysis for developing types or typologies.
Structural analysis is used to organize and interpret thematic patterns within data. Evaluative analysis assesses the degree or orientation of particular content, while typology-building analysis groups cases according to similarities and differences in specific characteristics.
The masterclass also presented various research examples, including representations of women activists in social media, gender performativity among female politicians, visual framing of political candidates on Instagram, and the development of typologies of Indonesian horror films.
Eriyanto emphasized the importance of transparency throughout every stage of the research process, including explaining how categories are developed, how data are coded, how categories are revised, how findings are interpreted, and how empirical evidence is selected.
“Quotes are not merely illustrations, but evidence showing that the researcher’s categories and arguments are genuinely grounded in the data,” he said.
Through the Methodology Series #1, ADPIKI provides a platform for strengthening the research capabilities of lecturers and researchers and supporting the production of qualitative studies that are systematic, transparent, contextual, and academically accountable. (*)
