Culture indicators generated from series of documents provide reliable data that span time. In concert with other reliable data, culture indicators can be used to assess quantitatively the relationships among economic, social, political, and cultural change. There is little danger that the act of measurement itself will act as a force for change that confounds the data. Content analysis is an unobtrusive technique. Content analysis accepts unstructured material.
Content analysis is context sensitive and therefore able to process symbolic forms.
In experimental research, language tends not to be treated as symbolic phenomena. Content analysis can cope with large volumes of data. Text is an excellent vehicle for studying long term changes in attitudes, concerns, and styles. Investigator selects a sample and defines categories. Investigator reads and codes a representative sample of the content according to objective rules.