I examined four mass shootings ranging from the 1980s to the 2010s (one every decade) and examined the language used in seven articles per event. The way I decided which event I would choose from each decade; I picked the event with the highest number of causalities. They range from 13 to 58 causalities and 19 wounded to 422 wounded. These shootings occurred in Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, and California. While the gunmen ranged from age 17 being the youngest to 64 being the oldest. To begin my data collection process, I conducted content analysis on twenty-eight New York Times articles. The articles I examined were from the week following the four mass shootings I chose. Doing this allowed me to have a set timeline for all four of the shootings and allowed me to identify similarities and differences in rhetoric following the shootings.
Content analysis is a research method for drawing verifiable conclusions about the settings in which texts or other relevant material was used (Drisko and Maschi, 2015). While content analysis is rather straightforward, Drisko and Maschi (2015) explain that interpretive content analysis is used by researchers to characterize content and meanings, synthesize large volumes of data, and infer intentions, thoughts, and sentiments from speech or other forms of communication. Both aspects were used throughout my research project while I examined articles from the New York Times.
Throughout my research, I used both basic and interpretative content analysis approaches. As aforementioned; particularly, in my research, I evaluated text to grasp ideas, viewpoints, or experiences related to mass shootings. While using basic content analysis, I was able to understand the usage of certain words or concepts used throughout articles. This allowed me to pick up on patterns or differences throughout the data I used throughout my project. In a similar manner, the interpretive content analysis allowed me to code specific words or phrases and gain a deeper understanding of why specific words were used and how rhetoric around gun violence has changed throughout time.