Neh Awundaga_ Content Analysis Assignment

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1 Content Analysis Content Analysis of Age, Race, and Socio-economic Status’ Influence on Gender Wage Gap Using Popular Tv Show – The Office Neh Awundaga American Public University Psychology 601 Dr. Flowers 11/05/2023

2 Content Analysis Content Analysis of Age, Race, and Socio-economic Status’ Influence on Gender Wage Gap Using Popular Tv Show – The Office Research Question? How has socio-economic status, age, and race affected the experiences of women affected by gender wage gap? Content analysis is a qualitative research technique that examines words, themes, or concepts within a given text or set of texts. Its goal is to recognize patterns that reveal meanings, relationships, and insights related to the content ( Krippendorff, 2018) . There are two main types of content analysis namely, relational and conceptual content analysis. The latter involves quantifying the presence of a concept by counting its occurrence. This allows researchers to see how prominent or frequent certain ideas are within the content ( Krippendorff, 2018) . For example, a researcher may count how many times the words "freedom" or "justice" appear in political speeches. On the other hand, relational analysis goes beyond counting concepts to explore the relationships between them. As such, it encompasses interpreting how certain concepts cluster together, follow each other, or are associated in meaningful ways. For instance, analysis could reveal connections between "freedom," "rights," and "democracy" in political speeches. Overall, content analysis enables qualitative researchers to move beyond just reading text to systematically identifying key patterns, themes, and insights. It transforms qualitative data into quantitative data that can be analyzed more objectively. This paper aims to develop a content analysis on gender wage gap using a popular TV show – The Office and demonstrate how women’s experiences are impacted by their age, race, and socio-economic status. Triangulation

3 Content Analysis According to Renz et al. (2018), c ontent analysis can be triangulated with methods like surveys, interviews, and focus groups to increase validity. Surveys with viewers help corroborate whether public perceptions of gender pay gap align with media representations. Interviews with sitcom writers provide perspective on creative intentions behind depictions. Focus groups give insight into audience interpretation of themes. Each method offers alternative lens to complement content analysis. Collectively, they allow cross-verification of findings from multiple data sources. Triangulation compares results to identify consistency and gaps and thus increases credibility by ensuring the media analysis reflects actual audience experiences, creator goals, and real-world context ( Renz et al., 2018) . Detailed Analysis The popular show The Office provides insightful commentary on the gender wage gap in America through the experiences of its female characters. Set in a mid-size paper company in Scranton, PA, the show follows the lives of office workers as they navigate romantic relationships, workplace politics, and economic challenges. An analysis of The Office reveals how socio-economic status, age, and race intersect to impact women affected by the gender pay gap. A good illustration can be observed in office administrator Pam Beesly. Despite working at the company for years, Pam earns a significantly lower salary than male sales staff like Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute. Her lower socio-economic status directly results from gender discrimination. Comments made by her boss Michael Scott reinforce systematic biases that undervalue Pam's skills and contribution. When she requests a raise, she's told "We're not just giving you more money, Pam. You have to give us a reason to." However, male staff receive promotions and bonuses without needing to prove themselves. The show demonstrates how women must work harder just to earn equal pay for equal work (Jawdekar, 2021). Furthermore,

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4 Content Analysis Pam's age and race add additional barriers. As a young white woman, she lacks the confidence and experience to advocate for herself against established sexist company practices. Her acquiescent personality is a product of internalized gender norms that encourage compliance (Jawdekar, 2021). It is not until Pam reaches her 30s that she feels empowered to assert her value, confronting management with evidence of her strong sales record. Nevertheless, the damage has already been done through years of unfair compensation. Additionally, the TV show also depicts the plight of older minority women through Phyllis Lapin-Vance. As an elderly African American woman, Phyllis faces intersectional discrimination based on both race and gender. She endures insensitive racial remarks from coworkers while also struggling to be taken seriously by male staff. Phyllis has accepted lower expectations, telling the camera "I deserve more after all these years, but they'll never give it to me." Thus, her predicament reveals the amplified pay inequity faced by minority women. Through nuanced storylines, The Office compellingly conveys how gender pay inequality manifests based on a woman's age, race, and class. It demonstrates how cultural forces like stereotypes, discrimination, and systemic bias exacerbate the wage gap (Alyssa's Blog, 2019). The show's empathetic portrayal encourages viewers to recognize these injustices in their own communities and workplaces. As a piece of popular media, The Office brings much-needed attention to the drastic economic and social consequences of the gender pay gap. Matrix In this matrix, the key themes related to gender pay inequality are presented as observed in The Office . Also, it tracks details like how often they appear and in what contexts and provides an organized overview of the content analysis findings. Themes Frequency Context Gender discrimination in Frequent - Pam paid less than male

5 Content Analysis salaries sales staff for same work. - Phyllis held back from promotions and raises due to bias Age impacting assertiveness Common - Young Pam too timid to negotiate salary - Older Phyllis jaded and less likely to push back against unfair pay Racial bias Occasional Phyllis is subject to racially insensitive remarks. - Phyllis perceives discrimination as African American woman Internalized gender norms Frequent - Pam feels underconfident and unworthy of raise - Phyllis accepts less due to lowered expectation Intersectionality Common Pam faces gender bias - Phyllis faces gender and racial bias Economic consequences Frequent - Pam struggles financially on lower salary - Phyllis unable to access higher economic status Ineffective HR practice Occasional - HR manager Toby fails to address pay inequality - Jan seen promoting male staff over equally qualified female staff Literature Gaps Prior research on media representations of the gender pay gap has focused predominantly on news coverage, dramatic films and shows, or advertising content. However, very few scholarly studies have specifically analyzed comedy television and its portrayal of workplace gender inequity. Sitcoms remain an underexamined genre despite their potential to influence

6 Content Analysis societal attitudes. In particular, the complex intersections between gender, race, age, and other identity factors are rarely explored in-depth ( Ward & Grower, 2020) . Most television content analyses examine gender wage inequality in isolation, failing to account for how women of color or older women face compounding barriers ( Kline et al., 2023) . Additionally, modern sitcoms tend to revolve around white-collar environments which limits perspectives. Yet, there is room for analysis on blue-collar and service industry settings featured in other comedy shows. Finally, few studies consider how broader organizational dynamics, leadership, and power relations depicted in sitcoms may implicitly condone or challenge pay disparities. Therefore, this oversight restricts understanding of the systemic and structural causes of gender pay inequity ( Besana et al., 2020) . Recommendations As Besana et al. (2019) highlights, examining intersections of gender, race, age, and other identity factors in television shows can be crucial in expanding the public’s awareness of gender roles and equity in the workplace. As such, it would also be helpful to compare themes and trends in the gender wage gap across sitcoms, dramas, reality shows, and other genres to determine similarities and differences in representations. Accordingly, examining shows that feature non-office environments to examine gender pay gap issues for lower status roles like retail, food services, trades, public sector jobs etcetera can help clarify these changes in workplace setting and societal consideration of women. Lastly, I would encourage the in-depth examination of how leadership styles, diversity initiatives, HR policies, and organizational culture contribute to gender pay disparities in media and other workplace environments. Complementary Method for Inferential Testing

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7 Content Analysis This content analysis involves categorical themes as well as frequency data, thus it passes for complementary inferential test - Chi-square tests of independence. The upside is that this test could help determine whether certain themes related to gender pay inequality are significantly under-or-over-represented in the TV show ( The Office ) compared to their actual prevalence in real-world data. For example, a chi-square test could compare the observed frequency of racial discrimination depicted in The Office versus the expected frequency based on labor statistics on pay inequity for minority women. Notably, a significant difference in frequencies may demonstrate that racial bias is exaggerated or downplayed in the TV series. Also, the chi-square tests could identify significant associations between different intersectional identity factors and pay equity issues. For instance, a test could examine if race and age are related to the portrayal of barriers to promotion for female characters. This approach in conjunction with qualitative content analysis permits triangulation to validate findings. The statistical tests provide empirical evidence to support whether themes and trends in the sitcom reflect real-world gender pay disparities. This complements the qualitative critical analysis. From the research question, methodology, as well as examples presented above, this content analysis uses a conceptual approach. The predominately qualitative nature focused on latent meanings and symbolic concepts rather than just manifest relationships between quantified variables exemplifies this evaluation in this category. Moreover, the methodology is centered around interpreting themes and representations related to gender pay gap experiences rather than correlating measurable data points.

8 Content Analysis References Alyssa's Blog. (2019, May 6). The Office: A Final Critical Analysis . Alyssa’s Blog. https://mcguinness.home.blog/2019/05/06/the-office-a-final-critical-analysis/ Besana, T., Katsiaficas, D., & Loyd, A. B. (2019). Asian American media representation: A film analysis and implications for identity development. Research in Human Development , 16 (3-4), 201-225. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2020.1711680 Jawdekar, O. (2021, March 12). Pamela Beesly- a character analysis. Medium. https://jawdekarovee.medium.com/pamela-beesly-a-character-analysis-7ffe5417e85e Kline, S. L., Jones, E. B., Price, K. A., & Hu, X. (2023). Older Adult Representations, Stereotypes, and Interpersonal Competence in Christmas Television. Mass Communication and Society , 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2023.2182222 Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology . Sage publications. Renz, S. M., Carrington, J. M., & Badger, T. A. (2018). Two strategies for qualitative content analysis: An intramethod approach to triangulation. Qualitative health research , 28 (5), 824-831. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317753586 Ward, L. M., & Grower, P. (2020). Media and the development of gender role stereotypes. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology , 2 , 177-199. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-051120-010630

Neh Awundaga_ Content Analysis Assignment

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