Book Review: Conjoint Designer

only as a method of abstracting and analyzing information from a written text. No mention is made of how content analysis can be utilized or must be modified to enable researchers to study the processual nature of human interaction. This approach would be important, for instance, to researchers interested in analyzing the process of how members of a buying center arrive at a decision to purchase a particular product. Because Weber suggests that this area of inquiry can be studied by utilizing content analysis, part of the discussion should address this issue. Another limitation is that Weber says the relationship between substantive conclusions and classification schemes should be studied, but does not discuss the issue or provide examples. The relationships among units of analysis, coding schemes, and theoretical interpretations should be treated in greater depth. The second part of the book (Techniques of Content Analysis and Interpretation, The Future of Content Analysis) is excellent. Given the orientation of textual analysis of written documents, this discussion of specific techniques is extremely useful. Weber very clearly guides the reader through the problems involved in determining a sample, defining the unit of analysis, the actual coding process, analysis of the data, and comparison of different techniques and methods such as KWIC (Key Word in Context), KDEM (Kurzweil Data Entry Machine), and the General Inquirer System. Instructions for the use of techniques, discussions of issues involving the choice of alternative methods, and examples of interpretation are very well done. This section of the book is an extremely valuable resource. Researchers in marketing could pursue this type of analysis in a variety of situations, for example, comparing the copy of advertisements for several brands of the same product to analyze the difference among strategies or appeals used in the ads, and analyzing the content of specific magazines or newspapers of a particular time period or in a particular environment to determine the "cultural" characteristics of certain target segments. Researchers planning to use content analysis as a methodology for analyzing written documents should definitely read this book. Those who wish to pursue the use of content analysis for examining the interactive process of communication or how communication content functions in the interaction process will not find this book to be very useful in terms of a discussion of techniques. However, the information on reliability and validity provides a solid foundation for any approach to content analysis. CAMILLE SCHUSTER Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University