A little bit of content analysis

We had a great teacher who taught us logic in the 1960s. Being a martinet, he never allowed us to attend the class even five minutes late. He also had this rare habit of reading our minds or coming out with certain predictions which simply amazed us.

One day, taking a lesson in inductive logic, he lambasted a student who joined the class only a week ago. Evidently he, the student, did not know what logic was all about.

The teacher distributed the day's printed assignments and was about to begin his lecture when the newcomer raised his hand. The teacher looked at him sternly and asked what he wanted.

"Sir...Sir...may I have the last week's lesson..."

"You were not here for the first lesson. So you won't be getting it."

"Sir...I've brought the money..."

"What? You think I'm a book seller?"

The teacher thundered and the student sat down quietly and tried to concentrate on the day's lesson.

After returning home he wondered whether he should continue to attend the logic class. Somehow he decided to take Logic as a challenge and continued to attend the class regularly and write almost all the tutorials.

The teacher at the beginning returned his tutorials with a red line drawn across it and a remark "Rubbish." But the student did not give up the struggle. He turned out tutorials one after the other. The teacher gradually started giving him D-, D+, C-, C+ etc. Towards the end of the course, very surprisingly, the student got an "A" for one of his tutorials.

But there were more surprises in store for him. One day before the examination he received a post card from his teacher which said, "You will get an "A" in Logic."

The student sat the examination with added confidence. After sometime the results were announced. The student got an "A" (Distinction) in Logic!

After some time, we met our revered teacher and asked him how he predicted the student's grading accurately.

"My dear fellows. It's simply content analysis," he guffawed.

Content analysis? We did not really understand what it was and we were further baffled as he did not explain it.

It took years, nay decades, for us to understand what he really meant by "content analysis."

Today we know it is a kind of systematic search for the small verbal clues that when put together reveal a larger meaning; attitudes, intentions, behaviour patterns and underlying strategy. What Ben Jonson wrote has some relevance: "Language springs out of the in most parts of us. No glass renders a man's likeness so true as his speech."

Content analysis is also a technique used today to measure changes in consumer attitudes and to diagnose emotional problems.

A psychologist has said that words recurring in our speech are the surest clues to what is going on in our minds. He has given them a technical term: Fingerprint words. He mentioned about a woman who used "I", "me", "myself", and "my" generously in her speech. This is a sure indication that she is a bore. But is that all? Certainly not.

Social psychologist O. Hobart Mowrer once said, "when one's automobile is out of order, one is likely to refer to it oftener. Likewise, when a person's psychic equipment is grating and squeaking, it is understandable that his attention should be directed towards it much of the time."

You do not have to consult a psychologist to verify this statement. Simply listen to the utterances of a person of unsound mind. He will more often use "I" than any other word. So watch out when you talk to others!

Another way of assessing a person's values is to make a list of his pet words. There was this scribe who always used the word "shit" when he disapproved of something or somebody.

One day a colleague sounded him whether he would like to marry a good looking girl known to both of them. Pat came the reply, "shit." The girl who had a lot of hopes about him dropped the idea immediately.

Some people live in the past, some others in the future and a very few in the present. If you ask Mr. X how he is faring, he would say, "Oh! those were the days." Turn to Y and ask the same question.

He would say, "I'm planning to build a house and get married to a rich girl." He is trying to live in the future. Mr. Z who lives in the present would say, "Life is fine. Today is a great day!"

Some people always complain of physical discomforts or financial crises. Their backaches, headaches and bouts of migraine never heal. They like to wallow in self pity. Can doctors do something for their illnesses? A doctor friend tells me, "they don't like to be healed. That's their problem."

One memorable advice we got from our logic teacher was, "Do what you enjoy, enjoy what you do!" But how many of us enjoy what we do?

One day a doctor asked a patient, "What's your occupation?"

The patient hesitated, "Er...Ah...I'm a clerk"

"So, you enjoy your work?"

"Poor salary, how to enjoy, doctor" was the meek reply.

Finally, have you ever asked a girl or a boy whether he/she loves you. If you get a forthright "I love you," you are in for good company. If you get an evasive "I...er...love you...of course," avoid him/her like the plague!