The Semantic Coding project initiated at the LMU Munich (Department of Communication) aims to establish a common data format for texts (in the broader sense) that captures the meaning (semantic) of the texts while abstracting from the actual text. The project has several goals:
- Disentangle two processes in communications' content analysis: (a) encoding the meaning and (b) extracting characteristics of texts.
- Allow re-use of encoded texts for subsequent reserach (secondary data analyses)
- Allow for replication of content analysis resarch
The format is also intended to provide a more general format for contents that is independent from languages, and may prove fruitful for applications far beyond communications.