Methodological Approach to Manifesto Coding (Chapter 3 Methodology)

The method of quantitative content analysis employed by the CMP and utilised in modified form within this work allows for an analysis of the policies, issues, ideas and positions taken by Scottish political parties within their electoral platforms as contained within the manifestos presented for British General Elections. The original CMP framework contains fifty-six distinct categories, assembled into seven major policy domains. Our modified coding system added seven additional categories, providing sixty-three overall, within the original seven major policy domains. These domains and categories are listed below, with the additional categories included.

The coding procedures provided by the CMP state that the ‘coding unit in a given programme is the “quasi-sentence”, defined as an argument – that is the verbal expression of one political idea or issue … a quasi-sentence is a set of words containing one, and only one, political idea’ (Klingemann et al. 2006: 165–6). Each manifesto is thus coded by breaking down the text into quasi-sentences, each expressing one distinct political idea/statement. These quasi-sentences are then allocated to an individual category within the coding framework. Visual aspects of manifestos, such as figures, tables, headings and other such content are not coded. Likewise, forewords or statements by party leaders are not coded, as they are considered the statements not of parties but of individuals.

The total number of quasi-sentences is the complete unit of analysis, and it is this total against which individual measurements of the various categories and domains can be undertaken and comparative assessments made.