A CONTENT ANALYSIS

PROPOSAL
JACK TURNER
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
COMMUNICATION 675

• If Osama bin Laden and George W.

Bush are Speaking the Same
Language, What Does That Mean?

August 3, 209
 MAIN POINTS
• ACADEMIC RESEARCH:
– RELIGION & POLITICS
– CIVIL RELIGION
RELIGION & INAUGURAL ADDRESSES

– BUSH & BIN LADEN

–  USING RELIGION FOR POLITICAL / MILITARY AGENDA

CONTENT ANALYSIS
The hypothesis of this content analysis proposal is that not
only are bin Laden and Bush’s use of religious references and
terminology similar, they are so similar as to be the same.

BUSH & BIN LADEN TRANSCRIPTS

Census, Variables, Coding Units
 Your media presents

EVIL MAN GOOD

• MAN


 SAME WORDS?
 Your media presents
OSAMA VS. GEORGE W. BUSH
WHAT ARE WE TO THINK?
memo presented to President
Bush on Aug. 6, 2001 carried
the headline, "Bin Laden
Determined to Strike in U.S.”
The Washington Post, May 18, 2002.
(Woodward & Eggen)
 ACADEMIC RESEARCH: CHRONOLOGY

• RELIGION & POLITICS

•  
• Bellah, R.N. (1967). Civil religion in America.
Civil religion is a belief system that unifies diverse groups in America
by drawing on religious ideologies and common historical experiences.
It creates a common frame of reference for interpreting our shared
existence and giving it meaning.
•  
• Toolin, C. (1983). American Civil Religion from 1789 to 1981: A
content analysis of presidential inaugural addresses.
49 U.S. presidents inaugural addresses. Civil religion themes:
“American Destiny Under God” and “International Example”.
•  
• Gring, M. (2008). Preachers, terrorism, and war: Rhetorical
analysis of sermons responding to 9 / 11.
One source for variables and coding units.
ACADEMIC RESEARCH: CHRONOLOGY

• BUSH & BIN LADEN

–  USING RELIGION FOR POLITICAL / MILITARY AGENDA

• Cronick, K. (2002). The Discourse of President George W. Bush and

Osama bin Laden: A Rhetorical Analysis and Hermeneutic
Interpretation.
•  
• Nekvapil, J., & Leudat, I. (2006). Presenting the events of 9/11:
Bush, bin Laden and others in interaction (Czech Republic).
[Not used]
•  
• Menegatos, L.( 2007). Using Religious Discourse to Construct
Reality: How George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden
United and Divided Nations. Paper.
•  
• Kellner, Douglas (2004). 9/11, Spectacles of terror, and media
manipulation: a
• critique of Jihadist and Bush media politics. Critical Discourse
Studies, 1.1, 41-64.
 CONTENT ANALYSIS

HYPOTHESEIS:
Not only are bin Laden and Bush’s use of religious
references and terminology similar, they are so similar
as to be the same.

BUSH & BIN LADEN TRANSCRIPTS

Census, Variables, Coding Units

CODING QUESTIONS
 Coding questions
• Do religious references increase / decrease over time? Both
speakers?

•  Will a content analysis demonstrate that Bush and / or bin Laden

is adjusting their religious talk over time to influence their
audience?

• How much do the speeches parallel each other? Content, quantity,

frequency?

• Does Bush increase his use of religion in political speech in

response to bin Laden speeches?
• Does a content analysis reveal more similarities than differences
between thereligious content of Bush speeches and bin Laden
speeches?

• Will a content analysis of political speech by George W. Bush and

Osama bin Laden reveal  ay insights into our perception of
good and evil?
 VARIABLES

• VARIABLES
– RELIGIOUS TERMINOLOGY,
REFERENCES, IMAGERY
• The Bible, Qu’ran, quotations, metaphors.
• POLITICAL / MILITARY TERMS, REFERENCES
• Refer to terrorists & Al-Quaeda, America’s
security , freedom, and liberty, refer to
tyranny, evil , innocents & innocent
civilians.
 CODING
• RELIGIOUS TERMINOLOGY, REFERENCES,
IMAGERY
– pagan, unbeliever/s, blessed, gratitude,
infidels, supreme, heaven, martyrs/dom,
moral, just, God, Allah, Mohammed,
prayer
 CODING

• POLITICAL / MILITARY TERMS, REFERENCES

– vanguard, destroy, shield, humiliation,
blood, sons, kill/ed, guilt, without,
children, dying, death, honor, conflict,
terror/ist, war
• George W. Bush Transcripts Osama bin Laden Transcripts
• 1) September 20, 2001Address
2001Address to a joint session 1) October 7, 2001 Video.
of Congress. CNN.com
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/20/gen.bush. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/centr
transcript/.
al/10/07/ret.binladen.transcript/index.html
• 2) December 21, 2001
2) December 13, 2001 * Video.NN.com -
• Oval Office Interview. http://georgewbush
Transcript of Osama bin Laden videotape.
whitehouse.archives.gov/
• news/releases/2001/12/20011221-2.html *Speaking with others
about 9 / 11 attacks.
• 3) December 28, 2001 http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/12/13/tape.transc
• Press conference, http://georgewbush- ript/.
whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/12/
20011228-1.html#. 3) February 5, 2002 Video.
CNN.com.
• 4) January 29, 2002 [Al-Jazeera secret interview in October 2001].
• State of the Union Address. http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/sout
• http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/ h/02/05/binladen.transcript/
bush.speech.txt/ index.html.

• 5) January20, 2005 4) October 29, 2004 Video.

• Bush's inauguration speech CNN.com.
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jan/20/use http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/29/bin
lections2004.usa .laden.transcript/
.laden.transcript/.
• 6) January 31, 2006 5) 1/19/2006: Audio only.
• Transcript of Bush's State of the Union speech. USA TODAY.
• http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/31/sotu.tr http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-01-19-
anscript/index.html.
binladen-fulltext_x.htm
• 7) Nov. 20, 2007
6) September 11, 2007 Video.
• ABC News' Charles Gibson Interviews The Bushes
at Camp David. SITE Institute / SITE Intelligence Group.
• http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Vote2008/story?id=3 http://counterterrorismblog.org/site-
89119 resources/images/SITE-OBL-transcript.pdf.