Using Content Analysis to Study Dreams

Abstract

Content analysis—the use of carefully defined categories and quantitative techniques to find meaningful regularities in texts—is very different from the usual approaches to dreams. It does not make use of free associations, amplifications, autobiographical statements, or any other information from outside the dream reports themselves. It has led to numerous findings on the relationship of dream content to gender, age, mental health, culture, and individual differences. It can be used in conjunction with any theory or for descriptive empirical studies. It is most convincing when the content analyst knows nothing about the dreamer.