Toward a New Methodology for Content Analysis: Similarities and Differences Between Topic Modeling and Qualitative Content Analysis

The aim of the paper is to critically reflect on the relationship between qualitative thematic analysis and topic modeling, one of the most popular variants of automatic text mining. Based on the results of a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the documents of the Polish Bishops' Conference, we show the advantages and disadvantages of topic modeling. We negatively verify the thesis of the substitutability of thematic analysis by topic modeling and point to the necessity of combining qualitative and quantitative approaches within the mixed methods methodology. In the final section, we present possible ways of combining the two methods so that qualitative researchers, based on the mixed methods paradigm, can benefit from the advantages of topic modeling and, with the awareness of its advantages and disadvantages, enrich their workshop, broaden the scope of research, and enhance the process of analysis.