You should describe in details the units you use and how you built them. Moreover, these units should easily identifiable in your data. I suggest that you pay atention to repeated data as they can be a good unit...

My reading of Elo et al. is that their "meaning unit" corresponds to what is being marked in the coding process. Thus, you might use words as the smallest units that you would code, or you might use larger blocks of text for your coding.

Meaning unit could be developed by deductive or inductive method. The first option is result from literature review and you can justify your meaning unit explaining how is relevant. The second one could be developed once you read all text and you could identify some units that are not previous defined. Always you should explain why this unit and not other  for being understood for any researcher in the world.

My understanding is the same as David Morgan.  The meaning unit is the smallest units that you code.

Dear Dr. Roberts

Thanks a lot for your good point.

You'r comment made it easy for me, to understand the "meaning unite" definition.

Hello,

In my opinion, I think it depends on the content you are analysing. I have analysed the portrayal of gender in newspaper advertisements and my unit of analysis was any human being displayed in a prominent form in the advertisement so I assume it will be different if you are analysing text.oming fromadvertisement content analysis point of r

 The meaning unit is also referreed to as 'unit of analysis'. Let us take the example of an interview transcript which is to be analyzed. In this case, each question can be a 'unit of analysis'. However, if you go through the interview transcript a few times, you may notice a few themes emerging. These themes or categories may also become the 'unit of analysis'. I hope this helps. Thanks 

I would like to suggest that you read the article referred to by Elo et al in your quote in your question.  The article is a good introduction to content analysis,  the concepts used and procedures.

Graneheim UH, Lundman B. Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Educ Today 2004; 24: 105-12. 

They have a good description of what a meaning unit is "the constellation of words or statements that relate to the same central meaning"  as stated by some researchers. They also tell about similar concepts used by other researchers. 

I hope you will find the article useful.

Given that this is a general question which does relate to a specific research topic, issue, objectives, scope, or type of media. Content analysis units of a study are known since they emerge from the same content which is selected for the research. Meanings are either direct (explicit) or implied (innuendo).

     They are influenced by our social, cultural, economic, environmental, or political issues. As a result, content analysis units are determined by the research design and objectives among others. For example, in a newspaper or book publication, content analysis units may among others. include:

·         A full publication issue or volume,

·         A chapter,

·         A page,  

·         A paragraph,

·         A phrase,

·         A sentence,

·         A word,

·         A letter.

·         Titles or sub-titles,

·         Headings or sub-headings,

·         Columns,

·         Photos,

·         Graphics,

·         Designs,

·         Tables,

·         Figures,

·         Captions,

·         Images,

·         Issues,

·         Punctuation marks,

·         Errors (by type),

·         Perceived bias (by type),

·         Formats,

·         Authors,

·         Corrections,

·         Fonts,

·         Dates,

·         Characters,

·         Language, or

·         Style.

All in all, the research proposal itself determines or delimits which meanings to focus on and the units to measure.

Several words, a sentence, or a statement that represents a single idea or concept

reference:Kleinheksel AJ, Rockich-Winston N, Tawfik H, Wyatt TR. Demystifying Content Analysis. Am J Pharm Educ. 2020 Jan;84(1):7113. doi: 10.5688/ajpe7113. PMID: 32292185; PMCID: PMC7055418.