The EU Constitution in a Stereoscopic View: Qualitative Content Analysis and Metaphor Analysis Compared Michael Kimmel 1. Introduction The present contribution will discuss the conceptualization of the EU Constitution in two British newspapers (Guardian, Sun) from a double van- tage. Qualitative content analysis and metaphor analysis were concurrently applied to the same data. This offers the exciting possibility not only of adding the insights from one method to that of another or “triangulating” between them, but also of comparing the two approaches from meta- methodological standpoint. The irst section of the essay will present the results from each method separately. Then, the issue of discourse integra- tion will be addressed from both viewpoints. The inal section will discuss strengths and weaknesses of both methods, inquire into the overlap be- tween their data, and explore the conceptual interaction between meta- phors and arguments. It will become evident that metaphors, the smaller and more lexible units, are typically embedded in arguments in a well- motivated, but not usually in a straightforward predictable fashion. Thus, both perspectives offer a distinctive take on the data, each valuable in its own right. 1.1 A Sketch of Both Methods Applying two methods parallel serves two aims. It helps to validate the sub- stantive data on EU discourse through two independent means that can either be mutually reinforcing or complementary. A comparison also throws into relief speciicities, strengths and limitations of each method that prac- titioners of one method alone overlook or are not suficiently aware of. A brief sketch of both methods will guide the meta-methodological focus of such a stereoscopic view, without actually introducing the applied coding methods in detail (cf. Mayring 2000; Kimmel submitted).