The use of radial distribution functions (RDF) for the characterization of amorphous carbon thin films containing silicon and hydrogen (Si-aC:H) was analyzed. The average number of neighbours located a distance r from away from an arbitrary atom in the sample was described by RDFs. Energy-filtered convergent-beam electron diffraction (EFCBED) and extended electron energy-loss fine structure (EXELFS) analyses were the methods, in the transmission electron microscope (TEM), to be used to obtain RDFs. The RDF characteristics were found to be correlated to thin film material properties.