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Kim, Park, and Kang: An Analysis of Cancer Survival Narratives Using Computerized Text Analysis Program
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2014; 44(3): 328-338.

Published online: 30 June 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2014.44.3.328

An Analysis of Cancer Survival Narratives Using Computerized Text Analysis Program

Dal Sook Kim1, Ah Hyun Park2, Nam Jun Kang2

1College of Nursing, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.

2Department of Communication, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Kim, Dal Sook. College of Nursing, Chungnam National University, 266 Munhwa-ro, Daejeon 301-747, Korea. Tel: +82-42-580-8327, Fax: +82-42-580-8309, dskim@cnu.ac.kr

Received 21 March 2014       Revised 8 April 2014       Accepted 9 June 2014

© 2014 Korean Society of Nursing Science

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was done to explore experiences of persons living through the periods of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and self-care.

Methods

With permission, texts of 29 cancer survival narratives (8 men and 21 women, winners in contests sponsored by two institutes), were analyzed using Kang's Korean-Computerized-Text-Analysis-Program where the commonly used Korean-Morphological-Analyzer and the 21st-century-Sejong-Modern-Korean-Corpora representing laymen's Korean-language-use are connected. Experiences were explored based on words included in 100 highly-used-morphemes. For interpretation, we used 'categorizing words by meaning', 'comparing use-rate by periods and to the 21st-century-Sejong-Modern-Korean-Corpora', and highly-used-morphemes that appeared only in a specific period.

Results

The most highly-used-word-morpheme was first-person-pronouns followed by, diagnosis·treatment-related-words, mind-expression-words, cancer, persons-in-meaningful-interaction, living and eating, information-related-verbs, emotion-expression-words, with 240 to 0.8 times for layman use-rate. 'Diagnosis-process', 'cancer-thought', 'things-to-come-after-diagnosis', 'physician·husband', 'result-related-information', 'meaningful-things before diagnosis-period', and 'locus-of-cause' dominated the life of the diagnosis-period. 'Treatment', 'unreliable-body', 'husband · people · mother · physician', 'treatment-related-uncertainty', 'hard-time', and 'waiting-time represented experiences in the treatment-period. Themes of living in the self-care-period were complex and included 'living-as-a-human', 'self-managing-of-diseased-body', 'positive-emotion', and 'connecting past · present · future'.

Conclusion

The results show that the experience of living for persons with cancer is influenced by each period's own situational-characteristics. Experiences of the diagnosis and treatment-period are negative disease-oriented while that of the self-care period is positive present-oriented.

Keywords: Neoplasms, Survival, Personal narratives, Computers, Analysis

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Characteristics of the Authors of the Cancer Survival Stories (N=29)
jkan-44-328-i001
Table 2
The Word Morphemes Used with High Rates in Narratives of Whole Period, Diagnosis Period, Treatment Period, and Self-care Period
jkan-44-328-i002

*The use-rates of the morphemes in the 21st Century Sejong Modern Korean Corpora representing laymen's use.

†The word-morphemes used with a high rate only in that period.

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