The Casual Schemata of Cancer: A Q-Methodlogical Application for Korean Patients

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the causal perceptions of cancer that would be the basis for development of nursing intervention. A Q-methodological approach was desperately needed in this highly subjective area because prior research had proved inadequate to explain the most distinctive features of personal viewpoints about critical health conditions. Results reveal five factors: Self-reliant, Supernaturalist, Other-dependent, Fate-recipient, and Self-contradictory. The accounts so revealed are examined in light of the diverse subjectivity they manifest. A discussion makes note of the implications for the further development of nursing assessment and tools.