'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination

Metaphors are commonly used in communication about complex health issues and interventions, such as immunotherapy. This study maps the use of metaphors in communication about immunotherapy and explores differences and similarities in scientific and newspaper articles, with the aim to reveal the con...

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Main Authors: Nynke Bos, Lisa Vandeberg, Anke Oerlemans, Marlies Hulscher, W. Gudrun Reijnierse
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Zurich, IKMZ – Department of Communication and Media Research 2025-01-01
Series:European Journal of Health Communication (EJHC)
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ejhc.org/article/view/5228
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author Nynke Bos
Lisa Vandeberg
Anke Oerlemans
Marlies Hulscher
W. Gudrun Reijnierse
author_facet Nynke Bos
Lisa Vandeberg
Anke Oerlemans
Marlies Hulscher
W. Gudrun Reijnierse
author_sort Nynke Bos
collection DOAJ
description Metaphors are commonly used in communication about complex health issues and interventions, such as immunotherapy. This study maps the use of metaphors in communication about immunotherapy and explores differences and similarities in scientific and newspaper articles, with the aim to reveal the conceptualisation of immunotherapy among academic peers and to a broader public. We compiled two datasets of scientific (N = 1,425) and newspaper (N = 2,650) articles about immunotherapy. We identified signalled metaphors in text fragments about immunotherapy, determined their source domains, and categorized which aspects of immunotherapy they described. We identified 510 text fragments with a signalled metaphor describing 10 different aspects of immunotherapy, representing 210 different metaphorical words from 23 metaphorical source domains. The two datasets largely described similar aspects of immunotherapy, such as workings of immunotherapy and role or function of immunotherapy. They referred to similar metaphorical source domains, such as war and journey, but their distribution showed different patterns. Furthermore, different metaphorical words were used in the two datasets, with the newspaper articles showing greater diversity. This study shows how immunotherapy is conceptualised and communicated, demonstrates metaphor analysis as a method to gain insight in health issues, and suggests future research with implications for practice.
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publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher University of Zurich, IKMZ – Department of Communication and Media Research
record_format Article
series European Journal of Health Communication (EJHC)
spelling doaj-art-6ffe034a06ca4085811393ae0c19dc292025-08-20T03:05:01ZengUniversity of Zurich, IKMZ – Department of Communication and Media ResearchEuropean Journal of Health Communication (EJHC)2673-59032025-01-016110.47368/ejhc.2025.103'Mapping' Knowledge DisseminationNynke Bos0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8852-4243Lisa Vandeberg1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7229-2378Anke Oerlemans2Marlies Hulscher3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2160-4810W. Gudrun Reijnierse4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0147-2643IQ Health, Radboud university medical center, the NetherlandsIQ Health, Radboud university medical center, the Netherlands; Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, the NetherlandsIQ Health, Radboud university medical center, the Netherlands IQ Health, Radboud university medical center, the Netherlands IQ Health, Radboud university medical center, the Netherlands; Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, the Netherlands Metaphors are commonly used in communication about complex health issues and interventions, such as immunotherapy. This study maps the use of metaphors in communication about immunotherapy and explores differences and similarities in scientific and newspaper articles, with the aim to reveal the conceptualisation of immunotherapy among academic peers and to a broader public. We compiled two datasets of scientific (N = 1,425) and newspaper (N = 2,650) articles about immunotherapy. We identified signalled metaphors in text fragments about immunotherapy, determined their source domains, and categorized which aspects of immunotherapy they described. We identified 510 text fragments with a signalled metaphor describing 10 different aspects of immunotherapy, representing 210 different metaphorical words from 23 metaphorical source domains. The two datasets largely described similar aspects of immunotherapy, such as workings of immunotherapy and role or function of immunotherapy. They referred to similar metaphorical source domains, such as war and journey, but their distribution showed different patterns. Furthermore, different metaphorical words were used in the two datasets, with the newspaper articles showing greater diversity. This study shows how immunotherapy is conceptualised and communicated, demonstrates metaphor analysis as a method to gain insight in health issues, and suggests future research with implications for practice. https://ejhc.org/article/view/5228metaphorsconceptualisationknowledge disseminationdiscourse analysisimmunotherapy
spellingShingle Nynke Bos
Lisa Vandeberg
Anke Oerlemans
Marlies Hulscher
W. Gudrun Reijnierse
'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
European Journal of Health Communication (EJHC)
metaphors
conceptualisation
knowledge dissemination
discourse analysis
immunotherapy
title 'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
title_full 'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
title_fullStr 'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
title_full_unstemmed 'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
title_short 'Mapping' Knowledge Dissemination
title_sort mapping knowledge dissemination
topic metaphors
conceptualisation
knowledge dissemination
discourse analysis
immunotherapy
url https://ejhc.org/article/view/5228
work_keys_str_mv AT nynkebos mappingknowledgedissemination
AT lisavandeberg mappingknowledgedissemination
AT ankeoerlemans mappingknowledgedissemination
AT marlieshulscher mappingknowledgedissemination
AT wgudrunreijnierse mappingknowledgedissemination