Thomas, L.; (2007) An exploratory study of the psychological content of writing produced by women recovering from surgery for gynaecological cancers. Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

This paper reviews the different methods that have been applied to the analysis of written emotional content. The core focus is on the type of data generated by clinical application of the "expressive writing" paradigm (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986) in which participants write on emotional topics for 20 minutes, for three or four days. Twenty-five studies were identified, in which four broad types of analysis were applied: computerised word count analysis, computerised psychiatric content analysis, varieties of thematic coding and self-report essay evaluation rating scales. The different methods of analysis are presented in terms of their theoretical background, analytic features, findings in emotional writing and their limitations. The four methods varied in terms of the degree to which they applied psychological theories of emotion and in terms of their psychometric qualities. The need for methodological triangulation in future research is highlighted, both to deepen understanding of written emotional expression as well as to develop the evidence base on the psychological validity of these methods.

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