Risch Andreas.pdf - Osteopathic Research

Average of professional experience: 7,8 y.
Number of interviews: 10
Average duration of an interview: 30-45 Min
10 German-speaking osteopaths (6 Germans, 3 Austrians, 1 Swiss) with an
academic background (MSc, DO), 5 male and 5 female, were interviewed about their
professional concepts of health on the basis of a standardized questionnaire either in
person or by phone. All osteopaths were recruited out of a list of 140 graduate
students of the WSO (Vienna School of Osteopathy). Although all students were
contacted by E-mail, phone/fax or in person only 10 out of 140 agreed to participate
in the study. The criteria for participation were fluency in German, an academic
degree (MSc, DO) and a minimum of 3 years of professional experience. Duration of
the interviews was about 30-45 Min. All interviews were taken within a time interval of
6 months. None of the interviewed osteopaths was in any close relationship to the
interviewer. The interviews were audio-transcribed and proofread by an independent
person. Although the group of osteopaths is not representative of the entire
osteopathic community relevance of the group is given by its academic background
and its professional experience. The focus was on the direct and indirect metaphoric
expression of health while metaphors regarding illness and disease or unrelated
issues were disregarded.
7.2 Method
The metaphor analysis was conducted on the basis of guidelines for qualitative
research methods set up by Schmitt (2009). The application of metaphor donation
categories followed the concept of cognitive linguistics as outlined by Lakoff and
Johnson and incorporated new developments by Schmitt (2009), Moser (2000) and
Heitmann (2006).
All interviews were searched several times word-by-word and metaphors related to
health were identified and categorized. Repeated metaphors were taken into
account, however each metaphor was assigned only once to the most appropriate
category. The category „Other Sensory Perception“ was added in the area of