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Article published In:
Internet Pragmatics
Vol. 3:1 (2020) ► pp.34–63

Attitudes towards elastic language in Australian online healthcare information

| Curtin University
| National Sun Yat-sen University

Based on questionnaire data in response to six excerpts of Australian online health information, this study investigates university students’ attitudes towards elastic language (EL). The findings show that averaging all six cases a neutral attitude is found, with no strong preference for EL or non-EL. This indicates that it is unnecessary to deliberately use more or less EL – the key is to use EL appropriately when and where it is needed. Examining the reasons for participants’ choices, we identify ten frames. Often the same EL generated positive and negative comments: a phenomenon that can be explained in terms of two sides of a frame. The findings may help healthcare professionals to deliver medical information in ways most accessible to the public and to find effective ways of communicating uncertainty. A ‘one fits all’ rule for language use does not exist, and instead multiple standards guide our use of it.

Keywords: elastic language, vague language, healthcare communication, online information, elasticity, framing
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical foundations
    • 2.1Elastic language
    • 2.2Healthcare communication
    • 2.3Frame theory
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Rationale of the research design
    • 3.2Data
      • 3.2.1Participants
      • 3.2.2Questionnaire and coding
  • 4.Findings and discussion
    • 4.1Participants’ choices
    • 4.2Participants’ reasons for their choices
      • 4.2.1Language focused frame
        • Fluidity frame
        • Informativeness frame
        • Relevance frame
        • Clarity frame
      • 4.2.2Language user focused frame
        • Trustfulness frame
        • Folk–individual frame
        • Lay–professional frame
        • Voluntary–involuntary frame
        • Indifference frame
      • 4.2.3Disease focused frame
    • 4.3General discussion
  • 5.Conclusions and implications
    • 5.1Conclusions
    • 5.2Implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 7 April 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00051.zha
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