Subjectivity Study on Smoking Cessation of Korean Adult Males: Q-Methodological Approach

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify subjectivity on smoking cessation of Korean adult males, and to provide basic data, for non-smoking policies. METHODS: Q-methodology, a method of analyzing subjectivity of each item, was used. Thirty-nine adult males, classified 36 selected Q-statements into normal distribution, using a 9-point scale. Collected data were analyzed, using the pc-QUNAL program. RESULTS: Among the Korean adult males, three types of smoking cessation were identified. The name for Type I was ‘pursuit of faith’, for Type II, ‘factor of relationship disturbance’ and for Type III ‘ambivalence’. CONCLUSION: Results of this study indicate that different approaches to intervention on smoking cessation are best served for Korean adult males, based on the three types of smoking cessation, and their characteristics.