Perceptions of University Students about Coronavirus: A Metaphor Analysis Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse university students’ perceptions about the Coronavirus concept through metaphor analysis. The data were obtained from 186 students studying in the Education Faculty of a university. Phenomenology research design, one of the qualitative research patterns, was used in this study. The data obtained in the study were collected with the expression “Coronavirus is like…because…” and document analysis technique was used in the analysis of the data. It was found that the students who participated in the study created 133 well-structured metaphors related to the concept of coronavirus. According to the results obtained from the study, it was found that students mostly created negative metaphors about the concept of coronavirus. The metaphors created by the students who participated in the study were grouped under 11 conceptual categories as “being contagious, causing damage / being fatal, being hidden, being unifying/regulating / leaving positive effects on people, affecting large areas / the process covering a large period of time / changing life and affecting everyone equally, isolation, taking measures, social distance, emotions, restriction, uncertainty”. Based on the metaphors created by the students, it was found that the concept of Coronavirus was explained with more than one and different metaphors.