refer to the statement of the hypotheses on page 75. In all

cases, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was

calculated for each disease variable and the psychosocial

variables. Although the value, direction, and significance

of each was noted, the focus of the evaluation was on the

pattern of relationships that emerged when psychosocial

variables were viewed as the outcome of certain disease

variables rather than as the predictors of survival.


 Limitations

 The limitations of the study included an issue related to

the sampling procedure used for the analysis to determine

survival expectations and several issues related to the psy-

chosocial analysis. The limitations of the study were as

follows:

 1. In the determination of survival expectations the

samples for each of the three cancer sites did not include all

patients diagnosed in the years selected for study. Some of

the patients diagnosed in the selected years were still living

at the end of the data collection period.

 2. The size of the sample of patients interviewed for

the psychosocial analysis was small ( N = 30). Some of the

patients referred to the study were too ill to participate in

the interview. Others were discharged before the interview

could be scheduled.