A Text Mining Analysis of the Discourse Structure in Retired Athlete Research

This study employed text analysis and semantic network analysis using Textom on 163 academic articles related to retired athletes indexed in the Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) between 1998 and 2025, with the aim of systematically identifying the structural characteristics and developmental patterns of research discourse on retired athletes in Korea. The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, the results of the text analysis indicate that research on retired athletes in Korea has primarily been structured around the key themes of athlete–retirement–career. In addition, recent studies show an increasing focus on policy and support systems, psychological well-being, and specific subgroups, suggesting a gradual expansion of research topics. Second, the semantic network and CONCOR analyses revealed that the research discourse on retired athletes is organized into four major clusters: policy and institutional support, career transition and preparation, post-retirement psychological adjustment and quality of life, and career transition of collegiate athletes. In conclusion, this study is significant in that it objectively identified the core discursive structure and developmental flow of research on retired athletes in Korea through a text-based analytical approach. In particular, by highlighting the dominant focus on career transition while also suggesting the potential for discursive expansion, this study provides foundational data for shaping future directions in research on retired athletes.