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In the current paper we focus on the concept of <jats:sc>regulation<\/jats:sc>, which we identify through a novel approach to querying semantic content in large datasets. Typically, linguists look at keywords to understand differences between two datasets. We demonstrate that taking the perspective of a <jats:italic>keyconcept<\/jats:italic> rather than the <jats:italic>keyword<\/jats:italic> in linguistic analysis is a beneficial way of identifying trends in broader patterns of thoughts and behaviours which reflect lived-experiences that are particularly prominent of a given dataset, which, in this current paper, is the COVID-19 era dataset. In order to contextualise the keyconcept analysis, we investigate the discourses surrounding the concept of <jats:sc>regulation<\/jats:sc>. We find that diarists communicate collective experience of limited individual agency, surrounded by feelings of fear and gratitude. Diarists' reporting on events is often fragmented, focused on new information, and firmly placed in a temporal frame.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/frai.2023.1176283","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,21]],"date-time":"2023-09-21T19:44:57Z","timestamp":1695325497000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Introducing the keyconcept approach to the analysis of language: the case of regulation in COVID-19 diaries"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"6","author":[{"given":"Justyna A.","family":"Robinson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Rhys J.","family":"Sandow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Roberta","family":"Piazza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/0378-2166(93)90069-2","article-title":"A pragmatic account of the definiteness effect in existential sentences","volume":"19","author":"Abbott","year":"1993","journal-title":"J. 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