diff --git a/lib/hiringtrends/item.rb b/lib/hiringtrends/item.rb
index d224d69..29527a2 100644
--- a/lib/hiringtrends/item.rb
+++ b/lib/hiringtrends/item.rb
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ def self.load(item_id:, force_api_source: false)
     end
 
     def comments
-      values["children"] || []
+      values["children"].reject { |comment| comment["text"].nil? } || []
     end
 
     def rel
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def save
     def analyze(terms_dictionary)
       HiringTrends.logger.info "Analyzing #{id}: #{title}"
 
-      @terms_data = terms_dictionary.software_terms_clone
+      @terms_data = terms_dictionary.term_counts_template
 
       count_terms_in_comments
       calculate_percentage_for_terms
@@ -76,16 +76,13 @@ def to_record
     # accumulate mentions of term as comments are searched
     def count_terms_in_comments
       comments.each do |comment|
-        comment_text = comment["text"]
-        next if comment_text.nil?
+          posting = HiringTrends::JobPosting.new(job_description: comment["text"])
 
-        posting = HiringTrends::JobPosting.new(job_description: comment_text)
-
-        # identify if each term is in the comment
-        terms_data.each_key do |term|
-          # increment count as its found
-          terms_data[term][:count] += 1 if posting.term?(terms_data[term][:full_term])
-        end
+          # identify if each term is in the comment/job description
+          terms_data.each_key do |term|
+            # increment count as its found
+            terms_data[term][:count] += 1 if posting.term?(terms_data[term][:full_term])
+          end
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/hiringtrends/terms_dictionary.rb b/lib/hiringtrends/terms_dictionary.rb
index b8bce6c..d3fe737 100644
--- a/lib/hiringtrends/terms_dictionary.rb
+++ b/lib/hiringtrends/terms_dictionary.rb
@@ -2,25 +2,25 @@
 
 module HiringTrends
   class TermsDictionary
-    attr_reader :raw_terms, :software_terms
+    attr_reader :raw_terms
 
     def initialize(dictionary_url)
       response = Faraday.get dictionary_url
       @raw_terms = response.body.lines.map(&:chomp)
-      @software_terms = {}
-
-      @raw_terms.each do |line|
-        @software_terms[line.split("/").first] = {
+      @term_counts_template = @raw_terms.each_with_object({}) do |term, result|
+        term_without_modifiers = term.split("/").first
+        result[term_without_modifiers] = {
           count: 0,
           percentage: 0,
           mavg3: 0,
-          full_term: line
+          full_term: term
         }
       end
     end
 
-    def software_terms_clone
-      Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(@software_terms))
+    # Returns a copy of the term counts template
+    def term_counts_template
+      Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(@term_counts_template))
     end
 
     # Some terms go by different names, modifiers are used to search for
diff --git a/spec/hiringtrends_spec.rb b/spec/hiringtrends_spec.rb
index 98eeb8c..c9b2973 100644
--- a/spec/hiringtrends_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/hiringtrends_spec.rb
@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@
 
   describe "#initialize" do
     it "creates the terms hash structure" do
-      expect(subject.dictionary.software_terms).to be_a(Hash)
+      expect(subject.dictionary.term_counts_template).to be_a(Hash)
     end
 
     it "key is the term" do
-      expect(subject.dictionary.software_terms.keys.first).to eq(".NET")
+      expect(subject.dictionary.term_counts_template.keys.first).to eq(".NET")
     end
 
     it "term value is a hash" do
-      expect(subject.dictionary.software_terms.values.first).to eq({ count: 0, full_term: ".NET", mavg3: 0, percentage: 0 })
+      expect(subject.dictionary.term_counts_template.values.first).to eq({ count: 0, full_term: ".NET", mavg3: 0, percentage: 0 })
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/item_spec.rb b/spec/item_spec.rb
index 99d2d2f..a9a8cf2 100644
--- a/spec/item_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/item_spec.rb
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
 
     before do
       allow(HiringTrends::TermsDictionary).to receive(:new).and_return(dictionary)
-      allow(dictionary).to receive(:software_terms_clone).and_return(terms)
+      allow(dictionary).to receive(:term_counts_template).and_return(terms)
     end
 
     context "when words have slash separatos" do