Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-11T01:20:42.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What is the Justification for a Qualitative Approach to Ageing Studies?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

John W. Murphy  and
Charles F. Longino Jr
John W. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Miami, PO Box 248162, Coral Gables, FL 33124-2080, U.S.A.
Charles F. Longino Jr
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this essay, a theoretical approach that underpins qualitative research is discussed, thereby illustrating how this outlook differs philosophically from that which underlies quantitative investigations. The purpose of this essay is to promote a firm theoretical foundation for qualitative inquiry in ageing research, which appears to be neglected in many current studies. Key to the theoretical shift attendant to qualitative research is the idea that every aspect of social life is embedded in symbolism. Therefore, those who do research in ageing should be sensitive to the ways in which persons interpret their lives, instead of simply focusing on empirical indicators. Only in this way can socially relevant research be conducted.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 143 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainlay, S. C. and Redfoot, D. L. 1982–1983. Aging and identity-in-the-world: a phenomenological analysis. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 15, I, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, P. 1987. Life review: reminiscence. In Maddox, G. L. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Aging. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Barthes, R. 1986. The Rustle of Language. Hill and Wang, New York.Google Scholar
Barthes, R. 1987. Criticism and Truth. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Baugh, Kenneth 1990. The Methodology of Herbert Blumer. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, P. 1974. Pyramids of Sacrifice. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
Buber, M. 1970. I and Thou. Scribner's, New York.Google Scholar
Butler, R. 1963. The life review: an interpretation of reminiscence in the aged. Psychiatry, 26, 65–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, R. 1987. Life review. In Maddox, G. L. (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Aging. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Cuba, L. 1984. Reorientations of self: residential identification in Anchorage, Alaska. Studies in Symbolic Interaction 5, 219–37.Google Scholar
Cuba, L. 1989. From visitor to resident: retiring to vacationland. Generations, 13, 63–7.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. 1989. Interpretive Interactionism. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Derrida, J. 1976. Of Grammatology. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Derrida, J. 1981. Dissemination. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreyfus, H. and Dreyfus, S. 1986. Mind Over Machine. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Fry, C. L. 1980. Cognitive anthropology and age differentiation. In Fry, C. L. and Keith, J. (eds), New Methods for Old Age Research. National Institute on Aging, Washington, D.C.101–26.Google Scholar
Gebser, J. 1985. The Ever-Present Origin. Ohio University Press, Athens, OH.Google Scholar
Gubrium, J. and Wallace, J.Who theorizes age? Ageing and Society, 10, 131–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gubrium, J. 1975. Living and Dying in Murray Mannor. St Martins, New York.Google Scholar
Gubrium, J. and Lynott, R. 1985. Alzheimer's disease as biographical work. In Peterson, W. A. and Quadagno, J. (eds), Social Bonds in Later Life. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.Google Scholar
Hochschild, A. 1973. The Unexpected Community. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.Google Scholar
Husserl, E. 1970. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology. Northwestern University Press, Evanston.Google Scholar
Kastenbaum, R. J. 1981. Death, Society, and Human Experience. C. V. Mosby Co., St Louis.Google Scholar
Lacan, J. 1977. Ecrits. W. W. Norton, New York.Google Scholar
Longino, C. 1990. Geographical distribution and migration. In Binstock, R. H. and George, L. K. (eds), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Luhmann, N. 1982. The Differentiation of Society. Columbia University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyotard, J. 1984 a. Driftworks. Semiotext(e), New York.Google Scholar
Lyotard, J. 1984 b. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
Mannheimer, R. J. 1989. The narrative quest in qualitative gerontology. Journal of Aging Studies, 3, 231–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merleau-Ponty, M. 1970. The Visible and the Invisible. Northwestern University Press, Evanston.Google Scholar
Minkowski, E. 1970. Lived Time. Northwestern University Press, Evanston.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. 1986. Phenomenological social science: research in the public interest. The Social Science Journal 23, 3, 327–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, J. 1989 a. Postmodern Social Analysis and Criticism. Greenwood, Westport, CT.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. 1989 b. The relevance of postmodernism for social science. Diogenes, 143, 93–110.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. and Pardeck, J. 1989. Technology, computerization, and the conceptualization of service delivery. Computers in Human Services, 5, 1/2, 192–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugarten, B. 1974. Age groups in American society and the rise of the young-old. In Eisele, F. R. (ed.), Political Consequences of Aging. American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Neugarten, B. 1975. The future of the young-old. The Gerontologist, 15, I, part 2, 4–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plessner, H. 1970. Laughing and Crying: A Study of the Limits of Human Behavior. Northwestern University Press, Evanston.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powers, J. 1982. Philosophy and the New Physics. Methuen, London.Google Scholar
Rowles, Graham D. 1978. Prisoners of Space? Westview Press, Boulder, CO.Google Scholar
Runyan, W. 1982. Life Histories and Psycho-biography. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schroots, J. J. F. and Birren, J. E. 1990. Concepts of time and aging in science. In Birren, J. E. and Schaie, K. W. (eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, third edition. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 45–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutz, A., and Luckmann, T. 1973. The Structures of the Life- World. Northwestern University Press, Evanston.Google Scholar
Starr, J. M. 1982–1983. Toward a social phenomenology of aging: studying the self process in biographical work. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 16, 255–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thom, R. 1990. Semio Physics. Addison-Wesley, Redwood City, CA.Google Scholar
Yeatts, D., Biggar, J. and Longino, C. 1987. Distance versus destination: stream selectivity of elderly interstate migrants. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 288–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed