Qualitative study on aged: Questionnaire Survey

According to conventional wisdom old age is a period of regression or deterioration, and there are certainly dramatic and tragic changes that can occur as a result of mental deseases.

Adult development is concealed by popular account of decline and physical changes that occur with ageing, the decline of the sensory and functions; but aging percieved differently by sociologists who sees changes in roles and contexts.

The study of young aged should focus on interpersonal behaviours, self actualisation, ego style social support networks, life stories and social structure. Aiming to further develop the conventional meanings of how people change as they age, not just in social roles or life structure but of personality.


Breaking the search into components:
- Aging population
- self assessment
- mental health and agility
- life enrichment in old ages


Cognitive interviewing techniques

1- Probing Question:

Ask about uncertainties/difficulties
How did you arrive at your estimate of xxxx?
What did you understand by the word xxxx?
How confident are you in your answer?

2- Paraphrasing:

Respondents paraphrase the question in their own words

3- Concurrent think aloud

Respndent vocolises thought processes as he answers

4- Retrospective methods

Probes and follow up question after either individual questions or blocks of questions

Complete questions then go back through with probes and follow up questions

Field testing techniques
- Behaviour coding
- Respondent debriefing
- İnterviewer debriefing


İnterview guide:

"How did you happen to come here/be this?"
"How did you feel at this time about this point?"
"How did you talk to ...?"
"What do you think about ...?"
"What did you do then?"
"What did you like the most/the least?"
Don’t’ ask leading questions. Don’t put the answer into the respondent’s mouth.
"Don’t you think ..."
"Don’t you agree ..."
Probes: elaboration on a specific subject
sit and wait
take the last statement and turn it into a question
make a non-committal response (simply nod your head, etc.)
ask for examples
"Was ... this what you expected?"
"How so/how not?"
"How did you feel about this?"
"Could you elaborate on this?"
"You talked previously about ..., can you tell me more about that?"
If something is left out at the end of the interview, mention it and find out why it is left out.
At the end of the interview ask:
"Do you think that important things were left out? Which topics?"




Individual Life Histories

an essay, based on interviews often supplemented with data from other sources, that describes and analyzes an individual’s development, conditions, and behavior over time

A good start is the Life History Chart:

a chronology of major events in the person’s life and major themes that deserve special attention

The chronological outline notes where the person lived in each year,
schools attended,
family back ground,
jobs held,
professional learning,
major recreational activities,
major family events (births, deaths, marriages),
public roles the person played (in political,
religious, and social organizations),
publications,

and other events and statuses that seem to mark the course of the individual’s life.
A list of themes can be developed at the same time, and often there is at least some sense of major themes even before the interviews begin.

Use internal consistency to improve the validity of the data:
check whether data obtained at different times are consistent with each other
İnterview schedule:

Sample Questions for the Life History Interview

Robert Atkinson (1998): The Life Story Interview

Childhood and Adolescence

How would you describe your parents when you were growing up?
What were some of the best and worst things about them?
What do you think you inherited from them?
What is your earliest memory?
What was growing up in your house or neighborhood like?
What do you remember most about growing up with, or without brothers and sisters?
What were some of your struggles as a child?
What was the saddest time for you?
How was discipline handled in your family?
What would you say was the most significant event in your life up to age 12?
What pressures did you feel as a teenager and where did they come from?
What did you do for fun and entertainment?
What was the most trouble you were ever in as a teenager?
What was the most significant event of your teenage years?
What was being a teenager like? The best part? The worst part?
What was your first experience of leaving home like?
Were you in the military?
What was this experience like?

Source:
www.conted.ox.ac.uk/cpd/healthsciences/courses/short_courses/qsr/39
http://malroy.econ.ox.ac.uk/fisher/survey/1
www.clas.ufl.edu/users/ardelt/Aging/QualInt.htm
www.evidencenetwork.org/Document/wp19.pdf
http://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/people/1