Centre for Policy on Ageing



An evaluation of the use of diaries in a study of medication in later life
Author(s)	Julia Johnson, Bill Bytheway
Journal title	International Journal of Social Research Methodology, vol 4, no 3, 2001
Pages	pp 183-204
Keywords	Drugs ; Therapy ; Methodology ; Evaluation.
Annotation	This paper is based on the authors' experiences of commissioning diaries kept by research subjects, reviews some previous research based on diaries, and outlines the present study's research aims and data collection methods. Although the research concerns a very specific subject - the management of long-term medication by older people - the paper also aims to use the experience gained to indicate the broader potential of diaries as tools for social research. The authors consider ways in which the diary may have biased their sample, caused difficulties for the participants, and generated poor data. There is also a discussion on how participants' behaviour may have been affected, and on the ethical issues raised by commissioning diaries. Observations are made on the strengths and weaknesses of diaries as an investigative tool with wider applicability. The authors recommend that other researchers consider diaries for investigating aspects of everyday life. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-011107201 A
Classmark	LLD: LO: 3D: 4C *
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.