Centre for Policy on Ageing



One way to bridge the two cultures — advancing qualitative gerontology thorough professional autobiographies
Author(s)	W Andrew Achenbaum
Journal title	Canadian Journal on Aging, vol 12, no 2, Summer 1993
Pages	pp 143-156
Keywords	Ageing process ; Memory and Reminiscence ; Biographies ; Quality ; Methodology ; Research ; United States of America.
Annotation	North American gerontology has largely been shaped by the theories and methods of biomedical researchers and social scientists. Among other things, this has meant that `qualitative' approaches in research on ageing have been of secondary importance. This essay proposes that researchers take a more self-critical, even autobiographical, orientation to making sense of their own ageing careers. Examination of the autobiographies of several eminent scientists suggests that the perception of ageing evolves with time and is the object of constant re-interpretation. If anything, the gap between literary intellectuals and scientists referred to by C P Snow in `The two cultures and the scientific revolution' have widened. The autobiography would thus be a useful exercise which would enable the researcher to ask better questions, and to better appreciate the characteristics of `qualitative'. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-970821205 A
Classmark	BG: DB: 67: 59: 3D: 3A: 7T
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.