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One Way to Bridge the Two Cultures: Advancing Qualitative Gerontology Through Professional Autobiographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

W. Andrew Achenbaum
W. Andrew Achenbaum
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

North American gerontology has largely been shaped by the theories and methods of bio-medical researchers and social scientists. Among other things, this has meant that “qualitative” approaches in research on aging have been of secondary importance. Scholars do not always mean the same thing by the term. This essay cannot resolve all of the paradigmatic issues that separate “hard” and “soft” science, but it does propose that researchers take a more self-critical, even autobiographical, orientation to making sense of their own aging careers.

Résumé

La gérontologie, en Amérique du Nord, a été largement façonnée par les théories et les méthodes des chercheurs en biomédecine et des spécialistes en sciences humaines. Cela signifie, entre autres choses, que les approches «qualitatives» dans la recherche sur le vieillissement ont été mises au second plan. Les chercheurs ne s'entendent cependant pas toujours sur l'interprétation du terme. Cet essai ne pretend pas résoudre tous les paradigmes qui séparent la science «dure» de la science «douce,» mais propose plutôt que les chercheurs adoptent une orientation plus autocritique, et même plus personnelle, afin de saisir l'essentiel du processus de vieillissement dans leur propre vie.

Keywords

AutobiographyQualitative Gerontology.Autobiographiegérontologie qualitative.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 12 , Issue 2: Qualitative Methods/Les méthodes qualitatives , Été/Summer 1993 , pp. 143 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1993

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