International Rural Aging Project
International Rural Aging Project
Provider Workshops
Gathering Data from Older Rural Adults: Techniques that Work
Convener: Jim Mitchell, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
Director, Center on Aging & Professor of Sociology and Family Medicine, East Carolina University
Date Saturday, June 10
Time 1:30 – 6 p.m.
Location Room 203, Civic Center
Content
This workshop features techniques that accomplished researchers have used to gather quantitative and qualitative data from older adults living in rural areas. The intended audience is consumers of research findings on rural aging, aspiring researchers, or persons actively engaged in gathering data from older adults living in rural locations. The workshop is divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session features a strategy to obtain a representative sample of older people living in rural areas that has been used successfully in multiple survey research projects. The morning will also include discussion of techniques of approaching older adults in order to enlist their participation in survey research projects as well as survey design and administration. The afternoon session will feature techniques found to be helpful in gathering qualitative data among older rural adults. The first presentation will feature techniques for conducting participant observation research in rural communities, including entering the community, selecting panels of older adults for further study, and leaving the community. The second presentation features a detailed examination of techniques for doing in-depth interviewing among rural adults, featuring hands-on suggestions and insights into the art and science of in-depth interviewing. The final presentation features techniques for conducting life history research and network analysis among older people in rural communities. The focus will be upon understanding informal and formal support systems.
Objectives
To better understand the variety of techniques for gathering primary data among older rural adults.
To gain practical examples of techniques that work in gathering primary data among older rural adults, enhancing the validity of research findings.
To understand the variety of approaches to gathering primary data among older rural adults.
To be able to apply successfully a data gathering methodology that is most appropriate to a research problem.
To understand the strengths and limitations of various methods of gathering information from rural older adults.
Presenters
James Mitchell, Greenville, North Carolina
Director, Center on Aging; Professor, Sociology & Family Medicine, East Carolina University; Associate Director; University of North Carolina Institute on Aging, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Graham Rowles, Lexington, Kentucky, US
Professor, Gerontology & Behavioral Science; Director, Ph.D. Program in Gerontology; Associate Director, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky.
Nancy Schoenberg, Lexington, Kentucky, US
Assistant Professor, Departments of Behavioral Science, Anthropology, & Internal Medicine (Cardiology); Faculty Member, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging & Center for Health Services Management and Research, University of Kentucky.
Dena Shenk, Charlotte, North Carolina, US
Director, Gerontology Program; Coordinator, Graduate Program, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Eleanor Palo Stoller, Cleveland, Ohio, US
Selah Chamberlain Professor of Sociology, CWRU; Associate Director, Center for Aging & Health; Chair, Case Western Reserve University, University Women’s Coalition.
Continuing Education Credits
WV Social Work 4 hrs
WV Psych 4 hrs
3.5 AMA Category 1 CME