Gerontological Research Methods and Theory: Foundations and Future Directions - Couverture souple

Pastorello, Thomas

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1718013523 ISBN 13 : 9781718013520

Editeur : Independently published, 2018

Synopsis

Comprised of my professional conference papers, and agency reports, narrowly selected from three decades of scholarship, this book presents innovative research methods and theory building paradigms for application to gerontology. Although the work includes reproductions of papers dated as far back as 1973, they have been selected because of unique aspects of research design or theory that make them particularly relevant for application to gerontological research pursuits today. Not previously published in their original form, it is my hope that this compilation of scholarly papers will now receive the wider notice needed to influence the latest generation of gerontological researchers who may still be working within the box of common methods and unquestioned theory. The first paper, “Structural Changes in Morale Among the Residentially Mobile Elderly,” shifts the paradigm of pre-test/post-test studies from summated scale score comparisons to the analysis of structural changes over time, in terms of how scale item relationships change in their inter-correlational patterns from pre-test to post-test. It is shown that changes in morale among the elderly who experience a move cannot be meaningfully expressed in terms of decreases or increases in summated scale scores because the very nature of how they experience morale changes. “A Quasi-Experimental Model for the Evaluation of Stress Mitigating Intervention Programs for Geriatric Relocation” is the second paper and offers an ethical argument against experimental research with the elderly. By means of an integration of analysis of covariance and regression-based path analysis, this paper illustrates a mode of evaluation research that can be both scientifically valid and ethical in its elimination of the need for a non-intervention control group. The third work, “Time as a Basic Concept for Theory Building in Social Gerontology,” shifts the focus from methodology per se to the integration of methodology and theory. The presentation of my “Time Paradigm” identifies the problem of inaccurate methodological findings as one of limited or inadequate theoretical context for interpretation. It proposes a solution based on the systematic use of comprehensive temporal theory. Using elements of my “Time Paradigm” and canonical correlation research methodology, the fourth paper I have reproduced, “Cyclic Life Style and Late Life Adjustment,” illustrates the potential of integrated methods and theory for gerontological planning and policy. Another paper which uses my quasi-experimental design model for ethical evaluation is entitled “Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Alternative Programs in Long Term care.” It represents an original test of ethical and scientifically valid research methodology for program evaluation. This report is based on research I designed and implemented with primary data I collected at a geriatric center in Syracuse, NY. The sixth selected represents my early methodological leap from statistics to the use of artificial intelligence software (Prolog) as a research tool for gerontological evaluation. The paper, “An Artificial Intelligence Application in Gerontological Education,” is the first to use this innovative methodology in social gerontology. “Feminism, Aging and Dialectical Moral Development” is the seventh and final selection. This synthesis of theories represents a new feminist-based theory of life-long moral development as dialectical progression. It is significant that this paper concludes the set. The synthetic theory’s test remains incomplete and, therefore, helps open the way to future integrations of qualitative methods, in particular, and theory in social gerontology. Appended is one of my post-retirement papers. It is my analysis of the creative mathematics underlying Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawing of the Vitruvian Man. It serves as a case study of the human potential for late-life developmental growth and stability in creative intelligence.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Independently published
• Date d'édition: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1718013523
• ISBN 13: 9781718013520
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 227
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg