ABSTRACT
In theory and method, life-course ideas have tended to orient longitudinal studies to problems of human development in context-to the lived lives of individuals, as well as to their historical time and place. The early longitudinal studies did not place individuals in contexts of this kind, but these limitations and the remarkable growth of new longitudinal studies have given special incentive to advance life-course ideas. In this chapter, we first examine such change, comparing life-course and life-span models, and then apply key principles of the life course to an understanding of human development in context.
