ABSTRACT
Questions in aging research are complex, intricate, and diverse. There is little doubt that the next generation in gerontology will demand more sophisticated research techniques to address this complexity and to accommodate the differential and multifaceted patterns of aging. Methodological designs and analytical techniques are needed to obviate threats to internal validity (i.e., distinguish age-related change from cohort and time of measurement effects); assess construct equivalence over time; detect increased heterogeneity with age; understand potential selection effects; and accommodate missing data due to systematic participant attrition, longer time intervals between occasions of measure, decreased health and functional status, and increased mortality. On a positive note, new analytical techniques in the areas of structural equation modeling, latent class analysis, hierarchical linear growth curve modeling, dynamical systems analysis, multivariate, multilevel Rasch models, survival analysis, and quantitative genetic methodologies provide researchers with tools to assess the dynamic nature of aging. A well-thought-out and executed program of study, integrating these new techniques, will contribute to theory development and advance powerful insights into the determinants of the aging process.
