ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 provided an account of social and cultural change from the 1950s through to the 1990s. As suggested at the end of the chapter, this was a period which saw a transformation of the images associated with old age. But the precise nature of this change is still unclear, and separating the different influences – changing social attitudes, the twists and turns of individual biographies, as well as the process of ageing – raises many complex issues and problems. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce different ways of thinking about the family and community life of older people. The chapter is divided into four main parts: first, an assessment of current debates about social relationships in old age, and the impact of population changes since the baseline studies. Second, a review of an approach which views relationships as a product of different kinds of ‘social networks’. Third, this discussion about networks is linked to the objectives of our own study, and the particular methods adopted for the research. Finally, there is a description of the respondents discussed and analysed in this book.
