ABSTRACT
The social sciences have much to gain by the intensive study of individual lives over time. The present study, which is a part of the much larger Kansas City Study of Adult Life, is based on a close examination of the lives of one hundred sixty-eight elderly men and women interviewed and observed over a five and one-half year period. The data regarding this period have been supplemented by life history material, whenever available, in an effort to provide both longitudinal and retrospective views of every case.
