ABSTRACT

This chapter refers to the following research methods used in the gerontological research:

photographic method,

individual case studies as well as multiple case studies,

autobiographical method,

focused interviews,

research using the International Older Persons’ Human Rights Index (IOPHRI).

Methodological conclusions:

While carrying out administrative and legal research on older adults, special attention should be paid to proper conceptualization of research, specifically to the selection of indicators, the ways of measuring them as well as to defining basic notions.

Qualitative methods are usually used to study older adults, which is why these methods are also used in the research into protection of their rights. An especially adequate tool seems to be a multiple case study, also called multiplace qualitative research.

As a research technique (in administrative and legal research) it is worth using an in-depth problem-centered interview and, as a research tool a semi-structured interview.

An individual narrative in comparison with other research methods gives older adults a sense of security, and for lonely senior citizens is often one of the few forms of contacting the outside world, while in the case of research, for example, concerning violence, may serve as an informal therapy.

In selecting a research sample, it should be strongly emphasized that older adults (especially when it concerns today’s generation of senior citizens, who have survived the war, the post-war period and communist rule – the example of the East Europe) are one of the most heterogenous groups as far as education is concerned. This means that improper choice of research sample or omitting this fact in the results analysis may be a misuse and may result in methodological mistakes, which would in turn lead to erroneous conclusions. In order to avoid the mistakes described above, cohort studies may be considered (taking into account appropriate criteria of selection).