Abstract
The interpretation of interview data requires an understanding of its context. In this study, the context was Assisted Living (AL). Twenty-one interviews were conducted with elderly residents of 4 Midwestern Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs). Institutional fear and loneliness associated with ALF living framed residents’ interpretation of and responses to the interview questions. Residents feared transfer to a nursing home, and they experienced the loneliness of being cut off from their homes and put into the care of busy staff members. Their framing of and responses to questions (both qualitative and quantitative) reflected this context, and included the invocation of impairments, the reluctance to criticize staff, and the refusal to complain about the ALF or their present situation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, P., & Adler, P. (2002). The reluctant respondent. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 515–536). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Aud, M. A., & Rantz, M. (2005). Admissions to skilled nursing facilities from assisted living facilities. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 20, 16–25.
Baker, C. (2002). Ethnomethodological analysis of interviews. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 776–795). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Bernard, H. (2006). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Lanham: Altamira.
Black, H. K. (2006). Questions I now ask: Spirituality in the liminal environment of assisted living. Journal of Aging Studies, 20, 67–77.
Briggs, C. (2002). Interviewing, power/knowledge, and social inequality. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 911–922). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Carder, P. (2002). The social world of assisted living. Journal of Aging Studies, 16, 1–18.
Charmaz, K. (2002). Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 675–694). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Dobbs, D. (2004). The adjustment to a new home. Journal of Housing for the Elderly, 18, 51–71.
Gubrium, J., & Holstein, J. (2002). From the individual interview to the interview society. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 3–32). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (1995). The active interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mischler, E. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mollica, R., & Johnson-Lemarche, H. (2005). State residential care and assisted living policy: 2004. Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://www.nashp.org.
Morgan, L. A., Eckert, J. K., Piggee, T., & Fankowski, A. C. (2006). Two lives in transition: Agency and context for assisted living residents. Journal of Aging Studies, 20, 123–132.
Morse, J. (2002). Interviewing the ill. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 317–329). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Moss, S. Z., & Moss, M. S. (2007). Being a man in long term care. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 43–54.
Nelson, E. C., Wasson, J. H., Johnson, D. J., & Hays, R. D. (Eds.). (1996). Dartmouth COOP functional health assessment charts: Brief measures for clinical practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven.
Radloff, L. F., & Teri, L. (1986). Use of the center for epidemiological studies-depression scale with older adults. Clinical Gerontologist, 5, 119–136.
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for use in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
Sikorska-Simmons, E. (2006). The effects of organizational context on autonomy-enhancing policies in assisted living. Journal of Aging Studies, 20, 217–226.
Warren, C. A. B. (2002). Qualitative interviewing. In: J. Gubrium & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 83–102). CA: Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Warren, C. A. B., Barnes-Brus, T., Burgess, H., Wiebold-Lippisch, L., Hackney, J., Harkness, G., et al. (2003). After the interview. Qualitative Sociology, 26, 93–110.
Warren, C. A. B., & Karner, T. X. (2005). Discovering qualitative methods: Field research, interviews, and analysis. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Wenger, G. (2002). Interviewing older people. In J. Gubrium, & J. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 259–278). CA: Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Williams, K. N., & Warren, C. A. B. (2009). Communication in assisted living. Journal of Aging Studies, 23, 1.
Wortham, S. (2001). Narratives in action: A strategy for research and analysis. New York: Columbia Teachers College.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) K-12 Program (HD052027, P. Thomas, PI) at the Kansas University Medical Center, School of Medicine.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Warren, C.A.B., Williams, K.N. Interviewing Elderly Residents in Assisted Living. Qual Sociol 31, 407–424 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9116-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-008-9116-y