Qualitative Gerontology

This commentary examines four articles in qualitative and humanistic gerontology, with the purpose of explicating the goals of such work, the criteria that make them exemplary, and the contribution they make to an enriched understanding of aging and old age. Qualitative work, undertaken with its own evaluative criteria, can also challenge understandings gained through quantitative research. For example, by revealing how individuals shape their lives and find meanings, social behavior assumes a complexity often hidden by other forms of research. This commentary suggests that to understand how people experience old age and to develop policy and programmatic responses, it is necessary to ask questions and design research sufficiently robust and varied to explicate the diversity and ambiguity we know exists.