Entry into Retirement Communities

Reports on the process and the problems related to entry into communities, organizations, and groups are both few and sparse in the gerontological literature. The central focus of the article is upon the experiences of the research team in obtaining entry to study 36 retirement communities in Arizona, California, Florida, and New Jersey. Each of the communities was site visited. Among the topics discussed are: sponsorship and the point of entry; access for what purpose; entry as a social process; obtaining additional "approvals"; and the problem of multiple sites. A typology of communities based upon our experiences is offered: the cooperative community; the cautious community; the suspicious community; and the uncooperative community.