Studying Aging and Social Change
Conceptual and Methodological Issues
Edited by:
- Melissa A. Hardy - Pennsylvania State University, USA
August 1997 | 240 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
What if the world population consisted of a single generation that lived forever? Or what if each successive generation came into being all at once and then perished before the next generation came into existence? How would the absence of many different generations sharing pieces of the same time-line alter how we think about the linked processes of aging and social change? In this book, editor Melissa Hardy presents a collection of strategies for conceptualizing and analyzing the connections between intra-vidual and societal change. Studying Aging and Social Change questions the boundaries between self and society and change and stability. The book includes classic treatments on generations and cohorts by Karl Mannheim and Norman Ryder and presents a new theoretical contribution that explores the meaning of aging as a social process. Each of the six new essays develops a central theoretical concept, linking that concept to issues of research design and analysis. By reexamining the assumptions that underlie our approaches to the study of change, this volume provides key insights into how we can understand fundamental social processes such as human development and socialization, the formation of public opinion and political identity, and the shaping of collective action and group behavior.
This enlightening volume will be a valuable resource for academics and students in the fields of social work, gerontology, sociology, and family studies.
Melissa A Hardy and Linda Waite
Doing Time
K Mannheim
The Problem of Generations
Norman B Ryder
The Cohort as a Concept in the Study of Social Change
Lawrence Hazelrigg
On the Importance of Age
Eliza K Pavalko
Beyond Trajectories
Glenn Firebaugh and Dana L Haynie
Using Repeated Surveys To Study Aging and Social Change
Duane F Alwin
Aging, Social Change and Conservatism
John R Nesselroade and David L Featherman
Establishing a Reference Frame against Which To Chart Age-Related Changes