General Research and Survey Methods references
Compilations and Methods references
General and Qualitative references
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale references
Race/Ethnicity references
Racial and Ethnic Identity references
IRT and DIF Readings
Reference List Sub-Sections:
General Research Methods
General Survey Methods
Introduction
The following list of references was compiled by members of the Measurement and Methods Core leaders and participants. It is intended to serve as a list of basic, classic, and high quality references for those interested in learning more about quantitative and qualitative measurement issues in general and in diverse and older populations. It also includes references on minority health issues. The list is not exhaustive, but reflects references that RCMAR investigators’ find particularly useful. It also includes some general research and survey methods references to set the stage for new investigators. The development of the list is an ongoing process, thus it will be updated as RCMAR investigators identify new references in these areas, and new areas of relevance.
General References on Minority Research
Becker, DM, Hill, DR, Jackson, JS, Levine, DM, Stillman, FA, & Weiss, SM (eds). (1992). Health Behavior Research in Minority Populations: Access, Design, and Implementation. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health (NIH Publication No. 92-2965).
Proceedings of a workshop on this topic sponsored by NHLBI. Summarizes presentations on recruitment strategies, theoretical models of behavior change, and measurement issues in doing research with minority populations. Good information on "down in the trenches" work.
Blakemore, K and Boneham, M. Age, Race and Ethnicity: A comparative approach. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1994.
Study of aging among black and Asian people in Britain. Overview of British context of minority aging compared with other societies.
Davis, LG The Black Aged in the United States: A Selective Annotated Bibliography. (Revised and updated 2nd Edition). New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
Includes historical references, books, articles, pamphlets, dissertations and theses, government publications, appendices, and index. 277 pages.
Whitfield, Keith E., Willis, Sherry (1998). Conceptual issues and analytic strategies for studying cognition in older African Americans. African American Research Perspectives, 4(1), 115-125.
This is a concise review of conceptual and empirical work on cognition among older African Americans. The paper addresses five issues. Specifically, it reviews findings on race/ethnic comparisons, conceptual issues that must be addressed when studying African Americans, cross-ethnic analytic strategies, sampling issues, and instrumentation and scoring issues. The last area emphasizes that instruments should be valid and reliable and that three issues must be addressed: 1) cultural sensitivity, 2) modification of existing instruments, and 3) modification of scoring procedures to account for educational differences. With these suggestions in mind, the article reviews Everyday Problems Tasks, Crystalized/Fluid Measures, Impairment, and the Logical Memory subtest of the Weschler Memory Scale. (51 references)
Kato, PM and Mann, T (eds). Handbook of Diversity Issues in Health Psychology. New York: Plenum Press, 1996.
As part of this book, there is a section (Part IV) on ethnicity issues in health psychology which has chapters on African American health, Latino health promotion programs, health care issues in Asian Americans, behavioral approaches to illness prevetnion in Native Americans, and socioeconomic status and the health of racial minority populations.
Markides, KS and Mindel, CH. Aging and Ethnicity. Newbury Park: Sage, 1987.
Purpose: synthesize social gerontological literature on America’s major ethnic groups. Topics include theoretical perspectives and methodological issues, demographic characteristics, mortality and health, family structure and relations, mental health and psychological well-being, death and dying, work, income and retirement, and social problems and social policies.
Markides, KS and Miranda, MR. Minorities, Aging, and Health. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1997.
Purpose is to review needs on diverse elderly population, including African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans. Covers basic issues such as mortality, incidence of diseases and disability, diet and nutrition, access to health care, long term care, and public health care policy.
Marín, G. and Marín, BV. Research with Hispanic Populations. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Volume 23. Newbury Park: Sage, 1991.
Although focused specifically on Hispanic populations, this volume includes a great deal of information that can be applied to other ethnic groups, as well, such as enhancing research participation, development and adaptation of instruments, translation of data collection instruments, and interpreting data.
Shrestha, L.B. Racial Differences in Life Expectancy Among Elderly African Americans and Whites: The Surprising Truth about Comparisons. New York: Garland Press, 1997.
Evaluates the consistency of reported data for calculation of mortality statistics in the U.S. from censuses and death registration. Focus on aged 60 and above, population. 170pgs. (Garland Studies on the Elderly in America Series).
Return to top of page
General Qualitative References
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. Ethnography: Principles in Practice, 2nd Ed. London and New York: Routledge, 1995.
One of the most thorough and up to date general works on conducting ethnographic, qualitative research. Addresses access, field relations, data management, research design, and data analysis.
Shaffir, William B. and Stebbins, R.A. , eds. Experiencing Fieldwork: An Inside View of Qualitative Research. Sage.
Addresses many issues involved in conducting qualitative research.
Emerson, R.M., Fretz, R.I. and Shaw, L. L. Writing Ethnographic Field Notes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
A detailed account of how to write qualitative field notes up.
Coffey, A. and Atkinson, P. Making Sense of Qualitative Data. Thousand Oaks, Sage, 1996.
Addresses the process of qualitative data analysis in depth.
Mishler, E. Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986.
Takes a sociolinguistic approach to the conduct and analysis of qualitative interviews.
Becker, Gay. Disrupted Lives: How People Create Meaning in a Chaotic World. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Based on qualitative research from five different studies, this volume addresses issues of interviewing, participant observation, general qualitative analysis and methods of narrative analysis and interpretation among older people and members of ethnic minorities.
Luborsky, MR and Rubinstein, RL. Sampling in Qualitative Research: Rationale, Issues, and Methods. Research on Aging, 17(1):89-113, 1995.
One of the most comprehensive presentations of issues about sampling in qualitative research.
Spradley, J. The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979.
A classic on semi-structured interviewing.
Strauss, A.and Corbin, J.Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1990.
Addresses major issues in qualitative research from the perspective of grounded theory.
Miles, M. and Huberman. Qualitative Data Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994.
The most comprehensive volume on qualitative data analysis in print to date.
Qualitative Research on Ethnicity
Stanfield, JH and Dennis, RM, eds. Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods. Newbury Park, Ca: Sage, 1993.
Includes chapters on both qualitative and quantitative research with ethnic minorities, including studying across differences such as ethnicity, class and gender; participant observation; ethnography as personal experience, and some material on analysis.
Mahler, SJ. American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1995.
This ethnography on immigration includes an introductory section on the conduct of the research: access and gaining entrée, stages of the research, and relationship to theory.
Return to top of page
Qualitative Research on Age and Aging
Gubrium, JF and Sankar, A, eds. Qualitative Methods in Aging Research. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage, 1994.
A goldmine of details about the conduct of research on age and aging, this volume includes articles on ethnic and racial issues, ethical issues, proposal writing, managing large projects, in-depth interviewing, participant observation, and various forms of qualitative data analysis.
Fry, CL and Keith, J, eds. New Methods for Old Age Research. Bergin and Garvey, 1986.
This useful collection includes articles on age and life course transitions, historical demographic methods, participant observation, measuring morale and life satisfaction, the significance and measurement of ethnicity, and methods for studying social networks.
Special Issue of Journal of Aging Studies, 13(1), 1999, on Narrative Gerontology
This special issue includes papers on a range of approaches to narrative gerontology, including foci on pain in later life, widows, reminiscence, caregiving, and group-based enactments.
Muller, JM. Care of the Dying by Physicians-in-Training: An Example of Participant Observation Research. Research on Aging 17:65-88, 1995.
Detailed account of doing participant-observation on a hospital unit, including issues of entrée, recording, interviewing, observation, and leaving, and a discussion of the participant-observation technique in aging research.
Rubinstein, RL. Stories Told: In-Depth Interviewing and th Structure of Its Insights. In Qualitative Gerontology, S. Reinharz and G. Rowles, eds. Springer, 1987.
A valuable discussion of interviewing older respondents.
Kaufman, S. The Ageless Self. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1986.
Life Stories of older women and men, this book addresses issues of interviewing and thematic analysis among older people.
Last updated December 2005
Return to top of page
