Qualitative research in educational gerontology

In recent years ethnogerontology has emerged as a critical new field of study in gerontology. This area (also known as minority gerontology or minority aging) focuses on the racial, ethnic, and cultural processes of aging and the aged and the problems of social inequality in an aging society. A major concern, is this field is the absence of a core knowledge base on minority populations and the lack of relevant theories and research applicable to these groups. This article critiques the influence of empirical, scientific, logical positivism and the historically strong emphasis on quantitative methods in gerontology and advocates the use of qualitative research in educational gerontology through ethnographic interviews. The nature of qualitative research and the role of the educational gerontologist require flexibility to free the scientific knowledge building process from the absolutism of positivist research. One of the most important aspects of this change is that qualitative methods allow researchers and minority elders to share responsibility in the process of defining reality and producing knowledge.