Preliminary communication
Understanding older women's leisure: The value of biographical research methods
Diane Sedgley
; The Welsh School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management,University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, UK
Annette Pritchard
; The Welsh School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management,University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, UK
Nigel Morgan
; The Welsh School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management,University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, UK
Abstract
The phenomenal growth in the number of older people in the western world is well documented,
with the fastest growing group being those aged over 80 years, the majority of whom are women.
Despite this demographic transformation, little research has sought to understand the meaning
of tourism and leisure both for older people in general and specifically for women in the 'oldest
old' phase. The research that does exist is typically quantitative and provides an essentialist
view of leisure in old age, often failing to recognise the diversity of older people's experiences.
In contrast, this paper aims to provide a more fine-grained discussion of older people's leisure.
Drawn from the first author's doctoral study, it reports and considers a biographical interview
with a seventy-nine year old woman in order to provide insight into how a person's history and
the cultural, social and historical contexts of their life can determine their life choices. We
conclude that it is not possible to study older people's leisure behaviour through 'snapshot'
research (which isolates one moment in time); instead if we are to more fully understand how
their leisure and tourism experiences are constructed, we must try to engage with the context
from which those experiences emerged.
Keywords
older people; biographical research; ageing; critical research; older women
Hrčak ID:
161430
URI
Publication date:
8.3.2006.
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