If ever there was an area of inquiry that should be approached from the perspective of interpretive social science, this is one. It is apparent even to the most casual observer that aging has multiple biological, psycho- logical, and sociological components; that neither the behavior of older people nor the status of older people can be understood otherwise; and that the primary need is for explication of contexts and for multiplicity of methods. It should also be apparent that attention to change over time is fundamental in lay disciplinary approaches to the study of aging, whether it be change in the individual or historical change in social, economic, and political institutions. (p. 294)
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