Data on three dimensions of senior center participation (number of activities, duration, and
frequency of attendance) are analyzed for a sample of 235 participants drawn from eight senior
centers m western New York Measures traditionally used in comparisons of center participants
versus nonparticipants (sociodemographic characteristics, health, moral, accessibility, and
social contact) are not found to relate to the three participation dimensions consistently. These
findings suggest that the common research practice of conceptualizing senior center participation simply as a yes or no condition is conceptually and empirically suspect.
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