Late Adulthood Interview

Objective:

The goal for this assignment is to develop a deeper understanding of the end-of-life issues for the aging and elderly. By allowing your interviewee to reflect on important life events, you will be able to understand the context surrounding their life experiences.

For this assignment: Find a person above the age of 65 to interview. They may be related to you. The interview will be semi-structured: most questions are provided for you, but you also will ask follow-up questions after each of the required questions in order to gain a detailed understanding of your interviewee’s experiences. You also will write two formal questions of your own. For these questions, consider the different generational themes from the generation age of your interviewee. What large world events have they lived through? What kind of support system or family do they have? What end-of-life themes and theories do you see in their answers? Write out your two original questions before conducting your interview.

Required Interview Questions
Read these questions carefully before conducting your interview. Make sure you understand the substance of each question: you must be prepared to paraphrase each question and provide examples as needed in order to communicate effectively with your interviewee. Remember to ask follow-up questions as necessary.

Please tell me about your childhood, family and school life.
Do you consider yourself old? At what age did you notice that you were getting older?
What generation do you fall under (e.g. World War II, Post-War, Boomers)? What similarities and differences do you share with others in your same generation?
What is the most important historical event or period of time that you have lived through? How did it influence you personally?
What is the biggest change you have seen in how people conduct their everyday lives?
What have been the best years of your life so far? What are your plans for the future?
How are young people today different from when you were their age?
Have you ever experienced any negative attitudes or discrimination because of your age?
Question prepared by Interviewer/Student.
Question prepared by Interviewer/Student.
Your report must include the following parts:

The person you interviewed: Please do NOT include the name of your interviewee in your assignment. (You may use a pseudonym for him/her.) Report gender, approximate age, home culture, and relation to you, etc. Provide a description of the individual you interviewed while keeping his or her name confidential.
Setting: Describe the time, location, and environment in which the interview occurred.
Transcript/summary of your interview: You are expected to have a voice recorder and notebook/pen with you during the interview. Ask your interviewee whether she or he will allow you to record the interview.
Scenario 1: If you have permission, record the whole interview. Then transcribe the whole interview word for word. Your transcript of the interview will be Part III of your report. If you are using this option, please begin this part with a statement to the effect that you have your interviewee’s permission to record the interview and this is an exact transcript of the interview recording.
Scenario 2: If you do NOT have permission for voice recording, you shall respect your interviewee’s choice. Then politely ask 1) whether he or she would allow you to take notes during the interview, 2) whether he or she would go over your notes with you at the end of the interview to make sure what you wrote down is exactly what he or she wanted to express. If the answer is “yes” to both of these questions, you can start the interview and take notes. (If the answer to any of the questions is “no,” then you’ll need to find someone else to interview.) Review the notes with your interviewee to make sure what you wrote down is what your interviewee wants to express. Instead of a transcript, Part III of your paper will include each question you asked and a summary of your interviewee’s responses. Begin the section by stating that you have your interviewee’s permission to take notes. Then present the questions in the order you asked them.
Reflection: Relate the information you gained from the interview to your own experience and the material we have covered in the course so far. Answer these two questions in detail (at least one full paragraph for each question):
Using course concepts and theories, how would you interpret this interview? What have you learned about the effects of aging on individuals and families? Make sure you include citations for the concepts/theories you use. Use at least two theories.
Thinking about the overall experience of having conducted this interview, what have you learned personally? Which of your interviewee’s responses do you find most significant, and why?
NOTE: Failure to include correct citations will result in a lower grade (see link to rubric below) and may be considered academic dishonesty. This applies to textbook material and class notes. When describing a theory, research finding, or trend, translate the ideas into your own words. Explain how you understand the theory. Do not simply copy from class notes, the textbook, or another source. If you use a direct quotation, place it in quotation marks. Whether you use a direct quotation or paraphrase, you must cite the source for each idea you use (e.g. Santrock, 2014, p. 213 OR Class Notes, 11/12/14) and include that source in your paper’s references.
References: List your references, even if you use only the textbook. Use APA format. Please make sure you use APA formatting for your reference page, as well as in-text citations.