Research practices in the psychology of aging: a survey of research published in the Journal of Gerontology, 1975-1982.
The aim of this paper was to describe current research practices in the study of the psychology of aging. A total of 263 articles published in the Psychological Sciences Section of the Journal of Gerontology was examined in terms of subject-selection procedures, sample characteristics, author characteristics, data analysis techniques, research design, and specific area of research. Compared with an earlier survey, it was observed that research practices have improved with regard to sample representativeness of the age variable and the appropriate use of statistics, especially use of multivariate and regression analyses. Fifty-six percent of the studies surveyed were classified as cognitive investigations, and many of these studies were conducted from an information-processing perspective. A need for more detailed description by authors of subject-selection procedures and subject characteristics was noted.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005852:Geriatric Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D011584:Psychology; D012106:Research