Censos y jerarquía de la deuda: crédito y mercado de la tierra

The final theme identified in the literatures in relation to researching ageing and sexuality related to the different aspects of the research process. These included, recruitment, data collection, and researcher role and profile. Although issues of method have been touched on in the previous sections, when discussing research design and focus, and contextual issues, it is worth considering them in more detail.

Whilst recruitment was discussed within the context of sensitivity, it is worth re- stating that recruitment of older people to participate in sexuality research was generally regarded as a challenge amongst researchers, demanding the employment of a range of diverse strategies (Tarzia et al 2013; Gledhill et al 2008; Lee 2008; Jones, R.L. 2005). Samples of participants tended to lack diversity in relation to sexual orientation and ethnicity (Tarzia et al 2013; Gledhill et al 2008; Pugh and Jones, J. 2007; Heaphy et al 2004) with recognition that accessing older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual participants (OLGBT) was particularly challenging (Tarzia et al 2013; Pugh and Jones, J. 2007). In a qualitative study focusing on how ‘non-heterosexual’ people experienced ageing and later life, Heaphy et al (2004) struggled to achieve diversity within their sample of OLGBT participants, which was predominantly made up of white and well-educated people. The data collection method most favoured by qualitative researchers when engaging with older people in sexuality research has been in-depth semi-structured interviews (Tarzia et al 2013; Gledhill et al 2008; Lee 2008; Heaphy et al 1998). In contrast focus groups have been favoured for researching sexuality with young women (Overlien et al 2005; Frith 2000).45 _{Interestingly Jones, R.L. (2005) stated}

that whilst researching sexuality with older women she initially used focus groups

45_{Advantages of focus groups include: sharing and hearing other experiences; reciprocity; richer}

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and found that they inhibited explicit personal discussions. The researcher went on to use one-to-one individual interview method, which “generated large amounts of data where older women talked about many aspects of sex in later life,” (Jones, R.L. 2005, p51). An important aspect of many data collection methods is the use of language, which was raised as a complex issue in relation to sexuality (Tarzia et al 2013; Robinson et al 2006; Jones, R.L. 2002; Heaphy et al 1998; Holland et al 1998). Participants asked to discuss their sexual experiences have been faced with a stark choice between a language that is medical/technical and one that is slang/offensive (Holland et al 1998). This lack of a nuanced language fails to enable people to reflect on their experiences adequately and comfortably (Robinson et al 2006). The meanings of different words to describe sexual experiences as well as the concept of sexuality itself can be problematic and demand the need for negotiation between researcher and participant (Heaphy et al 1998). This negotiation around meaning is not possible in relation to written recruitment material and, as discussed earlier, there can be a perception of sensitivity if certain terms such as ‘sex’ or ‘sexuality’ are used. The use of other ambiguous terms such as ‘health issues’ or ‘intimate relationships’ without the subsequent clarification of meaning can raise ethical issues about whether the participants clearly understand the nature and focus of the study (Tarzia 2013). Turning to the researcher role and profile it was recognised throughout the literatures on sexuality research that it was important for researchers to create a comfortable and enabling environment so that participants would feel able to discuss issues relating to their sexuality in an as open and detailed way as possible (Frith 2000). It has been recognised in the past that perceived commonalities between researcher and participant play a significant role in developing a trustworthy and enabling environment (Dunne 1997; Finch 1984; Oakley 1981). There is on-going debate about how influential a shared identity between ‘interviewer’ and ‘interviewee’ is, with some researchers cautioning that the positives must not be overemphasised (Robinson et al 2006; Heaphy et al 1998). Other researchers however have been unable to arrive at a firm conclusion either way (Tarzia et al 2013), whilst others have been able to state categorically that “sharing elements of participants’ sexual and gender identities is highly influential to generating trust and rich data” (Lee 2008, p10). This is discussed further in Section 5.5.4. Whilst there are divergent views over the issue it is imperative for researchers to realise that rapport building can be achieved in other ways. Whilst exploring sexual desire, Gledhill et al (2008) maintained that rapport and engagement could also be achieved through relevance of the research to the participants and that within their study, “all participants agreed that raising awareness of the older person as a sexual being was important and was their main reason for participation in the study” (Gledhill 2008 et al, p92).

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4.3.5 Messages from the review: a way forward

A review of the literature identified a range of methodological issues in relation to qualitatively researching ageing and sexuality, which could usefully inform future research. The main messages included: the need for qualitative research to use an inclusive definition of sexuality; the importance of researchers being aware of the impact of the ageist context of sexuality research on themselves and their research; and the recognition that recruitment/sampling and data collection posed challenges in terms of diversity and use of language respectively. There were mixed messages from the review with regards to the concept of sensitivity and whether sexuality research could be done unambiguously within a respectful and enabling environment.

Recent commentary on researching ageing and sexuality suggested that future studies needed to: focus more on issues and aspects of sexuality that were relevant to older people (Leontowitsch 2012; Deacon et al 1995); and, give older people more agency and influence (Bouman and Kleinplatz 2015). This in turn would challenge the “top-down…approaches that assume to know what constitutes later life” (Leontowitsch 2012, p2). In spite of these observations the review highlighted the lack of literature exploring older people’s/women’s perspectives on the processes, and future agenda, of researching ageing and sexuality. This influenced the decision to undertake participative research for this thesis where older women had the opportunity to contribute to the methods and focus of the research.46 _{Inspiration and encouragement for this decision also came from a}

participative action research project into the needs and aspirations of older lesbians and gay men (Gay and Grey 2006). The project enabled older people to add their voices to the research processes and to establish a ground up approach to undertaking the research. This empowered the older people to discuss their experiences of marginalisation, which in turn informed local support agencies about their needs (Fenge 2010; Fenge et al 2009; Gay and Grey 2006).

4.4 CONCLUSION

This chapter was an empirical/methodological literature review and covered the following two areas in relation to ageing and sexuality: first, in Section 4.2, after an initial critical discussion of the structural context and development of research in

46_{The decision to include researchers in the field of ageing and sexuality is discussed in Section}

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relation to sexuality in later life, a body of existing empirical research focusing on older women’s sexuality was appraised; second, in Section 4.3, through reviewing relevant literature the methodological issues of researching ageing and sexuality were highlighted. The ‘gaps’47 _{revealed in both the area of study and research}

methods were used to guide the research. Based on the messages from the reviews that concluded Sections 4.2 and 4.3 the way forward for the research study is summarised as follows:

 The main aspects of sexuality covered by the literature within this review supported the use of a broad definition of the concept, which re-emphasised the point highlighted in the conclusion in Chapter 3. This thesis included a range of aspects vis-à-vis sexuality which were discussed within this literature review, as well as adopting a definition that was welcoming to all older women regardless of relationship status.

 This study ensured that ‘older’ women were represented within the sample in order to address the issue acknowledged by the review, of older women being marginalised by ‘younger’ older women.

 It was demonstrated that there was a dearth of research studies explicitly exploring the age/gender intersection through researching sexuality. This study aimed to address this gap.

 This literature review added further support to the decision (see Section 2.3) that the methodology of the study was to be based on participative and qualitative principles in two ways: first, there was a significant gap with regards to older people having an opportunity to influence the methodology and focus of research within this field; and second, qualitative research concentrating on ageing and sexuality is continuing to develop and would benefit from further contribution.

47_{When I am referring to ‘gaps’ in relation to research I am using the terms broadly to include also}

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CHAPTER 5: METHODS