Methods Used in the Study

Research Approaches

To learn about the experiences of older disabled people, qualitative interviews and focus groups were used. My theoretical framework (Patton, 2008) was influenced by the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003), which describes minorities’ experiences of stress as a result of discrimination or other disadvantages, and explains how stress can lead to health conditions and a lower quality of life in disabled people. I took into account contextual factors, such as environments and different people’s views (Iacono et al., 2009). This approach was also influenced by a life course perspective, in which I took into account participants’ past experiences in explaining their current circumstances (Heller & Marks, 2006).

The study included individual qualitative interviews with 10 participants with childhood-onset impairments who were age 55 or older and became disabled before the age of 3, and focus groups with the same 10 participants, with three participants in each group. One participant had to leave at the beginning of the focus group because he was not feeling well. He was interviewed individually using the focus group questions. The research approach used thematic narrative analysis, which involves storytelling and identified patterned meaning across data sets. Semi-structured interviews were done for this study. This research approach clarified psychological, thematic meanings of the experiences of the participants with an aim to yield greater understanding of the experiences of older disabled people and resilience. The purpose of using these two methods was to learn in-depth information about the participants in the interviews, and to learn more as they shared with the group. They also had the opportunity to learn from each other.

Narrative Research

Narrative research involves learning about the participant’s experiences and focusing on the meanings that the participant makes about one’s life, and the researcher’s understanding and interpretation of these (Chaitin, 2004; Riessman, 2008). When participants tell their stories, they can learn more about themselves, and it is a valuable form of social interaction (Riessman, 2008). Knowledge about participants can help researchers discover something valuable about the narratives. The qualitative interviews were conducted using thematic narrative analysis.

Narrative research also looks at ideas through a cultural context, and the participant and researcher are partners in the research. This approach is a way for participants to empower themselves by telling their stories and reflecting on the meanings that they make in their lives. I chose this approach because narrative research conveys people’s stories, and it can address experiences of disability and aging from participants’ perspectives. Therefore, thematic narrative analysis was the best method to answer my research questions about the meanings that disabled people make about aging. Doing narrative interviews was also well-suited for my study because it was an opportunity to learn in-depth information about participants’ experiences.

Emancipatory Approach

In addition, an emancipatory research approach was taken, which aims to assist people in learning something new about themselves during the research process (Fox et al., 2007). Emancipatory research involves critical insights about the social construction of society and has a political purpose. Emancipatory research involves research with participants who are marginalized in society, and works to facilitate participants’ empowerment, so that they are able to learn more about the oppression they experience and fight that oppression. Emancipatory research takes an affirmative stance, where the participant is seen as the expert. It works to discover injustices, show how people are oppressed by society, and how individuals can oppress themselves. Emancipatory disability research goes beyond just focusing on participants’ experiences and focuses on the context of society. This study goes beyond experience to looking at oppression in society and working on creating positive change.

Research Questions

The research questions had to do with what the experiences of older disabled people are, and ways that they are resilient. The research questions sought to understand how people with child-onset impairments experience the aging process, and the meanings that they make about aging. The context of this study was to learn about the experiences of disabled people throughout the life course, what their experiences are as they get older, and their sense of identity and body image as they age. Ways of coping with aging, health issues, fears, losses, and resilience were also explored. Existential issues related to meaning in life, quality of interpersonal relationships throughout life, and aspects that contribute to older disabled people being resilient and having self and other compassion were also delved into. The questions were examined from the perspectives of disabled participants who were aging.

Recruitment and Procedures

Participants were recruited from Craigslist ads across the U.S. I chose the first 10 people who volunteered. Participants were informed that their responses would be confidential, that all identifying information would be disguised, and that pseudonyms would be used in the study. Data has been kept on my personal computer with two passwords, and will be deleted after seven years. Participants signed the consent form.

The interviews and focus groups were done by Zoom video, due to the COVID-19 situation. Demographic questions were asked and Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale-18 (PWBS-18) (Ryff & Keyes, 1995) was administered before the interview. At the end of the focus group, I did a HeartMath FREEZE-FRAME meditation for stress and anxiety with the participants, which I adapted based on Childre and Martin’s (1999) HeartMath meditation. After the focus group, participants were provided with two mindfulness meditation handouts, and a handout on positive affirmations. They were also administered Neff’s Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SCS-SF) (Raes et al., 2011). Participants were provided with a $50 Amazon gift card after the interview, and another $50 Amazon gift card after the focus group.

Data Analysis of the Interviews and Focus Groups

The recorded interviews were transcribed. The data were analyzed using thematic narrative analysis (Riessman, 2008). This involved analyzing the data both for psychological and sociocultural impacts (Chaitin, 2004). After analyzing the interview data and the focus group data individually, the analyses of the data of the interviews and focus groups were integrated, and I wrote up the results of the study.

Analysis of the Self-Report Measures

When I followed up on the participants’ responses to the PWBS-18 and SCS-SF, they described areas of these self-report measures, such as how they viewed themselves, their experiences of social support or isolation, their confidence in their own opinions, ways they took care of themselves in difficult situations, and areas in which they wanted to grow. I included descriptive statistics of the responses, analyzed the participants’ qualitative responses to these surveys, and related their responses to the rest of the data.

Overall Analysis

I looked for common meanings that the participants made across all data. I did ongoing examination of the data and literature review and kept the idea of the research purpose in my mind (Hancock & Algozzine, 2011). With the analysis, I kept going until I thought that I addressed my main research questions (Yin, 2014). I then discussed my interpretations of the meanings that the participants expressed about their experiences, and I compared them to the literature.

How I Was Involved in the Research

I used my own values and experiences as part of anticipating what the perspectives of others might be, as it was impossible for me to completely separate from this process. I had a balance of using my own insight while also thinking critically about the research topics (Stake, 2006). I reviewed the evidence and thought about why I interpreted it the way I did (Yin, 2014). I was also aware of and reported contradictory evidence, to avoid bias.

References

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Qualitative Methods, 3(4), 1–15. https://doi.org/

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Childre, D., & Martin, H. (1999). The HeartMath solution. HarperCollins

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Fox, M., Martin, P., & Green, G. (2007). Doing practitioner research. Sage

Publications, Inc.

Hancock, D. R., & Algozzine, B. (2011). Doing case study research: A

practical guide for beginning researchers (2nd ed.). Teachers College

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Heller, T., & Marks, B. (2006). Aging. In G. L. Albrecht (Ed.), Encyclopedia of