Critical perspectives on ageingand the lifecourse
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The notions of transitions and the lifecourse are overdue for a critical analysis with regard to the study of ageing and late life. While the study of transitions and the lifecourse have made considerable contributions to social gerontology (Elder, 1974, 1982; Hareven, 1978a, 1978b; Rossi, 1980; Hareven and Adams, 1982; Cohen, 1987; Antonucci et al, 1996; Phillipson, 2004), the perspectives taken have resulted in a relatively defined approach to the study of the lifecourse that tends to remain unquestioned. This is particularly the case where fixed cohorts, age- and stage- based assumptions, and accompanying normative expectations are concerned. Reconsidering what has become taken for granted in relation to the lifecourse requires theoretical and methodological schemes capable of integrating varying interpretations and practices. An approach that draws attention to socio-cultural relations and constructions of ageing, combined with subjective interpretations from diverse social locations, can provide a fresh perspective from which to reconsider transitions as they relate to ageing and late life. Drawing on a critical perspective as such highlights the constructed nature of the lifecourse, and the models and expectations within which people age, as well as the strategies used to negotiate transition and life in general. This chapter outlines the theoretical underpinnings and the analytic foundations of the critical approach taken throughout this book. To do so, it explores critical approaches to the study of ageing and the lifecourse perspective, reviewing each separately in order to highlight strengths and shortcomings. First, it provides an overview of critical gerontology and critical perspectives to the study of ageing and late life that anchor the analysis. It discusses relevant insights and pitfalls from the field, and details how critical gerontology may be used to explore transitions in late life. Second, it outlines prevalent approaches to the study of the lifecourse, and in particular, the lifecourse perspective. Reviewing this, it delineates the contributions and limitations of this approach and draws attention to the less prominent constructivist interpretations of the lifecourse. Third, it suggests a critical perspective on the study of ageing and the lifecourse that can guide a reconsideration of transitions in relation to ageing and late life. Critical perspectives and the lifecourse Many approaches to the study of transitions and ageing claim to be anchored in the lifecourse – a concept that has become fundamental to the study of continuity, change and transition. Three converging issues explain this tendency.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.007 | 0.007 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.004 | 0.003 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.008 | 0.033 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.008 | 0.010 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.005 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.004 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.006 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".