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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
West Virginia University School of Medicine Center on Aging
Address correspondence to Mary W. Carter, Assistant Professor, Center on Aging and Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, One Medical Drive, HSC Annex, PO Box 9127, Morgantown, WV 26506-9127. E-mail: mcarter{at}hsc.wvu.edu
To the Editor:
It was with great interest that I read your May editorial entitled, "Putting a Human Face on Gerontological Research: Identity Issues" (Longino, 2005
) because, as a junior investigator, I have relied on secondary data almost exclusively in conducting my research. Admittedly, when the task requires building analytical files, the complexities of file preparation command my attention, and I proceed without firsthand knowledge of the individuals whose lives are chronicled in the thousands of columns and rows that are neatly archived in coded abstraction and stored on my computer. In fact, I like the efficiency and order of secondary data and much enjoy this aspect of my work. However, behind my efforts is the unseen motivation and, I argue, what represents the chasm between the interior and exterior, or private and public life of the researcher, much like Simon Briggs (2005) asserts in his article, "Beyond Appearances: Perspectives on Identity in Later Life and Some Implications for Method," with respect to aging.
Watching the private lives of others has shaped my private research identity and informed the public sphere of my work—writing, lecturing and presenting. When I specify a dichotomous variable set to one if a decubitus ulcer occurred, versus zero otherwise, I may not know the face of the individual whose data I use, but the data are not faceless. It wears the face of my grandfather, who died in pain, with bed sores and in a rigid fetal position caused by an adverse reaction to a medication given to him because he would not go to sleep at the time desired (7:00 pm) by the nursing home staff. When I specify age in years, it wears the face of Sam, who at 101 years of age, visited his daughter living at a nearby nursing home. When I specify a variable indicating Alzheimer's disease, the face I see is Pearl's, from whose hands I wrestled a pair of scissors as she tried to cut away the thing ravaging her mind. And when I specify education obtainment, I see Nathan, a Jewish scholar who taught me the stories of his youth that guided his journey through old age. If these stories are not visible in my published work, it is because I have chosen to present "a certain face to the world while keeping other parts hidden" (Biggs, 2005, p. S119).
Importantly, I've discovered along the way that the source of my motivation is not unique but quite similar to other students of gerontology and researchers engaged in secondary data analyses, where "private intuition" gives way to "public discourse" (Holstein & Gubrium, 2000, as cited in Biggs, 2005). Although some have reproved our "anecdotal" stories (and perhaps that is why we often remain silent), most with firsthand experience have nodded with slow understanding and agree—a change is desperately needed. To contribute to this effort, we choose to work with secondary data, because for different reasons, we have found that this is where our strengths lie. For me, it's simple: I do not converse easily with strangers. Accordingly, with these stories in mind and the faces of those who graciously shared them with me, I enter the public sphere of research while trying to adopt the critical distance necessary to exert "control over interpersonal activity" (Biggs, 2005, p. S121).
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