North American gerontology has largely been shaped by the theories and methods of bio-medical researchers and social scientists. Among other things, this has meant that “qualitative” approaches in research on aging have been of secondary importance. Scholars do not always mean the same thing by the term. This essay cannot resolve all of the paradigmatic issues that separate “hard” and “soft” science, but it does propose that researchers take a more self-critical, even autobiographical, orientation to making sense of their own aging careers.
