Vignette Methodology and Culture-Relevance: Lessons Learned through a Project on Successful Aging with Iranian Immigrants to Sweden

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that cultural values play an important role in the construction of aging and old-age related understandings. This is why ethnogerontologists have tried to expand the gerontological imagination by arguing that research needs to become more culturally-relevant. Tapping into the values that people uphold and the understandings of aging that are shaped by them is a challenging endeavor. This is especially the case if one does not share the cultural background of the people whose values one is studying. The same holds true when one wants to shed light on understandings that mainstream social gerontology regards as deviations from the norm. It is after all relatively easy to "impose the Western template" under such circumstances. Vignette methodology has been found to be particularly useful when studying value-laden understandings. This is why it is an appropriate method to consider when designing research that aims to avoid the imposition of the Western template. This article focuses on the pros and cons of this methodology while discussing some of the lessons learned from a project that explored how the construct of successful aging is understood by a group of Iranian immigrants to Sweden. It will be argued that vignettes are particularly useful when trying to shed culturally-relevant light on aging and old age-related understandings.

Successful aging as an oxymoron

“…Other results from this project can be found in Hammarströ m and Torres ( , 2009) as well as in Torres and Hammarströ m (2005. 4.…”

“…Torres (2001Torres ( , 2003Torres ( , 2009) used vignette methodology to clarify the relationship between cultural values and understandings of successful aging, and found that there are a variety of ways in which this construct can be understood. Her findings show that not everybody associates aging well with the mastering of nature and with the future and productivity orientation that is so common in established definitions of successful aging within mainstream gerontology.…”

Problem-focused and emotion-focused coping options and loneliness: how are they related?

“…The sequence of the four vignettes was randomly chosen and varied from respondent to respondent. Vignettes are short hypothetical scenarios designed to elicit people's perceptions, beliefs and attitudes (Torres 2009). By using vignettes, we were able to reveal the options lonely and non-lonely older adults consider for coping with loneliness.…”

‘She might have what I have got’: The potential utility of vignettes as an indirect measure of awareness in early-stage dementia

“…Content-specific vignettes depicting 5 relevant situations (Veal, 2002) can be useful for exploring sensitive topics which participants may be reluctant to discuss. This approach allows participants to retain some distance from the situations described, and is thought to be experienced as less threatening than direct inquiry (Barter & Renold, 1999;Torres, 2009). The responses that participants give offer an insight into their understanding of the situation and the representations and beliefs that underlie their understanding (Torres, 2009;VonDras, 2009).…”

“…This approach allows participants to retain some distance from the situations described, and is thought to be experienced as less threatening than direct inquiry (Barter & Renold, 1999;Torres, 2009). The responses that participants give offer an insight into their understanding of the situation and the representations and beliefs that underlie their understanding (Torres, 2009;VonDras, 2009). There is no requirement to relate the information to the self, although selfreferences may be made spontaneously.…”