Researching the Older IT Professional: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities

摘要

Many developed nations' populations are aging. For workplaces, this has two important implications: organizations face an increasingly older workforce, at the same time that they experience a higher level of retirements. Both of these factors suggest some dramatic implications for those studying the workplace that must be considered. Regrettably, findings show that age-based research on older adults' experiences with technology is severely lacking (Birkland & Kaarst-Brown, 2007). To help address this gap, this paper reviews the sampling, ethical, and methodological implications for those who seek to study IT professionals and IT use in the aging workplace.