Greetings to our study participants! We hope you will find the information in this website to be useful to you. We will complete our third wave of interviews in May, 2002. You should have a copy of our latest report, Continuity and Change, 1998-2000. Below are answers to some frequently-asked questions. If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact the Project Managers (Heidi and Alice).

Why was I chosen to participate?
It depends on where you live. We ask everyone living in senior housing to be part of our study. We also obtained a list of Tompkins County residents age 60 and over and randomly chose people to contact for our study.

I'm a pretty typical/not a typical person. Why do you still want to talk to me?
Talking to all kinds of people is critical for our study. Our results need to accurately reflect the wide range of experiences of people age 60 and over. We think all our participants are worth talking to!

What do you do to keep my responses confidential?
In our offices, we never put names on any of the survey materials. Different staff members work with names and addresses and with data. Everyone using the data signs a pledge of confidentiality.

You've already interviewed me. Why do I need to be interviewed again?
Studying the same people time over time is the only way to really know what influences them and how they change or stay the same.

What happens to my answers after the interview is finished?
The information from the survey booklets is entered into computer data files. Staff, faculty, and students analyze the data to answer specific research questions. Results of the research appear in academic and professional publications, as well as in presentations in our community.

What are the benefits of the study?
We believe that results from the study will help improve programs and policies relating to older people. We already know that involving students in this research improves their attitudes towards and increases their interest in working with older people.