Researching the older IT professional: methodological challenges and opportunities

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.

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