Research in Social Gerontology in Quebec: An Obscure Originality or a Deserved Obscurity?

Abstract

AbstractThe assessments of research in social gerontology in Quebec are already numerous. The need to continue to reflect on one's work is a sign of the uncertainty amongst Quebec researchers in social gerontology. Although research activities have been multiple in the past years and research in social gerontology has a few of the characteristics of an institutionalized scientific activity, the experience of research centres in gerontology has not always been a happy one; researchers have no definite place of work and scientific publications hardly get out of Quebec. Nevertheless, numerous works should be entitled to a Canadian and international circulation, and this exposure to the international trends of research in social gerontology would in turn profit Quebec researchers. Moreover, research in social gerontology is too exclusively concentrated in the field of social psychology, while the almost ideological rejection of quantitative methods appears largely unjustified. It is imperative that social research in gerontology in Quebec be diversified, but it is also important that researchers group together around research themes and that these groups be given adequate financial assistance by the funding agencies.