Retrospective life span analysis: a method for studying extreme old age

To seek information about people who were born last century, an attempt was made to locate the total population of eligible age in a particular Australian suburb (Toowong, Brisbane). Three-hundred-and-forty people of this age cohort were located by a doorknock survey in 1978-1979, and tape recorded interviews exploring their life histories and present circumstances were obtained from 204 people. These were transcribed and coded for computer analysis of structural and temporal dimensions. In this paper sources of bias arising from variable interview situations and from the interaction between individual respondents and their interviewers are discussed. It is recommended that further research regarding this rapidly increasing segment of modern populations should take place along similar lines.