Measuring Engagement in Later Life Activities

Abstract

The development of Rasch-based “comparative engagement scenarios” based on Guttman’s facet theory and sentence mapping procedures is described. The scenario scales measuring engagement in work, caregiving, informal helping, and volunteering illuminate the lived experiences of role involvement among older adults and offer multiple advantages over typical Likert-based scales.

• engagement measurement
• Rasch models
• scenario development
• facet theory
• sentence mapping

Notes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the research, authorship, and/orPUBLICation of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Larry H. Ludlow

Larry H. Ludlow, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. He teaches courses in research methods, statistics, and psychometrics. His research interests include longitudinal models for faculty course evaluations, Rasch model instrument development, and teacher retention and attrition models.

Christina Matz-Costa

Christina Matz-Costa, MSW, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College and a Senior Research Associate at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work. Her research interests include productive engagement among older adults, aging workforce, quality of employment, and role transitions in later life. Dr. Matz-Costa received the 2012 Hartford Social Work Faculty Scholars Award to conduct a study on the experience of engagement in productive activities in later life.

Clair Johnson

Clair Johnson is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation program at Boston College. Her primary research interests include the contextual influences on program evaluators’ practices, and the relationship between evaluation theory and evaluation practices, especially with respect to stakeholder involvement.

Melissa Brown

Melissa Brown, MSW, PhD, is an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Boston College. She teaches courses in research methods, statistics, and program evaluation. Her research interests include caregiving, work-life integration, and productive engagement in later life.

Elyssa Besen

Elyssa Besen, PhD, is a research scientist in the Center for Disability Research at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. Her research interests include work disability and the impact of age on the return to work process.

Jacquelyn B. James

Jacquelyn B. James, PhD, is director of research at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work, and research professor in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. Her research interests include the meaning and experience of work across the lifespan, workplace flexibility, and engagement as an emerging retirement issue.