Qualitative research uses text as units of analysis based on data collected through interviews, policy documents, archival materials and various forms of media. Students are provided with conceptual understandings and tools to explore how people, community members, helping professionals, administrators, and policy makers make meaning of their world(s) in the context of their whole lives. In this course students will: be introduced to interpretive and constructivist qualitative research methods; learn how to assess the ethics and rigor of qualitative research; and develop the ability to assess qualitative research and evaluate implications for people and social change.

This course will examine selected areas in aging that reflect current issues and future directions with respect to law and health/social policy, and will delve into how they are impacted in the time of COVID-19. The focus will be on essential elements of the law and policy and their links to the context of aging in Canada. The course will consider "issues on the ground" where each topic will be explored from "alternative viewpoints", presenting both a legal and policy perspective with the aim of making connections between law, policy and current best practices. The longstanding debate about whether the consequences of individual and population aging should be viewed as private troubles or public issues continues to influence law and policy in the areas of health care, community services, income security and housing, especially for specific groups defined by gender, class, sexual orientation and ethnicity. Analyses of each area will include an evaluation of the main applications of the law and policies, and students will gain an in-depth understanding of the issues discussed and the significance of these issues to older adults.