200205 PR Research-Oriented Internship (2023W)

Where do our ideas about old age come from? We all have ideas about how we will be in old age. These ideas can be positive or negative. Some people fear frailty and loneliness, while others look forward to time with grandchildren and the opportunity for hobbies. These notions affect our own aging, our health as we age, and even our life expectancy - positive notions have a positive effect and negative notions have a negative effect.
But where do these ideas come from? One possibility is that ideas about old age are transmitted from generation to generation within the family, or that our own parents and grandparents, as role models, shape our ideas about old age. If this hypothesis is true, then ideas about old age would be more similar within a family than between two different families. This is exactly what you will be asked to explore in this course through a questionnaire study. In addition, we will look at what factors influence the similarity of perceptions of age within a family (e.g., emotional closeness between generations, frequency of contact, perceived similarity, etc.).
In this course, you will use the study to learn all the steps of empirical research, that is, how to develop a research question based on literature, formulate a hypothesis, develop an appropriate study design, consider possible confounding factors, plan and conduct the study, and finally how to statistically test the hypotheses (the last step with the support of the course instructor). You will work in small groups and in plenary as well as individual study. The seminar is interactive and depends significantly on the active participation of the students.