Listening to the voice - and the fears - of the elderly. Good practices supported by creative social research methodologies

Abstract

This paper showcases the exploratory results of a pedagogical exercise developed with people aged 65 and over, aiming to understand their fears and its impact in the experience of the everyday life. The exercise was carried in the spring semester 2021, by students enrolled in the Sociology course at the University of Évora, Portugal. Against the background of a major project with the aim of studying fear in contemporary society, the students developed data collection procedures based on creative social research methodologies. The results show that putting creativity in social research methodologies allow us to listen more attentively to older people’s voices, while adding depth compared to more traditional social research instruments. Ultimately, the ar ticle intends to share good practices of listening to elderly voices capable of informing sustainably both scientific and social intervention projects.