Homelessness, Ageing and Dying 7 1.7 Limitations of the Research This study has a number of key limitations, as follows: Small Sample Size The available budget, together with the time consuming and qualitative nature of the research methodologies used and difficulties with the recruitment of research participants capable of /interested in sustaining a meaningful conversation about their experiences, meant that the total research sample size is small (16 individuals). Discussions of Death The original study objectives were to explore attitudes to ill health, dying and death. The reality was that while research participants were prepared to discuss issues associated with dying, they were far less comfortable with discussions of death. This is a sensitive area that would require more time than was available to open up the discussion in any depth. As a result, the conversations with the study participants clearly focus more on attitudes to dying than attitudes to death. Participation limited to Simon services users The available budget and associated time constraints meant that participation in the study was limited to Simon Service users. The consequences of this are that all of the participants, because of their connection to Simon, are also linked into a variety of support and health services. It is also the case that while the focus of this study was on Simon service users ideally, had resources allowed, it would also have included Simon staff and volunteers. Routes used to recruit research participants Research participants were initially identified and recruited by Simon staff and volunteers. These individuals were all known to the research participants and it remains unclear to what extent research participants decision to participate in the study was motivated by wanting to be supportive of Simon staff. It is also not known to what extent individuals who might have fitted the profile were excluded and for what reasons they might have been excluded. Mix of research participants The fact that the research participants (reflecting the breadth of Simon client types) came from a range of accommodation types including emergency accommodation, local authority housing, etc. clearly made generalisation of the research findings difficult.
Homelessness, Ageing and Dying
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