Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences pp 1201–1218Cite as

Semistructured Life History Calendar Method

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 528 Accesses

Abstract

The Life History Calendar (LHC) methodology was pioneered for large-scale quantitative life course studies but has since been adapted for various research goals across the health-related fields and social science disciplines. This chapter explores the potential of a semistructured Life History Calendar administered in tandem with open-ended interviewing to facilitate qualitative life course research. By merging the depth across multiple social contexts characteristic of the Life History Calendar method with explanatory data gleaned from interviews, this semistructured protocol succeeds at producing nuanced longitudinal data. In this chapter, I highlight the benefits and limitations of the semistructured Life History Calendar method, address common implementation issues, and offer examples of how the semistructured Life History Calendar method has been used to study trajectories of education, employment, health, and other topics, among diverse populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   649.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   849.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Axinn WG, Barber J, Ghimire D. The neighborhood history calendar: a data collection method designed for dynamic multilevel modeling. Sociol Methodol. 1997;27:355–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Axinn WG, Pearce LD, Ghimire D. Innovations in LHC applications. Soc Sci Res. 1999;28:243–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belli RF. The structure of autobiographical memory and the event history calendar: potential improvements in the quality of retrospective reports in surveys. Memory. 1998;6:383–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belli RF, Shay WL, Stafford FP. Event history calendars and question list surveys: a direct comparison of interviewing methods. Public Opin Q. 2001;65:45–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belli RF, Lee EH, Stafford FP, Chow CH. Calendar and question-list survey methods: association between interviewer behavior and data quality. J Off Stat. 2004;20(2):185–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belli RF, Stafford FP, Alwin D, editors. Calendar and time diary methods in life course research. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blum Z, Karweit N, Sorensen A. A method for the collection and analysis of retrospective life histories. Report no. 48. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, Center for the Social Organization of schools; 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner U. The ecology of human development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner U, Morris P. The bioecological model of human development. In: Damon W, Lerner RM, editors. Handbook of child psychology. 6th ed. Hoboken: Wiley; 2006. p. 793–828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter LM. Studying sexualities from a life course perspective. In: DeLamater J, Plante RF, editors. Handbook of the sociology of sexualities. Cham: Springer; 2015. p. 65–89.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Thornton A, Freedman D, Amell JW, Harrington H, et al. The LHC: a research and clinical assessment method for collecting retrospective event-history data. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 1996;6:101–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elder G Jr. Children of the great depression: social change in life experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elder G Jr, Shanahan M, Jennings J. Human development in time and place. In: Lerner RM, editor. Handbook of child psychology and developmental science, vol. 4. Hoboken: Wiley; 2015. p. 6–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman S, Howie L. Looking back, looking forward: reflections on using a life history review with older people. J Appl Gerentol. 2009;28:621–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman D, Thorton A, Camburn D, Alwin D, Young-DeMarco L. The LHC: a technique for collecting retrospective data. Sociol Methodol. 1988;18:37–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furstenberg FF, Brooks-Gunn J, Morgan SP. Adolescent mothers in later life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1987.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Giele JZ, Elder GH, editors. Methods of life course research: qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris DA, Parisi D. Adapting LHCs for qualitative research on welfare transitions. Field Methods. 2007;19(1):40–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppin JA, Tolbert PE, Flagg EW, Blair A, Zahm SH. Use of a life events calendar approach to elicit occupational history from farmers. Am J Ind Med. 1998;34:470–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hser YI, Anglin MD, Grella C, Longshore D, Prendergast ML. Drug treatment careers: a conceptual framework and existing research findings. J Subst Abus Treat. 1997;14(6):543–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler RC, Wethington E. The reliability of life event reports in a community survey. Psychol Med. 1991;21:723–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laub JH, Sampson RJ. Shared beginnings, divergent lives: delinquent boys to age 70. Cambridge: Harvard University Press; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilley RC, Cryer PC, Firth HM, Herbison GP, Feyer AM. Ascertainment of occupational health histories in the working population: the occupational history calendar approach. Am J Ind Med. 2011;54:21–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martyn KK, Belli RF. Retrospective data collection using event history calendars. Nurs Res. 2002;51:270–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martyn KK, Reifsnider E, Barry MG, Trevino MB, Murray A. Protective processes of Latina adolescents. Hispanic Health Care Int. 2006;4(2):111–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson JM, Popielarz PA, Drobnic S. Social networks and organizational dynamics. Am Sociol Rev. 1992;57(2):153–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzer P. Using the self-discovery tapestry to explore occupational careers. J Occup Sci. 2001;8:16–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer J, Johnson M. Adolescents’ part-time work and post-secondary transition pathways in the United States. In: Heinz WR, editor. From education to work: Cross-national perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1999. p. 111–48.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer J, Shanahan M, editors. Handbook of the life course. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munch A, McPherson JM, Smith-Lovin L. Gender, children, social contact: the effects of childrearing for men and women. Am Sociol Rev. 1997;62(4):153–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson IA. From quantitative to qualitative: adapting the life history calendar method. Field Methods. 2010;22(4):413–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson IA. Why afterschool matters. Camden, NJ: Rutgers University Press; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connor K, Robert M, Pérodeau G, Séguin M. Trajectory-based methods in clinical psychology: a person centred narrative approach. New Ideas Psychol. 2015;39:12–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porcellato L, Carmichael F, Hulme C. Using occupational history calendars to capture lengthy and complex working lives: a mixed method approach with older people. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2016;19(3):269–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reisner SL, Hughto JMW, Pardee DJ, Kuhns L, Garofalo R, Mimiaga MJ. LifeSkills for men (LS4M): pilot evaluation of a gender-affirmative HIV and STI prevention intervention for young adult transgender men who have sex with men. J Urban Health. 2016;93(1):189–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rimkeviciene J, O’Gorman J, Hawgood J, Leo DD. Timelines for difficult times: use of visual timelines in interviewing suicide attempters. Qual Res Psychol. 2016;13(3):231–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith JR. Unequal burdens of loss: examining the frequency and timing of homicide deaths experienced by young black men across the life course. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(S3):S483–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson KD. Questioning the long-term English learner label: how categorization can blind us to students’ abilities. Teach Coll Rec. 2015;117(12):1–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornton A, Axinn WG, Hill DH. Reciprocal effects of religiosity, cohabitation, and marriage. Am J Sociol. 1992;98(3):628–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vaart W. The time-line as a device to enhance recall in standardized research interviews: a split ballot study. J Off Stat. 2004;20(2):301–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Vaart W, Glasner TJ. Applying a timeline as a recall aid in a telephone survey: a record check study. Appl Cogn Psychol. 2007;21(2):217–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vermeer WM, Bakker RM, Kenter GG, Stiggelbout AM, ter Kuile MM. Cervical cancer survivors’ and partners’ experiences with sexual dysfunction and psychosexual support. Support Care Cancer. 2016;24:1679–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshihama M, Clum K, Crampton A, Gillespie B. Measuring the lifetime experience of domestic violence: application of the LHC method. Violence Vict. 2002;17(3):297–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshihama M, Gillespie B, Hammock A, Belli RF, Tolman R. Does the life-history calendar method facilitate the recall of domestic violence victimization? Comparison of two methods of data collection. Soc Work Res. 2005;29(3):151–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahm S, Colt J, Engel L, Kiefer M, Alvarado A, Burau K, Blair A. Development of a life events/icon calendar questionnaire to ascertain occupational histories and other characteristics of migrant farmworkers. Am J Ind Med. 2001;40:490–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology and Anthropology Department, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, USA

    Ingrid A. Nelson

Authors
  1. Ingrid A. Nelson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ingrid A. Nelson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Pranee Liamputtong

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Nelson, I.A. (2019). Semistructured Life History Calendar Method. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_22

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation