Philip Silverman is Professor of Anthropology Emeritus at California State University Bakersfield. He earned his PhD from Cornell University and his BA from the University of Oklahoma. He has taught at CUNY and Tunghai University in Taiwan and has been a visiting scholar at the Institute of Ethnology (Academia Sinica) in Taiwan. His research includes a political study of the Lozi of Zambia and a large-scale comparative study of the aged based on the societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample. He is co-author of The Cross-Cultural Study of Aging: A Manual for Coders and editor of The Elderly as Modern Pioneers.

About Laura Hecht

Laura Hecht is Chair of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology at California State University, Bakersfield. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Indiana University.

About J. Daniel McMillin

J. Daniel McMillin is Professor of Sociology at California State University. He holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University.

About Shienpei Chang

Shienpei Chang is a Research Assistant at the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research located in Portland, Oregon. She earned her MA in Sociology at California State University Bakersfield and her BA in Social Work at Tunghai University in Taiwan. In addition to research in the medical field she has extensive survey research experience both in Taiwan and in the United States.