| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
This is a limited free preview of this book. Please buy full access.
The median income ranged from a high of US$23,564 in one community, to between US$20,600 and US$21,400 for all of the remaining communities. The median household income for the area in 1989 was US$21,406. There are some marked differences in income across the older age ranges. Thirty-four percent of the 55- to 64-year-old group had an annual income of US$14,999 or less. This was true of 50% of those 65 to 74 years of age and of 62% of those 75 years of age or older. With one exception, of those who reported their annual household income for 1989, it was the oldest age group that had the highest percentage below US$15,000.
Summary of Chapters
The following chapters include the following:
- 1. A discussion of the theoretical perspective and major concepts employed in the study (chapter 2), followed by the methodological procedures of the survey (chapter 3).
- 2. A comparison of the Oregon and Taiwanese samples of older adults (60 years of age and older). The descriptive data include bivariate correlates of selected sociodemographic, network, and psychosocial variables. Ethnic differences in each country are also examined (chapter 4).
- 3. A typology of networks. This typology is developed in order to compare differences between types according to the content of exchanges and the major psychosocial variables (chapter 5).
- 4. A test of hypotheses in which network characteristics are related to reciprocity (chapter 6), values (chapter 7), social capital (chapter 8), health (chapter 9) and leisure activities (chapters 8 and 9), and the consequences these relationships have for several psychosocial outcomes, including life satisfaction, locus of control, and self-esteem. A crucial comparison running throughout the analyses is whether the cultural differences between the two national samples best support the hypotheses or the structural differences between the various network types.