Susan Venn

Narratives of the night: The use of audio diaries in researching sleep

This article draws on data from two major empirical studies of sleep to examine the use of audio diaries as an approach to researching sleep. Sleep has only recently emerged as a topic of interest to the sociologist, providing a valuable resource through which to examine the roles and relationships and gender inequalities which underpin everyday life. Yet accessing individual experiences of sleep is problematic. Considered a non-conscious activity, sleep takes place in most cases at night within the private domain of the home and is thus generally inaccessible to the social researcher and outside the conscious reality of the sleeper. In exploring the social aspects of sleep, we rely primarily on respondents’ interpretations of the sleep period given retrospectively in focus groups and in-depth interviews, distanced from the temporal, spatial and relational dimensions of the sleep event. This article also focuses on the use of audio diaries as a method designed to help bridge the gap between events in real time and retrospective accounts. We examine the narrative structure of audio diaries, discuss the principles and practice of using audio diaries in sleep research, illustrate the contribution of audio diary narratives to an understanding of the social context of sleep, and assess the use of audio diaries in social research. We conclude that, used in conjunction with other methods, audio diaries are an effective method of data collection, particularly for understanding experiences of intimate aspects of everyday life.

Day-time sleep and active ageing in later life

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘active ageing’ has received much attention through strategic policy frameworks such as that initiated by the World Health Organisation, and through government and non-governmental organisation initiatives. The primary goal of these initiatives is to encourage older people to be active and productive, and to enhance quality of life, health and wellbeing. It is well known that with increasing age, night-time sleep deteriorates, which has implications for how older people maintain activity levels, and leads to an increased propensity for day-time sleep. Using data from 62 interviews with people aged 65–95 years living in their own homes who reported poor sleep, this paper explores the meanings of day-time sleep, and how the attitudes and practices of ‘active ageing’ are intricately linked to the management of day-time sleep and bodily changes that arise from the ageing process. The desire to be active in later life led to primarily dichotomous attitudes to day-time sleep; older people either chose to accept sleeping in the day, or resisted it. Those who accepted day-time sleep did so because of recognition of decreasing energy in later life, and an acknowledgement that napping is beneficial in helping to maintain active lives. Those who resisted day-time sleep did so because time spent napping was regarded as being both unproductive and as a negative marker of the ageing process.

'It's okay for a man to snore': The influence of gender on sleep disruption in couples

Snoring is a common cause of disturbed sleep for both the snorer and their partner. Whilst the physical effects of snoring are well documented as causing excessive daytime sleepiness, decreased effectiveness at work and irritability, it is also important to recognise the impact snoring has on the negotiation of sleep within couple relationships. This article analyses qualitative data from an ESRC funded multi-disciplinary project on couples’ sleep based on in-depth audio-tape recorded interviews with 31 couples (aged 20-59) where either one or both partners snore. Additionally, one weeks audio sleep diaries were completed and follow up separate in-depth interviews were undertaken with each partner. The gendered nature and implications of snoring are analysed. Results indicate that there is a gendered conception of snoring, which is problematic for women in three ways. First, women who snore are embarrassed and stigmatised by this ‘unfeminine’ action. Secondly, the embarrassment that women feel about their snoring is compounded by their partners sharing that information outside the privacy of their relationship. Thirdly, by finding excuses for their male partners’ snoring, as well as developing strategies to cope with its disruptive effects, most women are prioritising their partners’ sleep over their own, and perpetuating their own sleep disruption.

Gender and Aging

Over the last 30 years, the field of aging has been the site of an exceptional growth of research interest, yet it is only really within more recent social gerontology that the many varied experiences of older people are being acknowledged and explored through the intersection of race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and, as many have argued, most importantly, gender. This chapter will show the importance of recognizing the gender dimension within the study of aging by exploring how using a “gendered eye,” or adopting a “gender lens” (Calasanti and Slevin 2001) not only reveals neglected issues for older people, but is also fundamentally important in thinking about the study of old age at a time when the growth in the aging population is unprecedented.

Investigating couples' sleep: an evaluation of actigraphic analysis techniques.

‘Blip’ analysis, fast wavelet transformations (FWT) and correlation analysis have all been used to actigraphically assess the impact one person is having on anothers sleep, yet no review exists as to the differences between, and applicability of, these methods for investigating couples’ sleep. Using actigraphy data and audio sleep diaries collected from 18 couples, this paper provides such a review. This paper constructs and assesses two novel, analytical methods: Lotjonens sleep/wake algorithm, and the partner impact on sleep wake analysis (PISWA). Both ‘blip’ analysis and correlation suggest that the strongest relationship between bed partners occurs on an epoch‐to‐epoch basis. However, ‘blips’ deal strictly with onset of movement and fail to incorporate strength and duration of movement. Conversely, correlation analysis incorporates some elements of strength and duration of movement but makes identification of onset problematic. FWT offer useful ‘relativistic’ pattern recognition, identifying onset, strength and duration of movement, but are difficult to quantify. Although audio diary data support the potential of Lotjonens sleep/wake algorithm to identify sleep non‐movement, sleep movement, wake non‐movement (or quiet wakefulness) and wake movement, the problem remains that this method also relies on visualization. Of most promise, we argue, is the PISWA, which examines ‘impact’ of bed partners through incorporating elements of ‘blip’ analysis and the sleep/wake algorithm.

’New Motherhood: a moment of change in everyday shopping practices?’

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on data from 16 interviews (two each with eight women) to explore some of the ways in which everyday shopping may change as women become mothers. The meanings, practices and implications of the transition to motherhood have long been a topic for sociological inquiry. Recently, interest has turned to the opportunities offered by this transition for the adoption of more sustainable lifestyles. Becoming a mother is likely to lead to changes in a variety of aspects of everyday life such as travel, leisure, cooking and purchase of consumer goods, all of which have environmental implications. The environmental impacts associated with such changes are complex, and positive moves toward more sustainable activities in one sphere may be offset by less environmentally positive changes elsewhere. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on data from 16 interviews (two each with eight women) to explore some of the ways in which everyday shopping may change as women ...

Understanding older peoples’ decisions about the use of sleeping medication: issues of control and autonomy

Poor sleep is known to impact on health and wellbeing in later life and has implications for the ability of older people to remain active during the day. Medical treatments for chronic poor sleep have primarily included the regular, long-term prescribing of hypnotics, which are known to impact on older peoples health, cognitive function and quality of life. Therefore, recent policy and practice has focused on reducing such prescribing, on encouraging older people to stop taking long-term hypnotics and on finding alternative, non-pharmacological ways to manage poor sleep. However, little research has been undertaken to understand the perspectives of older people who choose not to seek professional help for their poor sleep, despite the potential impact of poor sleep on their health and ability to remain active. Through in-depth interviews with 62 older men and women living in their own homes in England, this article explores the factors that deter older people from seeking professional help for their poor sleep. We argue that these are located in their perceptions of the normativity of poor sleep in later life, their beliefs about prescription sleeping medications and their desire to maintain control and autonomy over their everyday and night lives.

AN ACTIGRAPHIC STUDY COMPARING COMMUNITY DWELLING POOR SLEEPERS WITH NON-DEMENTED CARE HOME RESIDENTS

Sleep disturbances are a common problem among institutionalized older people. Studies have shown that this population experiences prolonged sleep latency, increased fragmentation and wake after sleep onset, more disturbed circadian rhythms, and night-day reversal. However, studies have not examined the extent to which this is because of individual factors known to influence sleep (such as age) or because of the institutional environment. This article compares actigraphic data collected for 14 days from 122 non-demented institutional care residents (across ten care facilities) with 52 community dwelling poor sleepers >65 yrs of age. Four dependent variables were analyzed: (i) “interdaily stability” (IS); (ii) “intradaily variability” (IV); (iii) relative amplitude (RA) of the activity rhythm; and (iv) mean 24 h activity level. Data were analyzed using a fixed-effect, single-level model (using MLwiN). This model enables comparisons between community and institutional care groups to be made while conditioning out possible “individual” effects of “age,” “sex,” “level of dependency,” “level of incontinence care,” and “number of regular daily/prescribed medications.” After controlling for the effects of a range of individual level factors, and after controlling for unequal variance across groups (heteroscedascity), there was little difference between community dwelling older adults and institutional care residents in IS score, suggesting that the stability of day-to-day patterns (such as bed get-up, lunch times, etc.) is similar within these two resident groups. However, institutional care residents experienced more fragmented rest/wake patterns (having significantly higher IV scores and significantly lower mean activity values). Our findings strongly suggest that the institutional care environment itself has a negative association with older peoples rest/wake patterns; although, longitudinal studies are required to fully understand any causal relationships. (Author correspondence: r.meadows@surrey.ac.uk)

The Sleeping Lives of Children and Teenagers: Night-Worlds and Arenas of Action

Most research into sleep, even that which includes a sociological dimension, tends to focus on sleep outcomes, in effect following an agenda set by the natural sciences and psychology. The work reported in this paper engages with the material and social dimensions of sleep from within social constructionist and interactionist frameworks, seeking to explore and theorise the meaning and experience of sleep from the perspective of the sleeper. In doing this, we examine how contemporary constructions of sleep and constructions of childhood and adolescence arise and are linked in the UK context. Sleep time tends to be constructed as empty of activity other than sleeping and devoid of the sorts of interactions that characterise wakeful day-time. However, a grounded analysis of qualitative data generated with 9 children and 20 teenagers suggested that the assumption of absence of activity and interaction was misleading: their nights were populated by a range of actors, presences and activities. Placing our focus on these aspects of our participants’ accounts of their sleep we found that the temporal, spatial and interactional dimensions of routine sleep served to create a definable arena of action (Hutchby and Moran-Ellis 1998) which was marked out both materially and socially. We conceptually frame this arena of sleep as a night-world (Moran-Ellis, 2006).

Consumption junkies or sustainable consumers: considering the grocery shopping practices of those transitioning to retirement

ABSTRACT The current generation of older people who are approaching or recently experiencing retirement form part of a unique generational habitus who have experienced a cultural shift into consumerism. These baby boomers are often portrayed as engaging in excessive levels of consumption which are counter to notions of sustainable living and to intergenerational harmony. This paper focuses on an exploration of the mechanisms underpinning the consumption patterns of baby boomers as they retire. We achieve this through an understanding of the everyday practices of grocery shopping which have the potential to give greater clarity to patterns of consumption than the more unusual or ‘extraordinary’ forms of consumption such as global travel. In-depth interviews with 40 older men and women in four locations across England and Scotland were conducted at three points in time across the period of retirement. We suggest that the grocery shopping practices of these older men and women were influenced by two factors: (a) parental values and upbringing leading to the reification of thrift and frugality as virtues, alongside aspirations for self-actualisation such as undertaking global travel, and (b) the influence of household context, and caring roles, on consumption choices. We conclude with some tentative observations concerning the implications of the ways baby boomers consume in terms of increasing calls for people to live in more sustainable ways.