ABSTRACT
The triangulated methodology, described in the previous chapter, produced results that were either qualitative or quantitative in nature, depending upon the applied methodology. However, unlike most studies of crime and the elderly, the emphasis herein was on the qualitative data, which formed the foundation upon which the validated structure of this study was built. A synopsis of each of the eight interviews with key informants provided the set of qualitative data which produced several “discriminate units” (Omery, 1983), or common themes, and thereby established a degree of internal validity. These themes were further cross-validated with the results of the two different quantitative data collections:
local newspaper references to crimes and
questionnaire responses, thereby establishing either mutual support or contradiction.
