Yurt Dışında Yapılan Din ve Yaşlanma Çalışmaları Üzerine Yöntemsel Bir İnceleme: Din, Maneviyat ve Yaşlanma Dergisi Örneği
A Methodical Study on Religion and Aging Studies Abroad: The Example of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging

Summary/Abstract: As a result of scientific and technological developments in the world, life expectancy is increasing and mortality rates are decreasing. Consequently, the general population in the world is increasing rapidly. A significant portion of the growing population is composed of the elderly. Looking at the population projection, it is predicted that the elderly population in the world will be 16% in 2050, while this rate is predicted to be 18% in Turkey. Similar to the aging of the population in the world, the elderly population is increasing in our country, but this increase is happening faster than in other countries. This situation necessitates a close examination of the issue of aging. Biological, psychological and social changes that the aging individual undergoes over time brings with it various problems. If we look at these changes; one of the visible changes in the aging process is physical changes. Aging and wear in the biological structure cause loss of strength, decrease in physical abilities, and various health problems such as diabetes, hypertension and Alzheimer's in elderly individuals. However, changes in brain structure and cognitive functions lead to weakening of perception, attention, memory and problem-solving abilities of elderly individuals. In the social context, changes occur in the social role and status of the elderly individual, such as retirement, loss of spouse and close friends, and change in parental role. All these changes that occur in the aging process cause elderly individuals to experience various psycho-social problems such as loneliness, hopelessness and depression. Changes in the aging process push aging individuals to think more about the current situation, to make sense of the situations they encounter, and to seek different ways to cope with it. In this process, religion and various belief systems emerge as an important factor. While religious belief makes sense of the difficulties faced by older individuals, it can also positively affect the coping process. Both the meaning of old age and the efforts to cope with the problems encountered in old age make religion an important position in old age. Thus, in this study, studies on religion and aging abroad were examined in order to determine the current situation regarding the studies on religion and aging and to set an example for the studies to be done in our country. The aim of this study, which is designed in the type of bibliometric analysis, one of the qualitative research patterns, is to reveal the subject trends of the studies on religion and aging abroad and to determine the characteristics of the researches in terms of methodology in order to set an example for the studies to be done in our country. The universe of the research consists of all studies on religion and aging conducted abroad. In this study, in which the criterion sampling technique was used, the purposeful sampling method, the sample of the research consists of 205 studies published between the years of 2011-2019 in the independent publication Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging (JRSA). After determining the journal to be used in this research, where data was collected through document review, a total of 205 articles were examined by reading the abstracts of the articles published in the journal, and 2 articles for which the desired data could not be obtained were eliminated. The frequencies, percentages and cross tables of the data obtained from the remaining 203 articles were obtained using the Pasw Statistics 20 package program. The findings of the research were obtained using bibliometric analysis and content analysis. In this study, the findings were obtained by analyzing the subject, year, method, sample, data collection technique and the number of citations of the studies conducted between the years of 2011-2019 in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging. In the analysis conducted to determine the subject distribution of the articles published in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging between the years of 2011-2019, it was determined that most (26; 12.8%) studies were directly researched spirituality and most cited (81; 17%) topic was spirituality. Considering the subject of spiritual care and other subjects related to spirituality, it can be said that the literature on religion and aging is spiritually oriented. Considering the methods used in religion and aging studies, 35.5% (n= 72) of the studies were qualitative, It is seen that 23.6% (n= 48) were done with quantitative method, .4% (n=11) were done with mixed method and 35.5% were theoretical studies. When the measurement tools are examined, it is seen that the questionnaire technique (41%, n=54) is used the most, and the interview technique (33%, n= 43) is used in the second place. It was determined that the most versatile sampling (47%, n=61) and sub-categories were used as the sampling type. When we evaluate the subject tendency and methodological data according to the findings obtained as a result of this study, it can be said that the tendency in religion and aging studies has focused on spirituality, in other words, the "spiritualism" of the literature has increased. The fact that qualitative studies are in the majority in terms of method and the data obtained from the field in general are more than theoretical studies are promising in terms of understanding the functions performed by religion and spirituality in the aging process. In the theoretical context, it can be said that the theoretical backgrounds in aging studies should be strengthened, the data obtained should be integrated with the theories and studies should be carried out to form theory. It is recommended for experts who are interested in the field where field studies prepared by making theoretical foundations in future studies should be increased. It is essential to develop religiosity, spirituality and spiritual well-being scales specific to the elderly of our country in studies to be carried out on the subject.

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