If should come as no surprise that conducting research with elderly pe
ople can be challenging and problematic. A review of the literature in
this area provides some indication of what many other researchers hav
e encountered, particularly in relation to doing quantitative studies.
The majority of these challenges deal with issues involving consent.
Although there have been a few articles dealing with doing qualitative
research with this population, they were not informative in terms of
preparing the author for day-to-day situations. This article is an att
empt to redress some of this by sharing the author's experience of col
lecting data for a phenomenological study involving elderly people who
reside in nursing homes. The aim is not to provide solutions but rath
er to highlight some of the challenges that confront qualitative resea
rchers in this context.