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Reflexivity in research can be defined as (a) the acknowledgment and identification of one's place and presence in the research, and (b) the process of using these insights to critically examine the entire research process. Many authors implore qualitative researchers to be reflexive. Very few, however, specify how to do this in practice. Furthermore, in discussions of the presence and place of the researcher, the tendency has been to focus on such factors as gender and race or ethnicity with very little attention being given to age or cohort. In this article we seek to redress this deficiency by examining how reflexivity was practiced in a context in which there was a marked difference in age and cohort membership between researcher and research participants. Specifically, we describe the methodological challenges faced by a younger researcher conducting research with older study participants on the lived experience of the body, and how reflexivity was used to adapt the methodology employed so it became more appropriate and productive within this context.

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Debates about the ethical and social implications of research that aims to extend human longevity by intervening in the ageing process have paid little attention to the attitudes of members of the general public. In the absence of empirical evidence, conflicting assumptions have been made about likely public attitudes towards life-extension. In light of recent calls for greater public involvement in such discussions, this target article presents findings from focus groups and individual interviews which investigated whether members of the general public identify ethical issues surrounding life-extension, and if so, what these ethical issues are? In this study, while some participants were concerned primarily with the likely personal consequences of life-extension, for others the question of whether or not to pursue interventions to extend longevity, and how they should be implemented, clearly raised important ethical issues, many of which have been prominent in debates among bioethicists.

This study examines how members of pro-anorexia (PA) and fat acceptance (FA) cybercommunities manage their ascribed 'offline' socially marginalised identity in an 'online' environment. While much of the sociological literature continues to focus on the corporeal or face-to-face practices of socially marginalised groups, we use online non-participant observation to explore how members of these sites use the internet to manage their marginalised identities. We find that cybercommunities provide a safe place for identity management where members come together to understand, negotiate and, at times, reject the marginalised identity ascribed to them in their offline environment. From the accounts of the PA and FA members we studied, we find that online and offline identities are mutually reinforcing and collectively inform and shape identity. However, the online environment provides an anonymised space for identity work, emotional support and an acceptance of their body, whatever their shape or size.