Commentary: About the Danger of Relying on Common Vocabulary

Abstract

Janssen (2009) raises the criticism that life stages and related concepts are not clearly defined and that even within the same study or data pool different conceptualizations can be found. A lack of clear definitions and the resulting difficulties are, nevertheless, not exclusive to life stage research. The general need for unambiguous definitions of the terminology used, even if these limit broader concepts to a certain scope of meaning, is stressed in order to avoid misunderstandings and to foster— especially interdisciplinary— communication.