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This paper explores the contrasts and complementarities of two different sets of archived data, life history interviews and diaries. Both are well-tried methods of data collection in the social sciences, but little attention has been given to ways of using them in combination. We begin with an outline of how we went about collecting data for archiving: recruiting 12 families, interviewing people aged 75 and over, and collecting diaries from other family members. We go onto present examples of the data from one particular family. We then compare what the interviews and diaries, analysed in combination, contributed to our understanding of time, concluding with comments on the relevance of different temporalities to current debates on family and intergenerational relationships. The archived data offer researchers interested in qualitative longitudinal investigations a complex and many-faceted understanding of temporality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based upon our experience of commissioning diaries to be kept by research subjects. First the paper reviews some previous research based on diaries, then it outlines the aims of our research and the method of data collection. Then the paper goes on to evaluate the design and use of a diary that participants in our research completed. In particular we consider the ways in which the diary may have biased our sample, caused the participants difficulties and generated poor data. There is also a discussion on how it may have affected behaviour and on the ethical issues that are raised by commissioned diaries. In conclusion, observations are made about the strengths and weaknesses of diaries as an investigative tool with a wider applicability. The diary proved particularly revealing and we recommend that other researchers consider diaries as a method of investigating everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]