New Publication!

In February 2026, a new co-authored article by Nicole Dalmer, together with Cal Biruk and Stephanie Hatzifilalithis, was published. The paper, titled “Data talk: Mapping older Canadians’ understandings of digital technologies and their data,” explores how older Canadians make sense of data and digital technologies in their everyday lives.

Drawing on findings from an online qualitative survey with older adults across Canada, the article examines how participants describe, interpret, and reflect on their encounters with data. Rather than framing older adults as passive recipients of digital systems, the study highlights how individuals actively engage with, question, and negotiate the meanings of data in relation to their lives.

Participants shared nuanced perspectives on what “data” represents to them, ranging from ideas of surveillance, privacy, and risk to opportunity, connection, and convenience. These narratives reveal that experiences with digital technologies are not simply technical, but deeply tied to identity, trust, autonomy, and the aging self.

The study also highlights the methodological potential of online qualitative surveys. Often considered a limited research tool, the survey space became a site where participants articulated, explored, and even theorized their own understandings of data and digital technologies. In doing so, the research demonstrates how older adults actively shape conversations about data rather than simply responding to them.

By foregrounding older adults’ own interpretations and reflections, the article challenges deficit-based assumptions about aging and digital engagement. It underscores the importance of understanding how data is experienced, understood, and lived within the social and relational contexts of later life.

Interested in reading the full article?Access the published version through the link below:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890406525000921