Science AI Journal
Social Sciences · Research topic

Open research questions in Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies

69 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,825 Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Several limitations of this study may have contributed to the similar return migra- tion motives among retired older adults. First, the study employed restrict criteria for participants selection, focusing exclusively on retired individuals from the formal employment sector. Expanding the criteria to include those from the informal sector might yield a broader and more diverse range of return migration motives. Neverthe- less, such an expansion would require a clear and operational definition of retirement for informal workers, because their employment trajectories are often less structured and may continue as long as they maintain adequate physical capacity to work. The expansion of the criteria enables to capture a more diverse range of characteristics, thereby enabling a more comprehensive identification of return migration motives. Second, the selected participants were predominantly in good functional health and did not require assistance for daily life activities from others, particularly family members. Consequently, assistance-seeking, which often identified as a key motive for older adult migration, was not reported by participants in this study. Third, the findings of this study cannot generalizable to the broader population of older adults return migrants, rather, they apply specifically to individuals who meet the defined inclusion criteria. Why retired older adults return to their place of origin: a qualitative…1 3 9 Page 22 of 28 Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge all participants who generously volunteered their time to be interviewed for the purposes of this study. Author contributions Conceptualization: All authors. Formal analysis: MN, UL. Investigation: All authors. Methodology: All authors. Validation: All authors. Writing – original draft: MNWriting – review & editing: All authors. Funding The research was funded by the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities of the National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia (Grant No. B-577/III.7/HM.06.02/2/2023). Data availability No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

    Why retired older adults return to their place of origin: a qualitative study in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia · 2026 · DOI

  • One group which has been under-explored is “aged-in-place” (AIP) migrants: people who have spent most of their lives away from their home countries and have lifetimes of experience of economic exclusion.

    Older Migrants, Work, and Enclaves · 2026 · DOI

  • However, existing AFC research has largely prioritised the perspectives of implementers in metropolitan or rural contexts, leaving a critical gap in understanding how community members, particularly those in regional areas, conceptualise age-friendliness and express their needs and priorities.

    Introducing the FACE framework: Rethinking age-friendly communities through lived experiences in regional Australia · 2025 · DOI

  • Further study of this phenomenon will help understand the ageing patterns of the SEE population, which may facilitate the application of specific policies designed to mitigate the negative effects of depopulation in the region.

    Selected factors of depopulation in South-Eastern Europe · 2024 · DOI

  • Based on 36 in‐depth interviews to Swedish citizens permanently living in Portugal, a group understudied in the lifestyle migration framework, three groups of individuals were identified according to the drivers of migration.

    Does migration improve the quality of life? The case of Swedish immigrants residing in Portugal · 2023 · DOI

  • The process of becoming family provides emotional and practical support but is also beneficial in previously understudied ways: For newcomers, kinship is a shortcut for becoming “a local,” whereas for established residents, kinship serves the reproduction of the historical place narrative and local moral order.

    Turning newcomers into locals: Kinship practices and belonging in low-income neighborhoods in Finland · 2022 · DOI

  • To address gaps in the limited literature on Section 202 buildings, this study examined the association between service coordination and low-income senior housing residents' preference to age in place with particular attention to the most economically vulnerable.

    Preference to Age in Place in Low-Income Senior Housing · 2022 · DOI

  • Research limitations/implications The numerical example is based on rather crude numbers, because of lack of data, as the developed reverse mortgage product with LTC insurance is a novelty.

    Housing equity withdrawal for development of assisted-living facilities · 2020 · DOI

  • This paper addresses an important gap in the literature by exploring the perceptions of daily life for older men (65+ years) living with dementia in three rural areas of England.

    Experiences of rural life among community-dwelling older men with dementia and their implications for social inclusion · 2019 · DOI

  • This article proposes an analytical framework for the understanding of aging in place, and asks: Which housing alternatives are compatible with aging in place? Who are responsible for providing housing in old age? A literature review demonstrates that there is no agreement on the “place” in aging in place, but that aging in place policies entail joint individual and public responsibility for housing.

    Aging in Which Place? Connecting Aging in Place with Individual Responsibility, Housing Markets, and the Welfare State · 2017 · DOI

  • This qualitative study fills a gap in the literature by examining the experiences of 33 residents, ages 11–58, who were living in a 125-unit public housing community slated for demolition and redevelopment.

    “This is what I call home”: reflections of public housing residents awaiting relocation · 2015 · DOI

  • Policy makers and providers endorse the proposition that they are suited for the accommodation of both ‘fit’ and ‘frail’ older people, although comparatively little is known about what it is actually like to live in such communities, about whether they cater adequately for older people with a wide spectrum of needs and abilities, or if they provide acceptable solutions to older people's housing or care needs.

    Housing and care for older people: life in an English purpose-built retirement village · 2007 · DOI

  • This research makes a distinct scientific contribution by positioning immobility as an analytically relevant and underexplored dimension within rural and population geography in Serbia.

    Stay or leave-understanding rural (im)mobility in Serbia · 2026 · DOI

  • While an increasing body of literature deals with the spatiality of international retirement migration, only a few studies have analysed the settlement choices of older immigrants in receiving countries.

    Factors influencing the spatial distribution of international retirement migrants settling in Hungary · 2025 · DOI

  • However, given the emphasis on spatialisation and spatial agism throughout the book, experiences of elders in inhabiting online spaces and the role of technology in not only maintaining ties but opening up opportunities for forming new connections has not been addressed.

    Book Review: Ageing in Place in Urban Environments: Critical Perspectives, by TineBuffel and ChrisPhilipson. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon. 2023. 218 pp. $175.81. ISBN: 9781032127316 (hbk) · 2025 · DOI

  • Abstract Despite the growing interest in the migration of older adults in China, the intricacies linking migration motivations with destination choices remain insufficiently explored.

    Motivations in transition: destination choices of inter-provincial migration among Chinese older adults · 2024 · DOI

  • Yet, applications of generativity, as a means to bridge generational gaps within rapid social change, remain underexplored in the intergenerational field.

    Mismatch Between Older Persons’ Generative Concern and Internalized Generative Capacities: Leveraging on Generative Ambivalence to Enhance Intergenerational Cohesion · 2023 · DOI

  • While the importance of mobility and the availability of various mobility solutions are well-acknowledged, little is known about the values that drive older adults’ maintenance of mobility.

    An aging and values-driven theory of mobility · 2023 · DOI

  • Despite the identification of social inclusion as a key objective of age-friendly policies and programs, there is limited research evidence as to either the extent to which this has been achieved or how it might be realized.

    Involving Socially Excluded Groups in Age-Friendly Programs: The Role of a Spatial Lens and Co-Production Approaches · 2022 · DOI

  • Very few studies are concerned with incorporating subjective as well as objective elements into measuring social integration levels of land-lost elderly.

    Social integration of land-lost elderly: a case study in Ma’anshan, China · 2021 · DOI

  • The findings of this research can shed light on house-sitting, as a growing house-sharing model that is largely under-researched and informs housing policy-makers and researchers.

    An exploratory study of house-sitting and ‘home’-making among older people · 2021 · DOI

  • The paper briefly maps the approaches applied in intergenerational mobility research with special focus on questions which still stay understudied in the Polish context.

    Badania nad ruchliwością międzypokoleniową: podejścia, konteksty, kontrowersje · 2020 · DOI

  • Although academic discourse addresses the disbandment of households during late-life residential downsizing, issues related to accumulation and dispossession within the lives of people who continue to reside at home remain unexplored.

    Late-Life Accumulation, Proliferation, and Stagnation of Home Contents: An In-Depth Qualitative Study of Ten Aging in Place Dwellers · 2020 · DOI

  • Abstract Despite the growing use of retirement communities and ageing care facilities, little is known about how residing in retirement residences may impact aspects of older adult wellbeing.

    Perceived barriers and contributors to sense of purpose in life in retirement community residents · 2020 · DOI

  • This qualitative study provides an opportunity to better understand low-income older renters’ aging in place, a topic that has been understudied in the field of housing.

    Emerging themes on aging in place from low-income older renters · 2019 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies sub-topic

This page shows what the Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, run the guided finder — it searches the gap library on demand and checks candidates against 250M+ OpenAlex works.

Open the Research Gap Finder →

Related topics in Social Sciences

Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
832 open questions
Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
784 open questions
Online and Blended Learning
745 open questions
Science Education and Pedagogy
597 open questions
Higher Education Research Studies
588 open questions
Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques
563 open questions
Intimate Partner and Family Violence
519 open questions
Early Childhood Education and Development
486 open questions
69 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,825 Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

Tools for your next paper

Gaps & Literature SearchFind open questions in any field — 120,000+ open gaps mined from our own library.Pre-CheckIs your paper ready? A Tier 1–5 acceptance probability in seconds.Journal FinderA ranked shortlist of target journals from a 17,500-venue index.Duplicate Publication CheckerCheck prior-publication & salami-slicing risk across 8 sources.Citation GeneratorFreeA DOI or title → APA, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS. No signup.Graphical Abstract MakerFreeTurn your findings into a colorblind-safe graphical abstract.

Compare the category — Honest roundups of the AI research tools, ours listed alongside the alternatives.

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.