The present study explores aspects of living arrangements of the elderly in Thailand
and how they relate to intergenerational support exchanges as revealed by a quasi-qualitative
case study approach. The study describes some of the challenges this topic poses for measurement
if surveys are used. These include difficulties in appropriately defining a household and
identifying its members, treating coresidence as a continuum, taking account of the complex
links to non-coresident children and kin, recognizing that similar living arrangements can
have different meanings, viewing living arrangements as part of an evolving process, and
recognizing the potential sensitivity of the topic to respondents. Careful and informed design
of survey questionnaires can increase their ability to accurately reflect the underlying complex
reality. However, there are also relevant critical issues for which surveys are not well suited.
Although the study is specific to Thailand, many of the same issues are likely to arise in the
research on elderly elsewhere as well.