Qualitative Methods in Housing Research

HCCH Coolen, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

ª 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Glossary Hermeneutics Is the study of the interpretation of social

Categorisation Is the process of developing a phenomena by analysing their meanings to human beings.
category system; a category is a number of objects that Ontology Studies the nature of existence or being as
are considered equivalent with respect to a such.
characteristic. Positivism Is a philosophical system concerned with
Epistemology Investigates the origin, nature, methods, positive facts and phenomena, which excludes
and limits of human knowledge. speculation about ultimate causes.

Introduction practical importance at the level of the collection, proces­

sing, and analysis of data. This is at least partly due to the
The field of qualitative research is a vast and complex fact that many researchers within both traditions now
area of research methodology about which whole text­ accept the apparently self-evident adage that all housing
books have been written. Qualitative research has by research has dual facets joined in complementary oppo­
some even been claimed to be an entirely different way sition, much like two sides of a coin. These two facets are
of doing research when contrasted with so-called quanti­ the ideas that drive the work – conceptual frameworks
tative research. The terms qualitative and quantitative and theories – and the inquiry procedures, research
have many different meanings, which makes their use methods, and techniques, with which researchers pursue
confusing and sometimes misleading, but I will stick to them. Sometimes these facets are pulled so far apart that
these terms since they are still widely used and will try to they become hopelessly separated. We seem especially
be as clear as possible about what they mean when I use prone to discuss methodological matters as though they
them. are independent of the ideas we wish to investigate –
Since it seems necessary when discussing qualitative particularly the qualitative–quantitative debate is char­
research to provide one’s position about the qualitative– acterised by this shortcoming. Once we recognise that
quantitative divide, one may characterise mine as prag­ ideas and procedures are joined, and that inquiry proce­
matic. By this I mean the following. Both qualitative and dures are instrumental for answering our research
quantitative research approaches have rich and diverse questions, then this duality may offer alternative ways
traditions that come from different disciplines, and both to approach the qualitative–quantitative distinction. In
approaches have been employed to address similar this article the emphasis is on the methodological aspects
research questions. Although I believe that there are of qualitative research, but although we focus on
differences between both approaches, which have some­ research procedures we have to constantly keep in
times led to unfruitful trench-wars, I also believe these mind that these procedures are instrumental in answer­
differences have been overemphasised. It has become ing our research questions and that they are not a
clear in the last two decades or so that many of the purpose in themselves.
differences between qualitative and quantitative research
are differences of degree and not of kind. Although radical
stands in both approaches still differ very strongly on Qualitative versus Quantitative
several epistemological and ontological issues, it has also
become clear that many of these radical positions are Although the differences between qualitative and quanti­
self-defeating or logically unsound. Moreover, notwith­ tative research have been overstressed, there seem to be
standing the metaphysical differences between qualitative differences between both approaches at the metaphysical
and quantitative researchers, the distinctions between the level, which can be expressed in terms of epistemological
two epistemological positions have become of less and ontological assumptions. It will take us too far to

8 APPROACHES (Overview)
 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research 9

extensively discuss these matters here, but it will be generalisation, it has become clear that many of these
insightful to sketch the key features of the qualitative radical positions are logically unsound or self-defeating.
and quantitative approach. Positivism, on the one hand, Moderate positions in both positivism and hermeneutics
and hermeneutics, on the other, are the main representa­ are much closer to each other than is generally thought
tives of the quantitative and qualitative approach and many differences turn out to be differences of degree
respectively. and not of kind. For instance, many researchers in both
Positivism involves the claim that there is no differ­ traditions now assume a reality out there that accounts for
ence in principle between the goals and the conduct of our intersubjectively shared experiences, but they also
research in all disciplines. It proposes a unified methodology acknowledge that these experiences are framed by
for the different branches of the natural and the social learned cultural conceptions and are therefore not direct
sciences. It poses the discovery of general laws as the one-to-one representations of the world.
ultimate goal of scientific inquiry, and it advocates the The minimum standards for validating scientific state­
method of hypothesis testing as a general procedure for ments also seem to be supported by many researchers in
generating and validating scientific knowledge. The hermeneutics and positivism. These standards include the
growth of knowledge in the natural sciences forms the clarity of language and procedures of validation such as
ideal model. In this context it is interesting to remark logic and empirical tests. Besides, the claim for intersub­
that originally positivism meant collecting and validating jectivity of scientific knowledge entails that the concepts
factual knowledge by scientific methods, and that this and procedures applied by a researcher should be public
positive spirit aimed at true knowledge, which had been so that other members of the scientific community can
obscured by the traditional powers of the church and the understand and control the logic of arguments and the
state. Although positivism is often presented, both by weight of the empirical evidence.
adherents and adversaries, as a monolithic and unified Many positivists now acknowledge the hermeneutic
approach, it must be remarked that there are many claim that the meaning dimension is unique to human
varieties of positivism and that positivists disagree on studies, and that emphatic understanding must be invoked
many specifics of their methodology. But there are some when we want to know the reasons and purposes under­
key features that all positivists have in common: lying the meaningful behaviour of human beings. On the
other hand it is recognised more and more in hermeneu­
• Inandthetherefore
positivist view science rests on some minimum
necessary standards:
tics that although the gist of verstehen is to grasp meaning
from the perspective of the individual and his context
* clarity of language in terms of definitions and con­
with a focus on the particular, some sort of generalisation
cepts which are tools for communication;
is unavoidable; otherwise, the difference between the
* validation of truth claims by rational means of logic
particular and the general does not become revealing.
and empirical inquiry.
Moreover, in daily research practice it is realised more
• Research-oriented positivism seeks to establish gener­
alisations that have survived serious attempts at
and more that the research questions determine to a large
extent what methods are used, and often qualitative and
refutation; in this sense it is nomothetic.
quantitative methods are used side by side.
Hermeneutics, sometimes called interpretivism, is rooted Given these remarks on the qualitative–quantitative
in the human and social sciences, and can best be divide, I will describe next what I consider to be the main
described as the science and method of interpreting approaches to qualitative research.
meaningful social action. Originally it was a valuable
collection of heuristic rules and interpretive hints on
how to read and interpret historical texts. It tries to Approaches to Qualitative Research
establish a special methodology for understanding mean­
ing in these sciences. Its objective is the exploration of Qualitative research has a variety of traditions that come
common understandings in historically based cultural from different disciplines. In the previous section the term
traditions. The model case of hermeneutics is the inter­ hermeneutics has been used as an overarching category
pretation of texts. Hermeneutics is involved with the for all approaches to qualitative research. In this section a
study of meaning created by human beings in historical necessarily concise overview of the main traditions in
contexts; it is ideographic in the sense that its goal of qualitative research is presented.
inquiry is describing the particular. Its key features are Ethnography is a holistic research approach that seems
thus meaning, historical situatedness, and describing the to be founded on the idea that the properties of a system
particular. cannot be fully understood independent of each other. In
Although radical stands in both positivism and herme­ the social sciences it is involved with understanding the
neutics still differ strongly on such epistemological and world of the people being studied by becoming deeply
ontological issues as realism, relativism, and involved in their community to produce detailed
10 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research

descriptions and evaluations of the people, their beliefs, reduce entrapment in systems of domination or depen­
and their society and culture. The fieldwork usually dence, obeying the emancipatory interest in expanding
involves spending a long time in the community being the scope of autonomy and reducing the scope of dom­
studied, living with the local people, and learning about ination. The term critical theory is an overarching term
their ways of life. Participant observation is its prototypi­ that categorises all sorts of approaches that have in com­
cal way of gathering data; ethnographers take part in the mon the critique of social, political, economical, and
events they study since it helps with understanding beha­ cultural domination, an emancipatory interest, and a
viour and thought. fusion of positive analysis with a normative critique.
Ethnomethodology is based on the assumption that people
are not so much formed by social forces but that they
create the social world themselves. The meaningful, pat­ Qualitative Research
terned, and orderly character of daily life is something
that people must work constantly to achieve, and in order Qualitative research not only has a variety of traditions
to be able to do this human beings must have some shared but has also been defined in many different ways. Since
methods that are used to mutually construct the mean­ the term has such diverse meanings and traditions, and is
ingful order of social life. This implies that used as an overarching category for different ways of
ethnomethodology studies the methods people employ doing research, it is difficult if not impossible to give a
in making sense of their world, display this understanding concise description of the term. Instead of presenting a
to others, and construct the mutually shared social order new definition of qualitative research, and adding more to
in which they live. It investigates how people construct the already existing confusion, I will highlight what I
their world and tries to understand the ‘constructs’ people consider to be characteristic aspects of qualitative
use in everyday life to make sense of their world by research. These key aspects of qualitative research
uncovering meanings contained within conversation or include:
text. One way to do this is by means of conversation
analysis, in which the way different conversations are • depth
The purpose of qualitative research is to provide an in-
and interpreted understanding of the social
structured and the meanings they contain is analysed.
world of people by learning about their social and
In Symbolic interactionism the concept of the self plays a
material environment, experiences, perspectives, and
central role and reflexivity is considered as crucial to the
histories; it takes the so-called emic perspective which
self as a social phenomenon. People’s selves are social
means that the perspective of the people being studied
products, but they are also purposive and creative.
is the starting point.
People act towards things based on the meanings those
things have for them. These meanings are derived from • In qualitative research one generally uses small sam­
ples, and research participants are often purposively
social interaction and modified through interpretation.
selected on the basis of salient criteria; a flexible
Social life depends on our ability to imagine ourselves
research strategy is adopted in which inquiry is con­
in other social roles, and society is seen as an exchange of
ducted in real-world settings.
gestures, which involves the use of symbols. Symbolic
interactionism studies self–society relationships as a pro­ • During data collection there is usually close contact
between the researcher and the research participants/
cess of symbolic communication between social actors by
population; the data collection is often interactive,
exploring behaviour and social roles to understand how
flexible, and allows for unexpected issues to be brought
people interpret and react to their environment.
up and explored.
Social constructionism holds that facts are not discovered
but socially produced: seemingly naturally occurring phe­ • The data that are obtained in qualitative research are
usually less structured, full of detail, contain a lot of
nomena are products of social relationships. It is involved
information, and are extensive.
with uncovering the ways in which individuals and
groups participate in the creation of their perceived social • The analysis of qualitative data is focused by the
research questions that originated the research, but is
reality. It studies the ways in which social phenomena are
also open for unexpected concepts and ideas to emerge;
created, institutionalised, and made into traditions by
it often results in detailed descriptions, but may also
human beings. Reality is seen as a text or a narrative; social
produce classifications, patterns of association, typolo­
constructionism tries to display multiple constructed reali­
gies, and explanations.
ties through the shared investigation by researchers and
participants of meanings and explanations. • The interpretation of the results of qualitative research
tends to focus on the meaning that the research parti­
Critical theory is a comprehensive form of social analysis
cipants attach to the phenomena studied.
with a long historical tradition in literature and the social
sciences. It is a form of self-reflective knowledge invol­ Qualitative research methods are used to address research
ving both understanding and theoretical explanation to questions that require description and understanding of
 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research 11

social phenomena and their contexts. So, it is the nature of other cases one may need 50 interviews. If the purpose
the required information that will lead to a choice of a of the research is more exploratory in nature, for instance
qualitative approach. However, there are also factors finding themes and developing theory, fewer cases are
related to the nature of the subject matter that may required than when the goal is to compare certain phe­
require a primarily qualitative approach: nomena across groups.
As far as the actual data collection is concerned, there
• Phenomena that are ill-defined and/or not well under­
stood. The nature of an issue or problem needs to be
seems to be a wide variety of data-gathering techniques
employed in qualitative research, the full range of which
more clearly understood or defined before any further
can be subsumed under three general categories: obser­
analysis can take place: for instance in case of newly
ving, interviewing, and collecting documents. Observing
developing social phenomena, when previous knowl­
can best be described as experiencing, with emphasis on
edge has not fully explained phenomena that are
watching and listening. In interviewing, the researcher’s
widespread, and where refinements to understanding
role becomes more obtrusive than that of a mere observer.
are needed. The open and generative nature of quali­
Document collecting is a form of data-gathering in which
tative methods allow the exploration of such issues
the researcher makes use of materials prepared by others.
without a lot of advance knowledge about the subject.
In each of these three categories of data-gathering tech­
• The nature of the phenomena studied. Subject areas
may be deeply rooted within the participants’ personal
niques, we can distinguish several main forms of data
collection, which will be concisely characterised here. In
knowledge or understanding of themselves, research
observing two distinguished forms are participant obser­
issues may be sensitive, or phenomena may be complex
vation and observation:
having many interrelated facets that are conceptually
difficult to relate or distinguish. The nature of these
phenomena makes it likely that research participants
• died
In participant observation the researcher joins the stu­
population in its natural setting to record the
may need responsive and facilitative questioning and phenomena (actions, interactions, events) under study
time to explore the issues for themselves. by participating in the relevant activities of this popu­
• Information required from individuals or groups with
expertise on certain subjects or phenomena. Often the
lation. The researcher studies the phenomena not only
by recording them but also by experiencing them.
information is sought from the perspective of their
particular position, which is likely to require explora­
• Observation allows the researcher to record the rele­
vant actions, events, and interactions as they occur, but
tory, responsive, and interactive questioning, since not as a member of the studied population. The rele­
their particular position can be quite idiosyncratic. vant phenomena are seen through the eyes of the
observer, who remains an outsider.
Individual interviewing and focus groups are the most
Data-Gathering used forms of interviewing:

An important aspect of the gathering of data is the sam­ • forms

Individual interviews are one of the most widely used
of data-gathering in qualitative research.
pling of units of analysis, which is not only an issue in
Interviews may take many different forms, but a key
quantitative research but also in qualitative research. In
characteristic is their ability to focus purely on the
qualitative research the sampling may concern not only
individual/interviewee. They provide the opportunity
individuals but also organisations or communities, and in
to investigate the phenomena under study in-depth
the case of documentary analysis it involves the selection
and in detail from the perspective of the individual.
of documents. The selection can be either random or
purposive, mainly depending on the purpose of the • Focus groups, sometimes called group discussions or
group interviews, involve a small group of respondents,
research and the research questions. Although random
usually between six and ten, who are brought together
selection of units of analysis occurs in qualitative
to discuss the phenomena under study, or certain
research, the main form of sampling seems to be purpo­
aspects of these phenomena, as a group. Focus groups
sive sampling. Purposive samples may be based on
offer an opportunity to explore how people think, talk,
extreme or deviant cases, cases that illustrate maximum
shape, or moderate their ideas through conversation
variation or maximum homogeneity on certain relevant
with others.
characteristics, cases that are typical of the phenomenon
studied, or cases that are just available. The number of Collecting documents involves the gathering of existing
units of analysis that have to be selected is difficult to documents, which may be public documents like media
indicate and depends to a large extent on the purpose of reports, government documents, or floor plans, proce­
the analysis. Sometimes a single unit may be sufficient to dural documents like minutes of meetings, formal
demonstrate something of substantive importance, in letters, or financial reports, or personal documents such
12 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research

as diaries, letters, and photographs. Sometimes documents By category is meant a number of objects that are
are created during the process of data-gathering. For considered equivalent with respect to a characteristic or
instance, during interviews on the meaning of the resi­ a configuration of characteristics. Categorisation is the
dential environment, the interviewees might be asked to process of developing a category system; it carries the
make a drawing of one’s dwelling, living room, garden, or further implication that knowledge about the category
even neighbourhood. to which an object belongs tells us something about its
Although particular forms of data collection are properties. Categories are generally denoted by names.
strongly related to certain approaches in qualitative By concept we mean a mental representation of a
research, it is not uncommon in qualitative research category system serving multiple functions. Eight func­
that the data are gathered in several different ways. tions of concepts have been distinguished: classification,
For instance, in ethnography the dominant form of understanding, learning, inference, explanation, concep­
data-gathering is participant observation, but during tual combination, planning, and communication.
fieldwork the interviewing of local people will often We may conceive of category systems as having both a
provide additional insights into their way of life. vertical and a horizontal dimension. The vertical dimen­
sion concerns the level of inclusiveness of the category –
the dimension along which the terms building, dwelling,
Categorising and Coding apartment, and penthouse vary. The greater the inclu­
of Less-Structured Data siveness of a category within a category system, the higher
the level of abstraction. The horizontal dimension con­
Two types of data can be distinguished in housing cerns the segmentation of categories at the same level of
research: structured and less-structured data, which are inclusiveness – the dimension on which apartment and
just two ideal types with many intermediate forms. single-family dwelling vary.
Questionnaires and official statistics are examples of Since all research and observation are idea-driven, this
structured data, while less-structured data arise from the implies that not every intersection of the horizontal and
data-gathering techniques described in the previous sec­ vertical dimension of a category system is equally good or
tion, for instance from open interviews and documents. useful; rather, the conceptual framework that guides the
Both types of observations are sometimes labelled quan­ research and the research questions determines to a large
titative and qualitative respectively, but I will avoid these extent the level of category inclusiveness and its corre­
terms here and I will adhere to the terms structured and sponding segmentation that is most meaningful in the
less-structured data. In general, data-gathering in quali­ context of the inquiry.
tative research results in large amounts of less-structured
data which have to be managed and processed in some
Categorisation and Measurement
way in order to be able to draw conclusions about the
empirical data with respect to the research questions. Categorisation and measurement are closely related,
Although there do not seem to be clearly agreed upon which becomes especially clear when we consider the
rules or procedures for processing less-structured data, nominal scale that is considered to be the most basic
and although approaches to processing vary in terms of form of measurement. A nominal scale is a set of non-
the diverse traditions of qualitative research, it has overlapping and exhaustive classes and is as such nothing
become clear that there are more common rules and but a horizontal level of a category system; this implies
procedures than is usually assumed. Before several of that categorisation is a form of nominal measurement. In
these procedures are discussed, I have to make some its most elementary form, a nominal scale consists of two
remarks on categorisation and measurement. classes, and it measures whether an object belongs to a
category or not, for example whether someone intends to
move within one year or not. A more comprehensive
Categorisation
nominal scale consists of more than two categories, for
The world is filled with an incredible number and diver­ instance household type is a good example.
sity of objects. If people treated each object as an isolated How many classes a nominal scale should have is often
entity unrelated to any others, mental life would be chao­ a matter on which the researcher has to decide, and his
tic. Since no individual can cope with such a diversity of decision will be guided by the purpose of the inquiry and
objects, one of the most basic functions of all organisms is the research questions. A nominal scale of dwelling type is
the cutting up of the environment into categories by a good example to illustrate that a category system is not
which nonidentical entities can be treated as equivalent necessarily a natural given. Essentially, every dwelling
with respect to a characteristic or a collection of charac­ can be considered separately since it is uniquely located
teristics. The ability to group objects into categories is in three-dimensional space, which results in a category
among the most fundamental of cognitive processes. system in which each dwelling has its own class and which
 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research 13

has as many classes as there are dwellings. Such an exten­ labels to mark off text for later retrieval, indexing, or
sive classification is cumbersome and seldom needed, analysis. They indicate the appearance of categories in a
which results in nominal scales of dwelling type that text.
often have less then 10 categories.

Procedures for Categorising

Structured Data
Less-Structured Data
For structured data, the point where the horizontal and
vertical dimension of a category system meet is a priori Although there do not seem to be clearly agreed upon
determined by the researcher, who chooses both the level procedures for processing less-structured data, and
of inclusiveness of the category system as well as the although approaches to processing data vary in terms of
categories themselves. The resulting category system is the diverse traditions of qualitative research, there are
generally closed, which means that the categories are both several procedures that are quite common in qualitative
nonoverlapping and exhaustive. A good example of struc­ research. Since the categorisation and the analysis of less-
tured data are the data that arise from structured structured data cannot always be clearly distinguished
questionnaires which contain mainly closed questions. from each other, some of these procedures contain aspects
Given the level of inclusiveness, one can only move of both. Although these are well-known procedures for
upwards along the vertical axis by aggregating the data categorising less-structured data, in many research
into more inclusive categories. The observations can be reports and articles, which present the results of qualita­
collected in a data matrix in which the rows represent the tive research, it still remains unclear whether systematic
units of analysis and the columns the classifications/vari­ categorisation of the data has taken place and how this
ables. For the analysis of such a data matrix, a tremendous was done. A typical example of this practice regularly
collection of statistical and data analysis techniques is occurs in housing research when a phenomenon is studied
available which can be found in the many available text­ by means of personal interviews. In the presentation of the
books on these topics. results, the studied phenomenon is described, interpreted,
characterised, and sometimes explained, in terms of cate­
gories and concepts, which are illustrated by means of
Less-Structured Data
verbatim quotes from the interviews. But, for instance,
Since all observations are idea-driven, in the sense that how these concepts and categories were developed and
some selection, some reactivity, and some interpretation how typical or atypical they are for all of the data often
based on previous conceptions are always part and parcel remains unclear. From the point of view of intersubjec­
of data collection, less-structured data must also be based tivity, this is not a very satisfactory way of reporting the
on some sort of a category system, although this system results of the research. Even if it seems as if no procedure
often remains implicit. This category system will at first was used, implicit categorising of the data must have
be much more open, though, than in the case of structured taken place since categories and concepts are reported.
data. Often, a relatively low level of inclusion will be Moreover, as has been argued in the previous section,
chosen by the researcher, and the category system on categorisation of less-structured data is unavoidable.
which the data are based is far from exhaustive and may Four procedures for categorising less-structured data –
even contain overlapping categories. Once the data have grounded theory, schema analysis, content analysis, and
been collected it is the researcher’s task to prepare these analytic induction – will briefly be discussed here. In
less-structured data for analysis. This process of categor­ general, one might say that before collecting and proces­
isation, which is often a complex and iterative process, sing the data one uses all the information that is available
results in the category systems that the researcher finds to form a preliminary idea of the phenomenon being
relevant for further analysis. So, instead of choosing the studied. This entails at least reviewing the relevant lit­
inclusion level and the segmentation of the categories a erature and reflecting on the researcher’s own
priori, they are in the case of less-structured data con­ experiences with the phenomenon being studied. In the
structed before, during, and/or after the collection of the following the term text is used as a generic term for all
data. Since a category system or classification is basically a types of less-structured data.
nominal scale, this implies that the whole process results Grounded theory is involved with thoroughly under­
in at least nominal measurement. The resulting category standing people’s experiences by identifying categories
systems may be simple two-category systems of the ‘yes/ and concepts that emerge from the text, and by subse­
no’ type, but can also contain more than two categories. quently linking these concepts into conceptual
Given these category systems, the data must now be frameworks and theories. It is concerned with discovering
coded, which means that the categories have to be data-induced concepts, hypotheses, and models. It
assigned to the relevant pieces of text. The codes act as involves an iterative process by which the researcher
14 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research

becomes more and more grounded in the data and devel­ discovery. It assumes a conceptual framework and a set
ops increasingly richer concepts and models of how the of categories that has already been discovered. Both the
phenomenon being studied works. To do this, transcripts conceptual framework and the set of categories are used
of interviews are read and reread line by line, and phrases to interpret and code the text. The result is a data matrix
that indicate processes, actions, assumptions, and conse­ with the rows containing the units of analysis, the col­
quences are marked. Potential themes are identified by umns the categories, and the cells some sort of value; for
combining different pieces of text, which leads to the instance, a1 if a category occurs in a text and a0 if it does
development of categories and concepts. Subsequently, not, or the actual number of times a category occurs in the
these categories and concepts are linked together in con­ text. The resulting matrix may subsequently be analysed
ceptual frameworks. The use of memos is one of the by data-analytical and statistical techniques. Generally,
principal techniques for recording relationships among the coding of the data is performed by multiple coders,
categories and concepts. Once a conceptual model starts which makes it possible to investigate whether the con­
to take shape, negative case analysis is used to identify cepts are intersubjectively shared and to investigate the
potential problems with the model and to make appro­ intercoder reliability.
priate revisions. The results are often presented in the The process of categorisation and data-induced model
form of verbatim quotes from the text as typical examples building has been greatly facilitated by the development
of categories and concepts, while the theoretical results of increasingly useful software tools for qualitative data
are often displayed in maps, which contain the major analysis. These tools make it easier and easier for
categories and their interrelationships. researchers to identify themes, mark text, build code-
From a methodological point of view, schema analysis is books, link separate chunks of text, create memos, and
similar to grounded theory. It is based on the idea that develop models. Many of these programs are more or less
people must use cognitive simplifications to help make based on the grounded theory approach to the analysis of
sense of the complex information to which they are con­ less-structured data, but have also incorporated content
stantly exposed. It is postulated that schemata or scripts analysis procedures and simple data analysis techniques,
enable culturally skilled people to fill in details of a story and allow researchers to create and/or export data
or event. Transcripts of interviews are analysed, in which matrices for further analysis.
one looks for metaphors, for repetitions of words and links
between words, and for shifts in content. The purpose is
to discover and relate categories and concepts into theo­ Analysis of Less-Structured Data
retical frameworks called schemata.
Analytic induction is a more or less formal, nonquantita­ Given the categorisation of the data and the coding of
tive procedure for building up explanations of the texts, the data can be displayed in the format of a
phenomena from an examination of cases. It may be matrix, in which the rows represent the units of analysis
characterised as a formal kind of negative case analysis. and the columns the categories. For the analysis of such a
The procedure of analytic induction can best be described matrix, essentially the same collection of data analysis
in a number of stages. First, given the phenomenon that and statistical techniques can be used as with structured
has to be explained, propose an explanation. Next, exam­ data. For instance, once a matrix containing the data is
ine a case to see if the explanation fits. If it does, available, one can make frequency distributions repre­
investigate another case. An explanation is accepted senting the counts of the categories. Given the
until a new case falsifies it. When a case appears that availability of data, it may also be possible to make tables
does not fit, one can either change the explanation so that differentiate the categories over subgroups of
that the new case also fits, or one can reformulate the respondents according to, for instance, age, income,
phenomenon so that the nonfitting case can be excluded. and household composition. Depending on the research
Ideally, the process continues until a general explanation questions, of course, multivariate analyses also may be
for all known cases of a phenomenon is achieved. performed. Since there are many textbooks available in
Explaining all cases by treating each one as unique is which these techniques are extensively treated, the
not an acceptable option in analytic induction. It requires interested reader is referred to one of these books.
that the cases being studied are categorised and coded, so However, it must be noted here that especially techni­
categorisation is part of the process of analytic induction. ques for exploratory data analysis would seem to be
The purpose of the analysis, however, is not to show the relevant in the context of qualitative research, since in
relationships among all categories, but to find the minimal much qualitative research the emphasis is on exploration
set of relationships between the categories and concepts and discovery. Exploratory data analysis techniques that
to explain the phenomenon being studied. seem relevant include network analysis, multidimen­
Content analysis is a procedure for categorising and sional scaling, cluster analysis, correspondence analysis,
coding text that focuses more on justification than on and homogeneity analysis. What all these techniques
 Qualitative Methods in Housing Research 15

have in common is that they can be used for finding researcher will be able to draw conclusions about the
structure in the set of categories, in the set of units of empirical data with respect to the research questions. An
analysis, or in both. essential step in making less-structured data suitable for
An important part of qualitative analysis is the use of any further analysis is the process of categorisation, which
all kinds of more or less standard visual display techni­ results in the categories and concepts that the researcher
ques. Matrices and forms are used for presenting considers relevant from the perspective of the phenom­
categories and concepts, which often are illustrated by enon being studied. Several procedures for categorising
key quotes from interviews or others texts. Flowcharts less-structured data have been described. Grounded theory
and maps are used for illustrating relationships between and schema analysis are more useful in the context of
concepts. Models may be displayed by using boxes and discovery, while content analysis focuses more on justifica­
arrows, in which the boxes contain the concepts and the tion. Given the categorisation of the less-structured data
arrows represent the links among them. As has been and the coding of the text, the data can be displayed in the
mentioned before, a widely used and very basic way for format of a matrix. For the analysis of such a data matrix,
illustrating themes, categories, and concepts is the pre­ essentially the same collection of data analysis and statis­
sentation of verbatim quotes from respondents. Matrices tical techniques can be used as for structured data.
and tables can be used to organise and summarise free- However, since in much qualitative research exploration
flowing text by filling the cells with verbatim quotes, and and discovery are central aims, especially techniques for
this can be done along multiple dimensions if this is exploratory data analysis seem relevant for analysing these
required by the complexity of the data. types of data matrices.
Although radical stands in both qualitative and quan­
titative research still differ strongly on several
Conclusion epistemological and ontological issues, it has been
argued in the present article that more moderate posi­
The aim of the present article has been to highlight meth­ tions are much closer to each other and that many of
odological aspects of qualitative research concerning the these differences turn out to be differences of degree and
gathering, processing, and analysis of data. The starting not of kind. The moderates have a much more open
point has been the adage that all housing research has attitude towards the pros and cons of qualitative and
dual facets – the ideas that drive the work and the inquiry quantitative research, and often use and mix both types
procedures with which they are pursued – which are joined of methodology when the phenomena being studied
in complementary opposition. This results in an instru­ require this. In the end, this seems to be a much more
mental view of research procedures, which is the leitmotiv promising way to go than continuing the methodological
of the article. This instrumental view of research proce­ trench-wars that kept both approaches separated in
dures has led to the conclusion that it is the nature of the the past.
research questions and the required information that lead
to the choice for a qualitative approach. The purpose of
qualitative research is to provide an in-depth and inter­ See also: Case Studies; Discourse Analysis;
preted understanding of the social world of people by Ethnographies of Home and Homelessness;
learning about their environment, their experiences, their Ethnography; Social Construction; Textual and Linguistic
perspectives, and their histories. Given this aim of qualita­ Analysis.
tive research, the full range of data-gathering techniques
can be subsumed under three general categories: observa­
tion, interviewing, and collecting documents. It is not Further Reading
uncommon that different ways of data-gathering are used
Denzin N and Lincoln YS (2005) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative
next to each other. In general, the data collection in qua­
Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
litative research results in large amounts of less-structured Miles MB and Huberman AM (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis.
data which have to be managed and processed so that the Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.