Housing research methods - teaching plan, 2021-2022

 Housing research methods - teaching plan, 2021-2022

 

Week	Date	Topic	Module Tutor
Introduction
1	28/9 7-10pm	Introduction to the Module and Research Methods Note the scope of Housing Studies (journal): The journal explores a range of academic and policy concerns including, but not limited to: • linkages between housing and other areas of social and economic policy • the role of housing in everyday life and in gender, class and age relationships • the economics of housing consumption and housing finance • international comparisons and developments • issues of sustainability and housing development • demographic and social trends and the changing role of housing tenures • theoretical and conceptual frameworks for housing studies *** your dissertation project topic should be related to housing studies (notably related to subjects you have learned in your degree study on housing). Some basic information about dissertation: 1. Proposal: 1,500 words 2. Progress report: 2,500 words 3. Final report: 15,000 words Dissertation project start-date: to be advised.	Dr. Joseph Ho * What is plagiarism? * A form-filling exercise to produce a dissertation proposal. Videos: * How to write a problem statement. * Introduction to Policy Analysis. (also watch "analysing policies" and policy analysis [lecture]). * on research paradigms (with organized slides; a lecture). * four paradigms on philosophy of science (a brief lecture). * on interpretivism. * on positivism. * pragmatism (a brief lecture). * critical realism (a briefing). * on ontology and epistemology and research paradigms. * ontology for social actors (a brief lecture). Then study also epistemology. * phenomenology (a brief lecture). (also see phenomenology - qualitative research). * inductive and deductive research approaches. * on deductive and inductive research. * introduction to research methods and methodologies. * on methods and methodologies. 1 * on methods and methodologies 2 (with clear written definitions). * The relationship between method and methodology. * on methodology. * research types. * macrosociology vs microsociology. Also see this video with useful slides. * purposes of research. * Facts and values (a briefing). * on types of plagiarism. * on plagiarism. Slides: * on research onion model. * on research philosophies. * on inductive and deductive reasoning. * on research types. * on axiology. e-reading: * what is self-plagiarism. * on research concerns, objectives and questions. * what is social research. * dissertation table of contents (housing). * positivism - research philosophy. * interpretive research. * a generic table of content structure for housing dissertation report. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapters 1, 2 and 4.
Quantitative Methods
2	5/10	Introduction to Quantitative Methods  – Questionnaire Surveys & Design * A briefing on assignments 1 and 2. Briefing on assignments 1 and 2; also examine the articles on (a) housing issues and the associated research objectives/ questions. [homelessness],(b) about housing affordability, (c) home ownership, (d) public housing, and (e) housing market. Also study: how housing concerns and research methodologies are related.	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on survey research. Videos: * developing a research question. * quantitative research design. * overview of quantitative research methods. * constructs. * conceptual definitions. * operational definitions. * variables and operationalization in quantitative methods. * conceptualization and operationalization. * theories and operational definitions. * true, quasi, pre, and non-experiment. * on survey research. * survey research: features, benefits and drawbacks. * 10 steps to do a survey. * designing a survey. * survey sampling techniques. * on questionnaire research. * designing a questionnaire. * writing good survey questions. * how to create a survey with Google Forms. Slides: * on quantitative research. * on survey research. * on questionnaire design. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapter 8. * A FB-based questionnaire survey to study social justice perceptions in HK housing policy.
3	12/10	Quantitative methods  – secondary data analysis Additional info: control and moderating variables. "Control variable is a variable that is not the focus or planned as part of a research study but its existence has certain impact over Dependent Variable (DV) that cannot be ignored in which it is included in the research model testing together with other Independent Variables (IVs).  Hence it is called control variable i.e. it is kept under "controlled", "monitored" or "constant" to observe whether it has minimal impact on the relationships between IVs & DV.  Usually, control variable is not included as part of a hypothesis statement. Moderating variable is a variable that is consciously understood based on literature review and is required as part of a research study to evaluate how it moderates the relationship between the IV & DV.  Moderating variable is starting at the same time as the IV in which both IV & moderating variable are having interaction that influence the DV.  Moderating variable is usually explicitly stated as part of the hypothesis.  For example, the relationship between HR Practices (IV) and Firm Performance (DV) can be moderated by leaderships style (moderating variable) such that the relationship is stronger with multiple leadership styles and weaker with only single leadership style'" (link)	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on qualitative research. Literature on quantitative research. Videos: * understanding primary and secondary sources. (also on examples of primary and secondary sources of information). * types of data. * density curves and their properties. * on variables. * on mediator and moderator variables. (also watch mediation, moderation and the third variable problem). * steps to formulate a strong hypothesis. * on falsification. * on standard normal distribution. * the normal distribution rule. * normal distribution explained - part 1. * normal distribution explained - part 2. * understanding the central limit theorem. * P-values and critical values. * on one tail and two tail tests. * simple explanation of chi-squared test. * chi-square distribution. * a briefing on chi-squared test. * An illustration of calculating p-value for ch-squared test with Excel. * choosing which statistical test to use. * quantitative data analysis. * a briefing on survey data analysis with the Excel pivot table function. Slides: * on qualitative and quantitative research. * on primary and secondary research. * falsification theory. e-readings: * on multidimensional data analysis - a conceptual note. [about using Excel pivot table]. * using Excel pivot table to study homelessness. * a tutorial on the chi-squared test. * chi square distribution. * a note on primary and secondary research.
4	19/10	Quote and Unquote – Harvard Referencing Skills for Learning	Dr. Joseph Ho A guide on harvard referencing. Literature on literature review. Literature on theoretical framework. Videos: * harvard referencing. * how to quote. * how to paraphrase. * literature review. * writing the literature review. * how to write a literature review. * outline your literature review structure. * identifying themes and gaps in literature. * common errors in literature review practice. * what to write for your literature review chapter. * videos on theories [and theory testing]. * theoretical framework. * how to develop a conceptual framework. * developing a theoretical framework (3 steps). * the role of theory in your dissertation project. * Bloom's taxonomy of learning. Slides: * on literature review. * on theory and research. e-readings: * a note on what is theory. * on theoretical framework. * finding analytical concepts in literature review: a note. * major sociological theories. * important theories of human geography. * a note on research gap. * a personal dissertation readiness assessment tool. * on the agile literature review approach. Examples of academic journals on housing studies: * housing studies. * housing, theory and society. * housing policy. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapters 4, 5 and 6. * the notion of place in housing imagination. * a mind-mapping on urban renewal. * a diagramming-based literature review on housing market. * Housing-concerns driven literature review - a note. * a note on theories and housing studies/ research. * an article on plagiarism that employs literature review skill and thematic analysis. * an article on using theory and theoretical framework in housing affordability research.
5	25/10	Introduction to Excel statistics functions	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on correlation analysis. Excel training resources. Videos: * data types in data collection. * types of variables (detailed). * introduction to hypothesis testing. * introduction to causal relationship. * understanding correlation. (also on the basic steps to calculate correlation coefficient). * understanding the central limit theorem. * the normal distribution. * P-value method for hypothesis testing. * one tailed and two tailed tests, and critical values. * an introduction to linear regression analysis. * introduction to simple linear regression. * what are correlations? * correlation vs regression. * coefficient of determination. (r squared). * correlation coefficient. * one-way ANOVA with Excel. * basic ideas on one-way ANOVA. * one-way ANOVA with manual calculation. [also take a look at the F-value calculator and a video on F-test calculation] * an overview on quantitative research. * developing a quantitative research design. * the limit of science - a critique of scientism. Slides: * hypothesis testing. * p-value. * chi square test. e-readings: * one-tailed and two-tailed tests and examples of hypothesis statements. * facts about the F distribution. * correlation coefficient. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapter 12.
6	1/11	Excel statistics functions and statistics application	Dr. Joseph Ho Videos: * understanding correlation. * simple linear regression. * multiple linear regression. part 1 * multiple linear regression part 2. * multiple linear regression - evaluating basic models. * using Excel for multiple regression analysis. Slides: * correlation analysis. * multiple regression analysis. e-reading * a statistical analysis on survey data about HK homelessness perceptions.
Qualitative Methods
7	8/11	Introduction to qualitative methods - interviews and desk research. Desk research exercises on:  1. homelessness in Hong Kong 2. housing affordability in Hong Kong A blog note on research objectives, research questions and research tasks with regard to the theme of the economic impacts on the HK housing affordability situation. **** pls also note that a hypothesis statement to be tested is also a kind of research question.	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on interview research methods. Videos: * interview research. (sociology) * fundamentals of qualitative research methods: interviews. * types of interview: unstructured, semi-structured and structured interview. * a practical guide to qualitative interviewing. * how to conduct a research interview. * in-depth interviews. * in-depth interview lecture (clear). * using semi-structured interviews. * semi-structured interviewing - a demo. * focus group as a research method. * what is narrative research? * qualitative narrative. * narrative research design. * phenomenology : types and processes (a briefing). * analyzing your interviews. * how to analyze qualitative data. * beginning guide to coding qualitative data. * qualitative sampling. * the pros and cons of research interviewing. * a briefing on thematic analysis. * types of qualitative data analysis. * online interview research: a briefing. * qualitative methods in social media research. Slides: * on interview research. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapters 9 and 10. * narrative interviewing (pdf). e-readings: * interview research methods. * interview research: what and when? * a guide to interview guide. * how to analyze interview transcripts. * desk research: what, why and how.
8	15/11	Qualitative methods – focus groups Three blog articles to review: * what to write for your literature review chapter. * research design considerations. * guidelines on writing up the chapter on findings and analysis. Note: for assignment 1, on research methods, try to employ: Primary research types: choose 2 methods 1. questionnaire survey (research method 1) 2. interview research or focus group research (research method 2) 3. observational research (research method 3) Secondary research type: adopt this one method 4. desk research (research method 4) Total: use 3 research methods in your assignment 1.	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on focus group. Videos: * on focus group. * how focus groups work. * a lecture on focus group research. * overview of the process of focus group. * moderating focus groups. * moderating online vs in-person focus group. * online focus group. * focus groups and in-depth interviews. * qualitative data analysis for focus groups. * analyzing qualitative data (sufficiently clear). Slides: * on focus group as a research method. e-readings: * conducting focus group (pdf). * how to conduct focus groups. * tips for conducting a successful focus group. * focus group interview and data analysis (pdf). * making sense of focus group findings (pdf).
9	22/11	Qualitative methods - Ethnography and participant observation A special topic on:  * academic theories (a blog article). Pls be reminded that there is a type of research question related to hypothesis testing. An example: Is the following hypothesis statement true or not true? 1. In Hong Kong, the HK stock market index (the x variable) is correlated with housing price index (the y variable). 2. In Hong Kong, the city GDP (the x variable) is positively correlated with the housing price index (the y variable).	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on observation research. Literature on ethnographic research. Videos: * what is observational research? Also watch: Its advantages and disadvantages. * observation and ethnographic research. * research method : observation (sociology). ** * ethnographic research. ** * ethnography as a qualitative research. * qualitative ethnography. ** * introduction to ethnographic methods. * participant observation as a research method.  * participant observation vs structured observation. ** * a brief lecture on participant observation. ** [also views on observation]. * methods of participant observation. * naturalistic observation studies. ** * observation as a participatory action research method. ** * how to conduct an ethnography during social isolation. * netnography in the age of covid 19. Also watch digital ethnography. * introduction to critical ethnography. ** * The Hawthorne effect. * field studies vs ethnographic studies vs contextual inquiry. * how to conduct field research (easy to understand). * contextual inquiry: practices and pros & cons. (also watch contextual interview - an illustration). Slides: * observation research. * ethnographic research. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapter 11. * on participant observation.
10	29/11	Qualitative methods – visual methods 1. A revision of pivot table analysis * Publications of multidimensional data analysis. 2. A revision on research philosophies (see video). 3. What is ontology & epistemology (see video). Also take a look at Hero (1992) "All there is, is bullshit". [Hero (1992) trailer]. 4. on contextualization of ideas in research work (video) [also see the blog note]. 5. on social reality. 6. Justification (on justified beliefs) [epistemology] "Theories of justification[edit] There are several different views as to what entails justification, mostly focusing on the question "How sure do we need to be that our beliefs correspond to the actual world?" Different theories of justification require different conditions before a belief can be considered justified. Theories of justification generally include other aspects of epistemology, such as knowledge. Notable theories of justification include: Foundationalism – Basic beliefs justify other, non-basic beliefs. Epistemic coherentism – Beliefs are justified if they cohere with other beliefs a person holds, each belief is justified if it coheres with the overall system of beliefs. Infinitism – Beliefs are justified by infinite chains of reasons. Foundherentism – A combination of foundationalism and epistemic coherentism, proposed by Susan Haack Internalism – The believer must be able to justify a belief through internal knowledge. Externalism – Outside sources of knowledge can be used to justify a belief. Reformed epistemology – Beliefs are warranted by proper cognitive function, proposed by Alvin Plantinga. Epistemic skepticism – A variety of viewpoints questioning the possibility of knowledge Evidentialism – Beliefs depend solely on the evidence for them. Reliabilism - A belief is justified if it is the result of a reliable process." (Re: the source: justification) Additional info.: "The legal question to ask is whether the photograph taken amounts to "personal data". If that photograph is not personal data, then the Ordinance is not applicable in this case. With reference to a Court of Appeal case in 2000 (Eastweek Publisher Limited and another v Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data), it was ruled that personal data can be collected by means of photographs. However, it does not mean that all photographs must necessarily be personal data. In order for personal data collection to existence, the data user must be compiling information about an identified person or about a person whom the data user intends or seeks to identify. In other words, a photo merely showing a person's visual image without mentioning his/her name or other personal data (i.e. the person is only an "anonymous photographic subject") is normally not classified as personal data."  (re: source).	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on visual methodologies. Videos: * visual research. ** * Photo elicitation and photovoice as a research method. ** * photo-elicitation. * photo-elicitation interviewing. * photovoice training. * photovoice presentation. ** * how to create a photovoice project. * picturing social change: photovoice. ** * qualitative research using visual methods. * analytic induction (a brief lecture). * framework analysis (a brief lecture). * Media analysis and visual methods. Slides: * visual methods. e-readings: * how to do a thematic analysis. * using photos to examine parallel trading (an article). "
11	6/12	Choosing appropriate research methods 1 A revision of the chi square test. * simple explanation of chi-squared test. * chi-square distribution. * a briefing on chi-squared test.	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on mixed methods research. Literature on research quality. Literature on social science research ethics. Videos: * choosing an appropriate research methodology. * choosing a research approach. * selecting a research approach. * qualitative and quantitative research design. * how to choose a research method. * advantages and disadvantages of different research methods. * mixing methods (a brief lecture). * evaluation strategies in qualitative research. * how to support research with theoretical and conceptual frameworks. * how to write a research methodology. * briefing on validity - part 1. * briefing on validity - part 2 (face validity). * briefing on validity - part 3 (concurrent validity). * on internal validity. * on external validity. * on reliability. * reliability and validity explained. * validity in statistics. * replication in research. * the replication crisis (crash course). * inference and inquiry (a brief lecture). * practical, ethical and theoretical issues in research. * basic concepts in social research ethics. * what is triangulation in qualitative research. (also see triangulation - good practices). * objectivity and subjectivity in research. (sociology perspective). * qualitative grounded theory. Slides: * on validity and reliability. * research ethics in social science. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapters 1 and 2. e-reading: * research questions and research methodologies: a note. * difference between research methodology and research method. * the onion model. * on methodological, research design and research method levels.
12	13/12	Choosing appropriate research methods 2 / Putting together a dissertation research proposal A revision on ANOVA (videos) * one-way ANOVA with Excel. * basic ideas on one-way ANOVA. * one-way ANOVA with manual calculation. [also take a look at the F-value calculator] * on the F-distribution curves./ also this video showing curves with different degrees of freedom. Statistics concepts (additional ones) * one-tailed tests and two-tailed tests. * using P-values in hypothesis testing.	Dr. Joseph Ho Videos: * writer the report abstract. * how to structure your dissertation report. * writing the chapter of introduction. * writing the chapter of literature review. * writing the chapter on methodology. * writing the chapter on results. * writing the chapter on discussion. * connecting findings, conclusions and recommendations. * results, discussion and conclusions in chapters. * writing the chapter on conclusions. * on the chapter on conclusions and recommendations. Readings:  Literature on dissertation writing. * what to write for your literature review chapter. * what is theory? * on research gaps. * research objectives and research questions. * findings and analysis: some guidelines. * research method design considerations. * the agile literature review approach for housing studies. * an article on theoretical framework (ALRA). A sample on article abstract. HKU thesis portal.
13	20/12	Dissertation report writing skills A revision on correlation and multiple regression analysis Videos: * on linear equation. * on covariance. * understanding correlation. * multiple linear regression. part 1 * multiple linear regression part 2. * multiple linear regression - evaluating basic models. * using Excel for multiple regression analysis. Some more research quality topics to review: * briefing on validity - part 2 (face validity). * briefing on validity - part 3 (concurrent validity). * on external validity. * objectivity and subjectivity in research. (sociology perspective). * what is triangulation in qualitative research. * a briefing on triangulation in qualitative research. * quality of qualitative research. * trustworthiness in qualitative research. * on intersubjectivity. * on social facts. * A briefing on assignments 1 and 2. Briefing on assignments 1 and 2; also examine the articles on (a) housing issues and the associated research objectives/ questions. [homelessness],(b) about housing affordability, (c) home ownership, (d) public housing, and (e) housing market. Also study: how housing concerns and research methodologies are related. A blog note on research objectives, research questions and research tasks with regard to the theme of the economic impacts on the HK housing affordability situation. * choosing an appropriate research methodology. About plagiarism and referencing * understanding and avoiding plagiarism. * harvard referencing.	Dr. Joseph Ho Literature on reasoning. Videos: * how to develop a strong research question? * what is research methodology? * what is a literature review? * on sociological research methods and techniques. * research questions and thesis statement. *  how to write a problem statement. * The writing process: a brief lecture. * academic writing style. * qualitative writing (a brief lecture). * Academic writing: the basics. * cohesion in academic writing. * common errors in academic English. * academic writing. * quick fixes to improve your academic writing. * writing results. * Improve your Writing: Show, Not Tell * Structuring paragraphs: a brief lecture. * Paragraph Cohesion * what is a good explanation (a briefing). * 5 tips to improve your writing. * structuring paragraphs - a brief lecture. * five common ways of displaying qualitative data. * Hedging in academic writing. * Structuring an argument (then also watch how to write an argumentative essay; and Introduction of an Argument Essay.) * Writing Strategies for Social Science. e-readings: Dissertation resources (housing). An example on abstract (for illustration: about housing market. The agile approach to guide housing dissertation projects (some readings). HKU thesis portal. * what is academic writing. * on the chain of evidence in dissertation writing. Textbook Judith Bell: Chapters 2 and 13.
Assignment Tutorial
14	3/1	Tutorial Session * Assignment 2 report template. * on : how housing concerns and research methodologies are related. * how to develop a strong research question? * what is a literature review? * quantitative vs qualitative research. Some more research quality topics to review: * briefing on validity - part 2 (face validity). * briefing on validity - part 3 (concurrent validity). * on external validity. * objectivity and subjectivity in research. (sociology perspective). * what is triangulation in qualitative research. * a briefing on triangulation in qualitative research. * trustworthiness in qualitative research. * on intersubjectivity. * on social facts.	Dr. Joseph Ho Videos: * philosophical assumptions: an introduction. * on methodology: philosophical underpinnings. * assumptions of researchers. * interview research: pros and cons. * survey research: features, benefits and drawbacks. e-readings: * advantages and disadvantages of participant observation. * interview method: advantages and disadvantages. * research philosophies and research methods (pdf download). * strengths and weaknesses of quantitative research. * A blog note on research philosophies, research objectives, academic ideas and research methods. * Further clarification of assignment 2.

 

e-resources

FB dissertation (housing studies) resources.

Textbook:

Bell, J. 2010. Doing your research project, 5th edition, Open University Press.

Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho