A note on researcher positionality - for housing studies 2026

 A note on researcher positionality - for housing studies 2026

 

In the context of doing housing studies dissertation projects, highlight 4 main ideas of "researcher positionality", and explain briefly how it affects (i) the choice of research philosophy to use, (ii) the types of research issues and public media-reported issues to address, (iii) the types of research objectives and questions to address, and (iv) the design of research methods.

Researcher positionality means recognising that a researcher’s identity, experiences, values, assumptions, and social location shape what they study, how they study it, and how they interpret findings. In a housing studies dissertation, it is not simply a “bias statement”: it is a methodological lens that should be declared and managed throughout the project.

Four main ideas

1.    Situated knowledge and social location
A researcher is never a neutral outsider. Their housing status, class background, ethnicity, gender, age, professional role, and prior experience of housing problems shape what they notice, whom they trust, and which explanations they find persuasive.

2.    Values, assumptions, and prior beliefs
Researchers bring assumptions about, for example, whether housing shortage is mainly a supply problem, a welfare-state failure, a market problem, or a rights issue. These assumptions can influence the framing of a problem, the literature selected, and the interpretation of evidence.

3.    Insider–outsider relationships and power
Positionality includes the researcher’s relationship with participants and institutions. A student researching public housing may be an outsider to residents but an insider to university-based policy discourse; this affects access, rapport, power dynamics, and what participants are willing to disclose.

4.    Reflexivity as an ongoing practice
Positionality should be examined continuously, not only stated once in a methodology chapter. Reflexive researchers ask how their role, questions, interview style, sampling choices, and analytical interpretations may privilege some voices while marginalising others.

Effects on the dissertation

Dissertation element	How researcher positionality affects it	Housing-studies example
(i) Research philosophy	A researcher who sees housing experiences as socially constructed and context-dependent is likely to adopt an interpretivist or constructivist philosophy. One who treats housing outcomes as measurable, generalisable phenomena may lean toward positivism or post-positivism. A researcher concerned with inequality and structural power may adopt a critical realist or critical theory orientation. research.ed.ac+1	“How do sub-divided-flat residents experience overcrowding?” points toward interpretivism; “What factors predict satisfaction with public rental housing?” points toward a more positivist approach.
(ii) Research issues and media-reported issues	Positionality influences which problems appear important and whose perspective is foregrounded. It can lead a researcher to examine issues reported in the media—such as homelessness, sub-divided flats, land supply, ageing public estates, or housing affordability—through a particular social or political lens. rune.une.edu+2	A researcher with experience of precarious private renting may prioritise tenant insecurity; a researcher focused on urban regeneration may foreground redevelopment displacement.
(iii) Objectives and questions	Personal and theoretical commitments shape the purpose, scope, and wording of research questions. They determine whether the study seeks to measure causes, understand lived experience, evaluate policy, expose inequality, or recommend reform. journals.sagepub+2	Instead of only asking “Is public housing adequate?”, a positionality-aware study may ask: “How do low-income tenants experience and navigate housing insecurity, and whose interests are served by current allocation rules?”
(iv) Research methods	Positionality affects sampling, participant recruitment, interview questions, observation roles, ethical safeguards, analytical categories, and dissemination. It also affects whether the researcher uses surveys, interviews, ethnography, archival/policy analysis, or mixed methods. sage.cnpereading+3	A researcher studying informal housing may use semi-structured interviews and participant observation, with reflexive memos, rather than relying only on official statistics that may undercount marginalised households.

Practical application

In your dissertation, include a short positionality statement that explains:

• Why you are personally and academically interested in the housing issue.
• Your relevant background, values, and assumptions.
• Your relationship to participants, housing agencies, or the policy field.
• How you will reduce undue influence—for example, through triangulation, member checking, reflexive journaling, transparent coding, and seeking disconfirming evidence.

For instance, if you are researching housing affordability in Hong Kong, state whether you approach it primarily as a market-affordability problem, a public-housing supply problem, a social-equity issue, or a planning/governance issue. Then explain how interviews, survey design, case selection, and interpretation are structured to test that perspective rather than merely confirm it.