A review of an article on Examining the association between shelter status and homelessness duration, notably on research approaches: for Housing Studies students

A review of an article on Examining the association between shelter status and homelessness duration, notably on research approaches: for Housing Studies students

 

How to describe the article in Harvard reference format?

 Bansal, P., Li, N., Colford, K. & Wu, H., 2026. Examining the association between shelter status and homelessness duration: A case study of Halifax, Canada. Cities, 179, p.107677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2026.107677 [Accessed 20 October 2026].

Highlight the main research issues and research objectives, 2 main academic theories used and the main research methods used in this article.

The article's main research issues, objectives, academic theories, and research methods can be summarized as follows:

Main Research Issues:

• The association between shelter status (whether an individual is sheltered or unsheltered) and the duration of homelessness.
• How shelter status moderates the relationship between social and health-related factors and the likelihood of exiting homelessness.
• The role of shelter status in shaping housing pathways and the variation in homelessness duration among individuals.

Research Objectives:

• To examine how shelter status relates to the length of time individuals experience homelessness in Halifax, Canada.
• To investigate whether shelter status influences the impact of individual vulnerabilities, such as immigrant status, victimization, substance use history, and age at first homelessness, on homelessness duration.
• To provide survival analysis insights into exit probabilities from homelessness over time, comparing sheltered and unsheltered populations.

Two Main Academic Theories Used:

1.    Typology of Homelessness Based on Shelter Utilization Patterns: The article employs the framework developed by Kuhn and Culhane (1998), which categorizes homelessness into transitional, episodic, and chronic types based on shelter usage patterns.

2.    Urban Governance and Housing Pathways Theory: The study draws on theories about how urban governance structures, including shelter access and institutional routes, influence individual homelessness trajectories and duration (Benjaminsen, Dyb, & O'Sullivan, 2009).

Main Research Methods:

• Use of a near-complete count and survey data of homeless individuals in Halifax, including both sheltered and unsheltered populations.
• Statistical analysis involving:
• Independent samples t-tests and Cohen's d effect sizes to identify factors associated with homelessness duration.
• Cox proportional hazards models to assess the relationship between shelter status, social and health covariates, and the timing of exit from homelessness.
• Interaction terms in the models to investigate how shelter status modifies associations between vulnerabilities and duration.
• Survival analysis techniques including survival curves to understand exit probabilities over time.

 

What research approaches (reasoning) [inductive/ deductive/ abductive] and research approaches (methods) [qualitative/ quantitative/ mixed methods research] have been used in this study?

The study primarily employs the following research approaches and methods:

Research Reasoning Approach:

• Deductive reasoning: The study tests specific hypotheses concerning the association between shelter status and homelessness duration, as well as the moderating effects of shelter status on social and health-related factors. This is evident from the use of established theories (e.g., typology of homelessness and urban governance) to guide hypothesis formulation and the statistical testing of relationships using t-tests and Cox proportional hazards models.

Research Methods Approach:

• Quantitative research methods: The study relies on quantitative data from a near-complete survey of homeless individuals in Halifax, including numerical measurements such as homelessness duration, shelter status, and categorical social and health variables. The analysis involves statistical testing (t-tests, Cohen's d), survival analysis, and Cox proportional hazards modeling to quantitatively examine associations and interactions.

There is no indication of qualitative or mixed methods research such as interviews, ethnography, or qualitative thematic analysis in the reported methodology. The focus is on quantitatively analyzing survey data to explore and measure relationships, consistent with a deductive and quantitative research paradigm.

 

Describe 2 main research limitations of the study.

Two main research limitations of the study are:

1.    Temporal Ordering and Causality Limitation: The study uses cross-sectional data collected at a single point in time when all respondents were experiencing homelessness. As a result, it measures time since last housed for ongoing homelessness spells rather than completed spells. This design limits causal inference because it cannot determine whether unsheltered status causes longer homelessness duration, whether longer homelessness increases the likelihood of being unsheltered, or whether both are influenced by earlier barriers to shelter access. Additionally, ongoing homelessness spells may be overrepresented, biasing the data toward longer durations.

2.    Measurement and Data Limitations: Shelter status was only measured at the time of the count, preventing assessment of transitions between sheltered and unsheltered status during homelessness. Homelessness duration was self-reported and subject to recall error or approximations, as indicated by clustering around one-, two-, and three-year marks. Furthermore, social and health-related characteristics were treated as static factors measured at one point in time, so the study cannot determine whether these vulnerabilities preceded or resulted from homelessness

A review of an article on Towards healthy homes, notably on research approaches: for Housing Studies students

A review of an article on Towards healthy homes, notably on research approaches: for Housing Studies students

 

How to describe the article in Harvard reference format?

Wong, S.Y., Martino, E. & Li, A., 2026. Towards healthy homes: Exploring the effects of housing typologies on mental health in Australian capital cities. Cities, 179, 107643.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2026.107643.

 

Highlight the main research issues and research objectives, 2 main academic theories used and the main research methods used in this article.

Here is the summary of the main research issues, research objectives, academic theories, and research methods used in the article:

Main Research Issues:

• The mental health disparities between apartment and house residents in Australian capital cities.
• Concerns about tenure instability and the inability to control housing quality, especially among apartment renters, and their adverse effects on mental health.
• Limited existing research on the combined effects of dwelling type and tenure type on long-term mental health and their spatial distribution across cities.

Research Objectives:

• To examine the effect of dwelling type (apartment vs. house) on mental health.
• To investigate the effect modification by tenure type (homeowner vs. renter).
• To explore variations in these effects across Australian capital cities.

Two Main Academic Theories Used:

1.    Housing and Mental Health Theory: This theory suggests housing influences mental health through pathways such as residential stability, affordability, housing quality, and neighborhood conditions. Physical and non-physical characteristics of housing (like dwelling and tenure types) impact mental health differently.

2.    Socio-environmental and Context-sensitive Theory: Suggests that the mental health effects of dwelling types are context-dependent, varying across different cities and their unique socio-economic and environmental settings.

Main Research Methods:

• Use of fixed-effects regression models to analyze panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, covering years 2001 to 2019.
• Mental health outcome measured by the mental health subscale (MHI-5) of the Short-Form 36 (SF-36).
• Dwelling type coded as binary variable (houses vs apartments), tenure type as homeowner vs renter.
• Adjustment for socio-demographic and housing-related confounders.
• Stratified analysis by capital city to assess spatial variation of effects.
• Exclusion of social renters and non-private dwellings to enhance comparability.

This comprehensive approach aimed to isolate the within-person mental health changes attributable to housing typologies while controlling for individual heterogeneity and potential confounding.

 

What research approaches (reasoning) [inductive/ deductive/ abductive] and research approaches (methods) [qualitative/ quantitative/ mixed methods research] have been used in this study?

The research approaches used in the study are as follows:

Research reasoning approach: Deductive

• The study applies a deductive approach, as it tests specific hypotheses regarding the effects of dwelling type and tenure type on mental health based on existing theories and literature. It uses longitudinal panel data to empirically assess these relationships through fixed-effects regression models, aiming to confirm or refute theoretical expectations on the housing-mental health link.

Research methods approach: Quantitative

• The study uses quantitative research methods. It employs longitudinal survey data from the HILDA Survey (2001–2019) with statistical fixed-effects regression models to analyze numerical data on mental health scores, dwelling and tenure types, and confounding variables. Results are presented with statistical estimates and significance testing.

In summary, the study follows a deductive reasoning approach using quantitative methods to examine causal effects of housing typologies on mental health outcomes.

 

Describe 2 main research limitations of the study.

Two main research limitations of the study are:

1.    Lack of granular spatial and housing feature data:

• The study is limited by the use of secondary data (HILDA Survey), which restricts analysis to variables available in the dataset. It cannot assess specific physical characteristics of dwellings (e.g., spatial density, size of private outdoor spaces, acoustic environment, natural light access) that vary within dwelling types and may affect mental health. Additionally, the analysis is conducted at the broad Greater Capital City Statistical Area level, which may mask meaningful within-city spatial variations and neighborhood-level effects on mental health.

2.    Exclusion of social renters and household-level clustering:

• The study excludes social housing tenants, limiting the generalizability of findings to market-sector households only. Mechanisms linking dwelling type and mental health may differ significantly for social renters. Furthermore, multiple members from the same household may have participated, but the data lacks stable household identifiers over waves, preventing formal quantification of household-level clustering effects. This non-independence among cohabiting participants could bias results, representing a methodological constraint.

These limitations point to opportunities for future research using more granular spatial data, detailed housing features, inclusion of social renters, and methods accounting for household-level clustering.

A note on breakeven analysis (for doing exercise G2 in the seminar folder of AMA)

A note on breakeven analysis (for doing exercise G2 in the seminar folder of AMA)

 

Briefly explain the topic of breakeven analysis in management accounting, notably on the concept of breakeven point, Contribution and C/S ratio. Please provide a few simple calculation examples to clarify the ideas further.

Breakeven analysis is a cost-volume-profit (CVP) technique that shows the sales volume or revenue at which a business makes neither profit nor loss. It is useful for pricing, planning, cost control, and assessing how changes in costs or sales volume affect profit.

Key concepts

Concept	Meaning	Formula
Breakeven point (BEP)	Sales level where total revenue equals total cost, so profit is zero.	BEP (units) = Fixed costs ÷ Contribution per unit
Contribution	Sales revenue remaining after variable costs; it first covers fixed costs, then becomes profit.	Contribution per unit = Selling price per unit − Variable cost per unit
C/S ratio	Contribution as a proportion of sales revenue; also called contribution-margin or P/V ratio.	C/S ratio = Contribution per unit ÷ Selling price per unit
BEP in sales value	Revenue needed to cover fixed and variable costs.	BEP (revenue) = Fixed costs ÷ C/S ratio

 

Example 1: Breakeven in units

A company sells a product at $50 per unit. Variable cost is $30 per unit, and monthly fixed costs are $20,000.

·        Contribution per unit = $50 − $30 = $20

·        Breakeven point = $20,000 ÷ $20 = 1,000 units

·        Breakeven sales revenue = 1,000 × $50 = $50,000

At 1,000 units, total contribution of $20,000 exactly covers fixed costs, so profit is zero.

Example 2: C/S ratio and breakeven revenue

Using the same data:

·        C/S ratio = $20 ÷ $50 = 0.40, or 40%

·        Breakeven revenue = $20,000 ÷ 0.40 = $50,000

This means that 40 cents of every $1 of sales revenue is available to cover fixed costs and then generate profit.

Example 3: Profit above breakeven

Suppose the company sells 1,500 units.

·        Total contribution = 1,500 × $20 = $30,000

·        Fixed costs = $20,000

·        Profit = $30,000 − $20,000 = $10,000

The first 1,000 units cover fixed costs; the additional 500 units generate profit at $20 contribution per unit.

Example 4: Target profit

If the company wants a profit of $10,000, treat the target profit as an additional amount to be covered by contribution:

Required units = Fixed costs + Target profit / Contribution per unit

 

= (20,000+10,000) / 20 = 1,500 units

 

Thus, 1,500 units are needed to earn the $10,000 target profit.

Practical interpretation

·Selling below the breakeven point produces a loss; selling above it produces profit.

·A higher contribution per unit or higher C/S ratio lowers the breakeven point.

·A higher C/S ratio means each dollar of sales contributes more toward fixed costs and profit.

A collection of notes on article reviews focusing on the research approaches used: for Housing Studies students

A collection of notes on article reviews focusing on the research approaches used: for Housing Studies students:

1. A review of an article on Policy impact analysis of housing policies
2. A review of an article on Housing’s values
3. A review of an article on Towards healthy homes
4. A review of an article on Examining the association between shelter status and homelessness duration

** also study my teaching plan on the layer 2 (research approaches) of the onion model of research/ and a note on research approaches.