An exercise to classify research methods as primary or secondary: for Housing Studies
In the context of Research Methods for
Housing Studies, briefly describe each of the following research methods in 2
sentences and then indicate on each of them whether it is a primary research
method (using primary data) or a secondary research method (using secondary
data):
1. systematic
review
2. narrative
review
3. critical
review
4. document
study
5. qualitative
content analysis
6. quantitative
content analysis
7. archival
research
8. photovoice
9. participant
observation
10.
questionnaire
11.
case study research (Robert Yin's version)
12.
grounded theory on studying documents
13.
study or corporate annual reports
14.
study of newspaper commentary
Below, “primary”
means the researcher collects or generates new data directly from people,
settings, or documents produced for the study; “secondary” means the researcher
analyses existing sources that were produced for another purpose. Reviews are
generally secondary because they analyse published research, while methods
involving direct participant engagement are primary.
Research methods
|
Method |
Brief description |
Data type |
|
1. Systematic review |
Uses a pre-specified protocol, explicit
search strategy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and quality appraisal to
identify and synthesise studies on a focused question. It aims to produce a
transparent, reproducible summary of existing evidence. |
Secondary |
|
2. Narrative review |
Provides a broad, interpretive overview of
a topic, selecting and discussing literature according to the reviewer’s
expertise and argument. Unlike a systematic review, it does not normally
follow a fixed, exhaustive search and appraisal protocol. |
Secondary |
|
3. Critical review |
Evaluates existing literature not merely to
summarise it, but to assess its strengths, weaknesses, assumptions, and
conceptual contributions. It often aims to identify gaps, develop a model, or
generate a new theoretical proposition. |
Secondary |
|
4. Document study |
Systematically examines written, visual, or
digital documents—such as policies, plans, meeting minutes, or reports—to
understand their content, context, and social meaning. In housing studies, it
can reveal how housing problems and policy choices are represented. |
Secondary |
|
5. Qualitative content analysis |
Interprets the meanings, themes, frames,
and patterns in textual or visual material, often through coding and
contextual interpretation. It is suited to understanding how issues such as
housing affordability or displacement are discussed. |
Secondary if analysing existing documents; primary
if analysing transcripts or materials generated by the researcher from
participants. |
|
6. Quantitative content analysis |
Counts and statistically analyses
predefined categories in texts or media, such as the frequency of terms like
“public housing,” “NIMBY,” or “gentrification.” It converts qualitative
material into measurable data for comparison over time or across sources. |
Secondary if analysing existing documents/media; primary
if applied to data collected directly for the study. |
|
7. Archival research |
Examines historical records held in
archives, such as government files, housing-authority records, maps,
correspondence, or planning documents. It reconstructs past housing policies,
events, and institutional decisions from surviving records. |
Secondary |
|
8. Photovoice |
A participatory method in which
participants take photographs of their lived environment and explain their
significance through discussion or narratives. It gives residents, including
marginalised groups, a direct role in documenting housing conditions and
advocating change. |
Primary |
|
9. Participant observation |
The researcher immerses themselves in a
housing setting—such as an estate, shelter, community meeting, or protest—and
records behaviour, interactions, and context over time. It generates
first-hand insight into everyday housing experiences and social practices. |
Primary |
|
10. Questionnaire |
Uses a structured set of questions to
collect standardised information from respondents, often about housing
conditions, satisfaction, affordability, mobility, or attitudes. It can be
administered face-to-face, by phone, online, or by post. |
Primary |
|
11. Case study research (Robert Yin’s
version) |
An empirical inquiry that investigates a
contemporary phenomenon in depth within its real-life context, using multiple
sources of evidence and clear boundaries between case and context. Yin
emphasises triangulation across interviews, documents, observations, and
archival material. |
Usually primary, because Yin treats case studies as
empirical investigations that collect original evidence; it may also
incorporate secondary documents. |
|
12. Grounded theory on studying documents |
Applies grounded-theory procedures—open
coding, constant comparison, memo-writing, and theoretical sampling—to
documents in order to build concepts or theory from the data. The researcher
develops categories inductively rather than testing a predetermined
framework. |
Secondary if the documents already exist; primary
if the documents are generated through the research process, such as
interview transcripts or field notes. |
|
13. Study of corporate annual reports |
Analyses companies’ annual reports to
examine their stated strategies, financial performance, governance, risks,
and disclosures relevant to housing, property development, or real-estate
investment. It can show how firms present their housing-related activities to
shareholders and regulators. |
Secondary |
|
14. Study of newspaper commentary |
Examines editorials, opinion columns,
letters, and commentary articles to identify public debates, ideological
positions, and framings of housing issues. It is useful for tracing how media
discourse shapes or reflects housing politics. |
Secondary |
Key distinction
Methods such as
photovoice, participant observation, questionnaires, and Yin-style case studies
normally generate primary data because they involve direct engagement
with people or settings. By contrast, systematic, narrative, and critical
reviews, archival work, document studies, annual-report studies, and
newspaper-commentary studies normally analyse secondary data—materials
created independently of the current research project.
