Thursday, 27 November 2025

An example of gathering useful suggestions for doing a Housing research project assignment 2: subdivided flats (information perplexity.ai)

An example of gathering useful suggestions for doing a Housing research project assignment 2: subdivided flats (information perplexity.ai)


My question 1: "Please suggest 4 concrete Housing studies research themes based on the following keywords: the subdivided flats in Hong Kong, livability, housing justice, housing policy of Hong Kong."

The reply: "Here are four concrete Housing Studies research themes based on subdivided flats, livability, housing justice, and Hong Kong housing policy:

  • Livability and Health Impacts of Subdivided Flats: This theme examines physical and mental health challenges arising from cramped, low-quality living conditions in subdivided flats, including issues like overcrowding, hygiene, ventilation, and safety hazards. It also explores residents' coping strategies and adaptations in such environments.

  • Housing Justice and Social Inequality: This theme focuses on housing justice concerns related to the accessibility and fairness of housing policies, particularly how marginalized and low-income groups are disproportionately pushed into subdivided flats. It investigates procedural and distributive justice aspects within Hong Kong's housing system.

  • Housing Affordability and Policy Effectiveness: This theme analyzes the impact of Hong Kong's housing policies on the affordability and availability of decent housing, including public housing wait times and private rental market dynamics contributing to the growth of subdivided flats as last-resort housing.

  • Political Economy and Urban Development: This theme addresses the broader socio-political and economic drivers shaping Hong Kong's housing market, including financialization, land access governance, redevelopment processes, and regulatory responses to the subdivided flats phenomenon.

These themes align with interdisciplinary approaches combining sociology, public health, economics, and policy analysis to comprehensively address housing conditions and justice issues in Hong Kong's context."


My question 2: "Suggest a dissertation project title, 2 specific housing issues, 2 primary research methods, 2 research objectives, 2 research questions and a specific research philosophy for each of the 4 research themes proposed above."

The reply: "Here are concrete dissertation details for each of the four proposed Hong Kong housing research themes:

  1. Livability and Health Impacts of Subdivided Flats

  • Title: "Living Conditions and Health Implications of Subdivided Flats in Hong Kong"

  • Housing issues: Overcrowding and poor sanitation

  • Research methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews; Environmental assessment surveys

  • Research objectives: To explore residents' lived experiences of health impacts; To identify physical environmental factors reducing livability

  • Research questions: How do subdivided flat residents perceive the health effects of their living environment? What environmental factors most affect the livability of subdivided flats?

  • Research philosophy: Interpretivism, to understand subjective experiences through participant perspectives

  1. Housing Justice and Social Inequality

  • Title: "Housing Justice and Inequality: Experiences of Subdivided Flat Residents in Hong Kong"

  • Housing issues: Inequitable access to quality housing; Social exclusion of low-income groups

  • Research methods: Policy document analysis; In-depth interviews with residents and community advocates

  • Research objectives: To assess how housing policies uphold or undermine housing justice; To examine the role of subdivided flats in perpetuating social inequality

  • Research questions: How do current policies affect housing justice perceptions? In what ways do subdivided flats reinforce social inequality?

  • Research philosophy: Critical realism, to reveal structural causes underlying observed social injustices

  1. Housing Affordability and Policy Effectiveness

  • Title: "Assessing Hong Kong’s Housing Policies: Affordability Challenges and the Rise of Subdivided Flats"

  • Housing issues: Public housing shortage; Escalating private rental costs

  • Research methods: Quantitative statistical analysis of housing market data; Content analysis of policy documents

  • Research objectives: To evaluate policy effectiveness in improving housing affordability; To analyze factors contributing to the growth of subdivided flats

  • Research questions: How effective are current policies in enhancing affordability? What factors in policy design drive subdivided flat proliferation?

  • Research philosophy: Positivism, to objectively measure and evaluate policy impacts using quantitative data

  1. Political Economy and Urban Development

  • Title: "Urban Development and the Political Economy of Subdivided Flats in Hong Kong"

  • Housing issues: Land-use governance; Redevelopment displacement impacts

  • Research methods: Case studies of redevelopment projects; Stakeholder interviews with policymakers and planners

  • Research objectives: To investigate political-economic influences on housing market dynamics; To understand redevelopment’s effect on housing precarity

  • Research questions: How do political-economic factors shape housing market trends? What are redevelopment policies’ impacts on subdivided flat residents?

  • Research philosophy: Pragmatism, integrating multiple perspectives to address complex, practical urban development issues

These detailed elements align research design carefully with each theme’s focus, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, relevant philosophy, and targeted questions to form strong dissertation foundations in Hong Kong housing studies."


My question 3: "Please briefly compare the strengths and weaknesses as how they are mutually complementary, of the 2 research methods suggested on each of the 4 dissertation proposals above."

The reply: "Here is a brief comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of the 2 research methods suggested in each of the 4 dissertation proposals, highlighting how they complement each other:

  1. Livability and Health Impacts of Subdivided Flats

  • Qualitative interviews provide rich, detailed insights into residents' lived experiences and meanings but involve smaller, non-generalizable samples and carry risks of subjectivity and researcher bias.

  • Environmental assessments offer objective, quantifiable data on physical living conditions that can be generalized and replicated but they miss the subjective health and social impacts.

  • Together, they complement by combining subjective perspectives with objective environmental measures to deepen understanding of livability issues.

  1. Housing Justice and Social Inequality

  • Policy analysis systematically evaluates policy documents for structure and intent but cannot reveal lived social impacts directly.

  • In-depth interviews capture personal experiences and perceptions to reveal nuances of social inequality but may lack breadth and generalizability.

  • Combining them links formal policy frameworks with real-world social justice experiences to understand policy effectiveness holistically.

  1. Housing Affordability and Policy Effectiveness

  • Quantitative data analysis provides statistically robust measures of housing market trends and policy outcomes across large populations but lacks depth on individual experiences.

  • Content analysis of policy documents systematically examines official strategies but cannot capture policy impacts beyond documents.

  • Used together, they allow correlation of policy content with measurable market outcomes, bridging textual intent and quantitative effects.

  1. Political Economy and Urban Development

  • Case studies offer detailed contextual analysis of specific redevelopment examples but are limited in scope and generalizability.

  • Stakeholder interviews provide diverse perspectives and insights into political-economic processes but can be subjective and time-consuming.

  • Integration gives both rich case-specific understanding and varied stakeholder viewpoints for a comprehensive grasp of political-economic housing dynamics.

In summary, qualitative methods excel at depth and context while quantitative and document-based methods excel at breadth, objectivity, and generalizability. Their combination balances detailed understanding with representativeness and rigor to form well-rounded, complementary research designs across all themes."


My question 4: "Suggest 5 academic references and 5 non-academic references in Harvard reference format related to the research themes mentioned above."

The reply: "Here are 5 academic and 5 non-academic references related to the proposed research themes on subdivided flats, livability, housing justice, and housing policy in Hong Kong, formatted in Harvard style:

Academic references:

Non-academic references:

These references support exploration of the multifaceted housing issues, governance, and policy contexts relevant to subdivided flats and housing justice in Hong Kong.."




** a relevant reading: the 3-step method.


A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.


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