Data Collection Methods

The methods used in data collection in this research are mainly informed by qualitative approach at a small scale to examine the housing use and spatial structure under the culture change influences in Syria. As culture has an abstract nature, it needs to be researched through its impacts on elements such as lifestyle, behaviour, and world view (Robbins, 1989). These elements were thus possible to be investigated through observation, interviewing and other ethnographic methods. The specific methods that were conducted in the data collection are as follow: literature reviews, case study/studies, semi-structured interviews (in-depth interviews), face-to-face questionnaires; minimal participant and non-participant observation and direct observation, document analysis (maps, housing design plans), and photographic documentation – seen as largely ethnographic in focus (Creswell, 2002; Yin, 2003; Bryman, 2012).

Literature review

Literature review as an exploratory system is defined as “a body of information, existing in a wide variety of stored formats, that has conceptual relevance for a particular topic of inquiry” (Groat and Wang, 2002, p.46). The literature review should only be undertaken after the general materials have been arranged into a rational system

and customized to fit the research question. This research requires an enquiry into multidisciplinary sources which are mainly within social science, and thus information was collected from anthropology, ethnography, psychology and architectural studies. A general review of literature on cultural change and housing design was presented in chapter 2 addressing the relation between these two concepts and defining cultural aspects relevant to housing design and use. Narrowing this down, two cultural aspects were chosen and investigated: 1) concepts and practices of privacy and 2) food preparation and consumption.

The literature review is a very important part of the research process; it is essential not only at the beginning of the process but also throughout it. The information coming out of it should have the following attributes: 1) the information should address a specific topic of inquiry with concise sentences and paragraphs; 2) the research results should contribute to the larger body of relevant literature; 3) the research results should be able to stand on their own for other users (Groat and Wang, 2002). It is a certain cyclical process in that a researcher has to be informed about the existing literature his/her research is drawn from, and the outcome should extend that body of literature which in turn can be used by the next researcher. A literature review can be organized in terms of facts or ideas. Facts are quantifiable and certifiable pieces of information. Ideas tend to have more of an illustrative or interpretive role. A literature review can include primary and/or secondary sources. Primary sources are original sources that are relative to topic. There are many sources of literature such as the internet as a powerful identifier, the library which is still a primary source, archives as distinct from libraries, organizations, agencies and the popular media.

Different sources were used in this research. Libraries and the internet were mainly used to collect a general review of literature on housing and culture change which is available in the UK libraries in fields such as sociology, anthropology, ethnography, architecture, and planning. Literature on culture change in relation to housing design in Syria is extremely limited in English, and thus part of it was translated from Arabic, though this was also very limited. Official sites and documents on Syria that were accessible were used to build up a background about Syria.

Case study is often a kind of conceptual container. It can be used at a strategy level and thus it can be used to contain one or more other research approaches, or at a tactic level and thus it can be used as one of several devices under the umbrella of a single research design (Groat and Wang, 2002). This research depends on case study at both a strategic level and a tactic level to achieve an in-depth look at housing and culture, to understand the complexity of the relation between inner space arrangement and change of culture concepts in a particular milieu in order to provide housing design that is more congruent with households’ cultural needs. ‘Case studies are valuable because they provide great detail that helps to understand the complexities of human behaviour’ Mark’s (1996). Yin (2003) noted that case studies are the preferred strategy when:

- How and why questions are being posed.

- The investigator has little control over the events.

- The focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context. The case study method allows investigators to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events. Many social scientists deeply believe that case studies are only appropriate for exploratory phase of an investigation. The more appropriate view of case study strategy is an inclusive and pluralistic one as it can be used for three purposes: exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory. The case study relies on many of the same techniques as a conventional historical study, but it differs when direct observation of events are conducted and interviews of the persons involved in the events. The case study strategy has unique strength, in its ability to deal with a full variety of evidence – documents, artefacts, interviews, and observations – which are more than what is available in the conventional historical study (Yin, 2003). It is desirable to investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; it is therefore used to cover contextual conditions. In this research, two housing areas were used as case studies in Syria as a country study, investigation rapid culture change in contemporary life in relation to current housing design.

Pilot study

The term ‘pilot studies’ refers to mini versions of a full scale study (feasibility study) as well as pre-testing of a particular research instruments such as a questionnaire or interview schedule. Pilot study does not guarantee success in the main study but it

increases its likelihood. The main advantage of pilot study is that it can give advance warning about where the main research project could fail and which research instruments are inappropriate or too complicated. There are also a range of different reasons to conduct pilot studies such as: developing research questions and designing research protocols; assessing the feasibility of the full scale study/research developing and testing adequacy of research instruments; collecting preliminary data; determining what resources are needed for a planned study; etc. (Teijlingen and Hundley, 2001; Polit et al., 2001).

Interviews in qualitative research

The interview is probably the most widely conducted method in qualitative research. Ethnography usually involves a substantial amount of interviewing because of the flexibility of the interview. Ethnography needs an extended period of participant observation and thus is usually very disruptive for the researchers’ family life and/or work. The interview, therefore, is a very attractive method for researchers. Even though interviewing, transcriptions of interviews and analysis of transcripts is time- consuming, it is more flexible and easily accommodated into the researcher life (Bryman, 2012).

The main types of interviews associated with qualitative research are the unstructured interview and the semi-structured interview. There is a tendency for these types of interviews to be referred to as in-depth interviews or as qualitative interviews, as in both types interviewer does not strictly follow a schedule as is done in quantitative research interviewing. In the unstructured interview, the researcher uses an aide-memoire which prompts the researcher to focus on a certain range of topics. Unstructured interview can be only one question in which the interviewee can respond freely and the interviewer can select the relevant topics to his/her research and emphasize them in the interview. An unstructured interview is usually similar to a conversation (Bryman, 2012). In a semi-structured interview, the researcher has a list of questions or an interview guide which addresses rather specific topics to be covered in the interview. The questions do not necessarily have to be followed as scheduled and the interviewee can, to some extent, freely respond. However, all questions have to be eventually asked using similar wording to all interviewees. New questions may be also asked when the interviewer notices interesting things in the interviewee response. If the researcher starts the

investigation with a fairly clear focus rather than a general idea of a research on a topic, s/he is likely to favour a semi-structured interview so the specific issues can be addressed. Semi-structured interview is likely to be followed if the researcher is doing a multiple-case study, as this needs some structure to ensure cross-case comparability (Bryman, 2012).

Recording and transcription

In qualitative research, the interview is usually audio-recorded and transcribed whenever possible. That is, qualitative researchers are interested in what people say and the way they say it. Although interview transcription is time consuming – usually every hour of speech needs five to six hours for transcription, and yields a vast amount of paper which needs to be waded through when analysing the data, it has many advantages. It helps to correct the natural limitations of our memories and of the intuitive glosses we might place on what people say in interviews; allows more thorough examination of what people say and how; it permits repeated examinations of interviewees’ answers; it can be used as secondary data by other researchers, etc.

Face-to-face questionnaires

In a face-to-face questionnaire, an interviewer is physically present to help the respondents to answer the questions. This questionnaire delivery mode has many advantages over mail or telephone surveys in term of quality and complexity of the collected data (Doyle, 2005). Although this delivery mode has potential sources of response bias and possible increase of logistical costs, it is ideal for respondents who have difficulty answering mail or telephone survey such as poor reading or writing skills. Face-to-face questionnaire can be significantly longer than other types of survey. Most people allow the interviewer to stay in their living room longer than an hour, whereas respondents usually cannot bear a telephone interview which last longer than half an hour or a mail questionnaire which needs more than 15-20 minutes of effort. This additional time allows the researcher to ask more questions, and to make them longer, more detailed, more open-ended questions and more complicated. “If the respondent finds a question to be confusing or ambiguous, the interviewer can immediately clarify it. Similarly, the respondent can be asked to clarify any answers that

the interviewer cannot interpret’ (Doyle, 2005, p.3). Face-to-face questionnaire offer the highest response rate obtainable (90% in some cases) (Doyle, 2005).

Sampling in qualitative research – non-probability sampling

There are different types of non-probability sampling techniques in qualitative research such as snowball sampling, convenience sampling, opportunistic sampling, purposive sampling, etc.

Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling that is simply available to the researcher by virtue of its accessibility. This type is highly desirable to pilot a research instrument before using it in an investigation – such as developing a battery of questions (Bryman, 2012).

Snowball sampling is a form of convenience sample, but with approach to sampling the researcher makes initial contact with a small group of people who are relevant to the research topic and then uses this to establish contact to others (Bryman, 2012).

Quota sampling aims to produce a sample that reflects a population in terms of the relative proportions of people in different categories, such as gender, ethnicity, age groups, socio-economic groups, and region of residence, and in combinations of these categories. Since the final selection is made by the interviewer, the sampling of individuals is not carried out randomly (Bryman, 2012).

Purposive sampling is a form of non-probability sampling in which the researcher takes the decisions regarding the individuals included in the sample based on a variety of criteria which may include the specialist knowledge related to the research issues, or capacity and willingness to participate in the research (Oliver, 2006, pp.244-245). Purposive sampling seems to be the most conducted sampling in qualitative research, as this is essentially strategic and entails an attempt to establish a good correspondence between research questions and sampling. The researcher defines samples which allow him/her to interview people who are relevant to research questions (Bryman, 2012). Sampling size mainly depends on available time and sources and on obtaining the adequate answers of the research questions.

Direct observation provides an opportunity for researchers to observe directly what is happening in the social setting, interact with participants and participate in activities. Direct observation may be referred to by other terms such as participant observation, site visits, field work, etc (Wiebe, 2010).

Minimally participating observer observes but participates minimally in groups’ core activities. Observer interacts with group members but observation may or may not be the main source of data. Interviews and documents play a prominent role when observation is not the main source of data. Non-participating observer with interaction observes (sometimes minimally) but does not participate in group’s core activities. Interaction with group members occurs but often through interviews and documents which are the main sources of data in such method.

Research-driven visual images: photographs

In recent years, there is a significant increase in the use of the visual materials in social research. A distinction can be made between the use of visual materials that are extant and those that are produced exclusively for the purposes of research. Research driven photographs maybe taken either by the researcher or the participants themselves (Bryman, 2012). In this study, all photographs were taken by the researcher for the purpose of research. There are several ways in which photographs have been employed by qualitative researchers: as an aide-memoire in the course of fieldwork, in which context photos essentially become components of the ethnographer’s field notes; as sources of data in their own right not as adjuncts to the ethnographer’s field notes, and/or as prompts for discussion by research participants (Bryman, 2012, p.457). In this study, photographs were used as an aide memoire in the fieldwork and as sources of data in their own right.