Qualitative methods

In-depth interview is one of the most used methods in qualitative research. It is variously described as focused interview, open-ended interview and semi-structured interview (Liamputtong & Ezzy, 2005, p. 56). A semi-structured interview is composed of a list of questions on a fairly specific topic to be covered, often referred to as an interview guide, that gives the interviewee a great deal of freedom as to how to reply. It allows the researcher to

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understand the person‟s perspective from his own environment (Bryman, 2008, p. 437). It has emphasis on administering questions in the same way every time. It is assumed that consistent stimulus behavior is required for reliable responses (Liamputtong & Ezzy, 2005, p. 56). The quota sample of the research included 27 inhabitants living inside the traditional quarter and 10 outside the quarter. Mostly in each sub-zone, six respondents purposive to three factors (age, gender and religion) were chosen. The ratio between the number of females and males was balanced. The age of the respondents ranged between 18-75 years. The interviews were conducted verbally and in a tranquil place. The duration of each interview ranged from one hour to one and a quarter hours.

 Key features of the In-depth interviews

The first key feature of the in-depth interview is intended to combine structure with flexibility. The structure is sufficiently flexible to permit topics to be covered in an order most suitable to the interviewee, allow responses to be fully probed and explored and allow the researcher to be responsive to relevant issues raised spontaneously by the interviewee (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003, p. 141). The second key feature is that the interview is interactive in nature and is nearly always conducted face-to-face. The material is generated by the interaction between the researcher and interviewee. Thirdly, the researcher uses a range of probes and other techniques to achieve in- depth answers in terms of penetration, exploration and explanation. An in-depth interview permits the researcher to explore fully all the factors that underpin a participant‟s reply: reasons, feelings, opinions and meanings. This assures explanatory evidence which is an important element of qualitative research. Fourthly, the interview is generative in the sense that new knowledge or thoughts are likely, at some stage, to be created (Ibid, pp. 141-142). The strength of the interviews lies in the extent of flexibility which is limited to ensure more systematic data collection procedures and reduce bias resulting from having interviews with different people.  Key informant interview

The key informant interview is a standard qualitative method that is widely used in social development inquiry. This is one of the methods used in rapid assessment for gathering information from the affected community. The purpose is to collect detailed information and opinions from a wide range of people including: community leaders, professionals, or residents, based on their knowledge about the community. These community experts, with their particular knowledge and understanding, can provide insights to the nature of problems and make recommendations for solutions. The researcher conducted key informant interviews with the main stakeholders of the project, organizations involved in the cultural heritage field and planners that lasted 1.15 to 1.30 hours as shown in appendix 6. For instance, key informants were asked by the researcher to evaluate the level of „partnership performance‟ which aimed to understand the roles and functions that each partnership has and measures the degree of benefit of the partnership in the traditional quarter (UCLA Center, p. 9). The key informants‟ interviews were conducted:

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 To understand the perceptions of community residents on the project.

 To get information from people with a full background of the project and be able to ask in-depth and probing questions.

 To discuss sensitive topics in order to get the depth of information required.  Direct Observation

This is a technique in which the researcher employs explicitly formulated rules for the observation, encoding and recording relevant behavior, patterns of action and interaction or environmental conditions according to a previously formulated schedule (Silverman, 1997). However, observations can be rendered as descriptions either through open-ended narrative or through the use of published checklists or field guides (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). The researcher decided in advance on the items of interest and prepared the observation schedule to reflect these predetermined foci. The aim of the observation schedule is to monitor the items contained in the checklist and clearing out what to look for and how to record behavior. This will enable several observers to alert the same activities, to look out for the same things and record data systematically. This will possibly eliminate the variations that will arise from data based on individual perceptions of events and situations. The researcher had observed each site for a predetermined period of time using the same rules. The process of systematic observation then becomes a matter of measuring and recording how many times an event occurs, or how long an event continues. In this way, there will be a permanent record of the events and data which should be consistent.

However, sampling issues are not tended to be given a great deal of attention in observation by social researchers. There has been long debate between researchers about whether there is a close relationship between what people say they do and what they actually do. So, the researcher will also take into consideration body language of the people, reactions, their interaction with the surrounding environment and their behavior in the field (Bryman, 1989, p. 177). Photos were taken by the researcher to convey important case characteristics to outside observers (Yin, 2003, p. 93). This was necessary to support some outcomes of the research and to show resulting impacts from the urban transformations.

In this research, the researcher noted two areas in the traditional quarter illustrated in the following chapters. The aim was to observe the behavior of the residents and their interaction in the space in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the meaning and use of space. Some issues have been taken into consideration in the observation guide such as: the use of the space, visible life and activity, ambience, intensity and visual clarity of the entrances to the people, accessibility, social behavior and impressions of visitors. Observations in the first area were conducted three days per week (Monday, Wednesday and Sunday) at different intervals (11:00-12:00), (14:00- 15:00), (19:00- 20:00) and at the weekends (Friday and Saturday) and similarly in the second area but at (9:30-10:30), (12:30-13:30), (17:50:-18:50). Credibility of the observations can be assured through triangulation of data of other methods such as interviews.

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With structured observation, a major reliability concern is the degree to which the researcher accurately records what she sees.

 Mental mapping

Forster (1971) elaborates on mental mapping as the mental image of an individual of the world around us where he selects concepts and relationships to use to represent the real system. He describes some of the characteristics of mental mapping as fuzzy, incomplete and imprecisely stated. One individual may change his mental mapping with time and even during the flow of a single conversation. Mental models‟ research is a useful tool to gain information from residents about their perception and understanding of their own traditional quarter. Kevin Lynch (1960) applied this method on American cities such as Boston, New Jersey and Los Angeles which is described in the book “The image of the city” to explore the image of the cities from the perception of their residents. Lynch (1985) concluded that people had a relatively coherent and detailed mental image of their city, which had been created in an interaction between self and place, which was both essential to their actual function and also important to their emotional well-being. He commented that these mental images had common features such as familiarities, culture, experience and the particular physical form of the place in which they live. He believed that shared public visual quality and experience can influence public image and the future form of a community. Lynch (1960, 1985) asserted that the formation of the image is a mutual process between observer and his environment. This methodology used two principal methods: the interview of a small sample of residents with regard to their image of their environment, and a systematic examination of the environmental image evoked in trained observers in the field. Thus, the basic office interview consists of an essential request for a sketch map of the traditional quarter, Birzeit, for a detailed description of a number of trips through the city, and for a listing and brief description of the parts felt to be most distinctive or vivid in the subject‟s mind (Lynch 1960, P.140).

However, the major challenge in the field work was the rejection on the respondent‟s side to draw a sketch. They started to describe, express their feelings orally and define meaningful elements in the quarter. In return, the researcher took notes and drew their descriptions. Photos were taken to give a clear description and location of all the visual elements that are particularly valuable to the community. These elements might be buildings, views, spaces or natural features and can be valuable because of their beauty, history and social meaning. The most direct way to gather a mental perception of the traditional quarter was carried out by lengthy interviews with the inhabitants of about one hour. The entire interviews were recorded digitally and then transcribed. Several types of people were interviewed from different ages, gender, and ethnic groups and selected from different locations in the traditional quarter. In this study, the concept of mental mapping is used to better understand the changes in the mental image, physical structure, urban development and function of the traditional quarter from the residents‟ perceptions. Therefore, twenty respondents from the town were interviewed to gain information about their perception of the traditional quarter.

114  SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is commonly used at the beginning of strategic planning. Teilhard De Chardin (1959) suggested that the analysis of anything requires finding out about the thing from the inside and the outside (Ritson, 2011, p. 41). It means a SWOT analysis is a commonly used tool to analyze the internal and external environments (factors) in order to attain a systematic approach and assist in both strategic planning and decision-making which is categorized as follows:

1. Internal factors – the strengths(S) and weaknesses (W) internal to the area.

2. External factors – the opportunities (O) and threats (T) presented by the environment external to the area.

The central purpose is to identify strategies that fit or match an area‟s resources and capabilities to the demands of the environment in which the area competes. Thus, the strategic plan should be built on the strengths of the area in order to exploit opportunities and counter threats and to correct the weaknesses of the area. When using SWOT, the analysis lacks the possibility of comprehensively appraising the strategic decision-making situation; merely pinpointing the number of factors in strength, weakness, opportunity or threats. In addition, it includes no means of analytically determining the importance of factors or of assessing the fit between SWOT factors. Therefore, the utilization of SWOT is mainly based on the qualitative analysis, capabilities and expertise of the persons participating in the planning process (Kurttila, Pesonen, Kangas, & Kajanus, 2000, p. 42).

A SWOT analysis offers a simple way of communicating about the areas being studied and an excellent way to organize information gathered from studies or surveys (Rowe, 2008, p. 36). It can offer helpful perspectives at any stage of an action and be used in the following:

 Explore possibilities for new efforts or solutions to problems.  Make decisions about the best path for your initiative.

 Determine where change is possible. If you are at a juncture, an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses can reveal priorities as well as possibilities.

 Adjust and refine plans mid-course. A new opportunity might open wider avenues, while a new threat could close a path that once existed (Schultz, 2013).

Thus, the researcher considered the SWOT analysis as a dynamic tool to deal with the internal and external forces influencing the traditional quarter. Therefore, the qualitative data from the structured in-depth interviews was collected and coded and their frequencies classified according to the interviewee‟s point of view. The purpose of this method is to understand the current situation of the traditional quarter by identifying its strengths and the opportunities that exist as well as present threats in order to find solutions to the weaknesses that might affect the regeneration process in the traditional quarter.

 Secondary data analysis

The point has been made on a number of occasions that the collection and examination of documents are often an integral element in qualitative research (Bryman, 1989, p. 124). The

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secondary analysis of existing social survey data will be explored. Here, the researcher had analyzed survey data, documents and reports collected by other researchers or institutions in order to generate necessary information to explain the existing phenomenon of the case study. Examples of secondary data analysis include surveys and census data collected from government, or survey from academics but then made available for others to use. Secondary analysis is most likely to occur in the context of research that has achieved a reputation for generating interesting findings (Ibid, p.166).

Generally, there is a scarcity available data related to the conservation of Palestinian cultural heritage because of the short history of the planning institutions and the NGO‟s working in this field. However, several types of data were collected from different governmental organizations, NGO‟s, institutions, libraries and planners as shown in appendix 6. The data took shape in local reports, studies, books, internet resources, agendas, announcements and journals. Other written reports of events and visual materials are also included such as; photos, aerial photographs and maps. There is mainly census data about the history of Birzeit, tourism issues, population, social and economic statistics, landscape and environment. Collection of these data was through visiting the institutions and officially demanding the specific data through written official requests. The purpose of these data is to give clear visualization about the town development, land uses, green areas, the density of buildings, streets, spaces of the quarter and the surrounding environment.