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In This Sense The Idea Of Whether Politicians, Particular Groups Or ...


In this sense the idea of whether politicians, particular groups or interests within London really want affordable housing will be drawn out and discussed. This will allow for an analysis of what really motivates people to discuss the idea of affordable housing and what factors underpin these motivations. Certainly, the above mentioned factors will be relevant in this enquiry and will be important threads for the discussion which will follow. It is important to understand that rhetoric relating to affordable housing has been used by interested parties, for example politicians and the credibility of these discourses will be analysed throughout the thesis.

CHAPTER TWO:
METHODOLOGY
2.1 Overview
This section will explain the definition and nature of qualitative research and how it will be used in the thesis inquiry. It will outline the research methods which will be used in the research and what framework these methods will be used within. Basically, the research will be based upon a qualitative analysis of two case studies; one contemporary which will be based on the concept of affordable housing itself, and the other historical and this will centred on the ‘Right to Buy' policy introduced by Thatcher in 1980. These case studies will be derived from examination of published texts within the field of economic and politics. These texts have been identified as an appendix to the thesis. Where quantitative information is relevant to the thesis this will be looked at, but evaluated qualitatively, since the basis of the research will be mainly qualitative in nature.
2.2 Definition of Qualitative Research/Explanation of Why Qualitative Research is Appropriate
There are two main categories of research methods; qualitative methods (Bryman, 1995) and quantitative methods (Bornat, Chamberlayne and Wengraf, 2000). The best way to define one is by reference and comparison to the other since the paradigm of research enquiry is mainly split between these two different research rationales (Bryman, 1995).
Bryman (1992; p.95) gives us the following account of the nature and characteristics of each method:
‘Quantitative researchers rarely totally deny the utility of qualitative research, but have tended to view it as an essentially exploratory way of conducting social investigations. Consequently, they have typically seen it as useful at the preparatory stage of a research project.Precisely because of its exploratory and unstructured approach; qualitative research is often depicted as useful as a means of throwing up hunches and hypotheses which can be tested more rigorously by quantitative research. Such a view treats qualitative research as a somewhat second rate activity in implying that qualitative data cannot stand in their own right because they need to be verified.


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