A note on how to deal with the main terms used in academic-oriented dissertation project: for Housing Studies students

A note on how to deal with the main terms used in academic-oriented dissertation project: for Housing Studies students (information from perplexity.ai)


My question 1: "In the context of academic-oriented dissertation projects in Housing Studies, please advise what the following terms are all about and when should they be first mentioned in the dissertation reports, notably on chapter 1 (Introduction), chapter 2 (literature review), chapter 3 (research methodology), chapter 4 (presentations of research findings), chapter 5 (discussion of research findings), and chapter 6 (conclusions and recommendations): a. housing issues, b. public media-reported issues, c. research issues (including research gaps), d. research objectives, e. research questions, f. the researcher's positionality, g. dissertation limitations, h. the academic, practical and originality values of the study, i. the scope of the dissertation project."

The reply: "Housing Studies dissertations typically introduce all core elements by Chapter 1, then deepen or operationalize them in later chapters.

​

Below, each term is explained and mapped to the chapter(s) where it should first appear and then be further developed.

Housing issues

  • What it is

    • The substantive housing-related problems or phenomena under study (e.g. affordability, overcrowding, tenure insecurity, housing inequality, ageing-in-place, neighbourhood decline).
      ​

    • These issues provide the empirical and policy background that justifies why the dissertation topic matters.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Introduce the key housing issues in the background/problem context, linking them to the study setting and stakeholders.
      ​

    • Chapter 2: Elaborate as part of the theoretical and empirical literature on housing, showing how scholars conceptualize and measure these issues.
      ​

    • Chapter 4: Present findings about how these housing issues manifest in your data (e.g. patterns of affordability, satisfaction, or quality).
      ​

    • Chapter 5: Interpret how your findings refine understanding of these housing issues in light of prior studies.
      ​

Public media‑reported issues

  • What it is

    • Housing-related issues as portrayed in news media, social media, and public commentary (e.g. newspaper reports on housing crises, controversies about public housing policy).
      ​

    • Often used to demonstrate the salience and timeliness of the topic and to illustrate real-world narratives and discourses.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Use selectively in background/problem statement to show societal concern or trigger for intellectual curiosity.
      ​

    • Chapter 2: Discuss more systematically if your study engages with media discourse, agenda-setting, or public perceptions; treat media reports as part of the contextual or empirical literature.
      ​

    • Chapter 5: Revisit to compare your empirical findings with public/media portrayals (e.g. whether media exaggerates or underplays certain problems).
      ​

Research issues (including research gaps)

  • What it is

    • Research issues: the academic problems, puzzles, or inconsistencies in existing studies (e.g. limited studies on a particular housing group, conflicting findings, neglected methods).
      ​

    • Research gaps: specific, clearly delineated spaces where prior research is missing, inconsistent, or methodologically limited, which your study aims to address.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Provide a concise overview of the key research issues and core gaps leading directly to your objectives.
      ​

    • Chapter 2: Offer the full, systematic identification of research gaps, showing how they emerge from the literature; this is often the most detailed mapping.
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Link your methodological choices explicitly to the identified gaps (e.g. “a qualitative design is adopted to address the lack of in‑depth studies on X”).
      ​

    • Chapter 5: Show how your findings actually address these research gaps and what new questions remain.
      ​

Research objectives

  • What it is

    • The broad and specific aims of what the dissertation seeks to achieve, often phrased as outcome-oriented statements (e.g. “To examine…”, “To explore…”).
      ​

    • They operationalize the research issues into feasible and assessable targets.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: State the full set of objectives clearly and explicitly (often following the problem statement and research gaps).
      ​

    • Chapter 2: Map the objectives to specific literatures or conceptual debates (e.g. which objective engages which body of work).
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Use the objectives to structure research design, sampling, instruments, and analysis plan (e.g. sections organized by objective).
      ​

    • Chapter 4: Organize presentation of findings around objectives or themes derived from them.
      ​

    • Chapter 5–6: Evaluate to what extent each objective has been met and what this implies.
      ​

Research questions

  • What it is

    • Focused questions that the study seeks to answer, derived logically from the research gaps and objectives.
      ​

    • They guide data collection, analysis, and the structure of findings.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Present the full set of research questions immediately after objectives (or integrated with them).
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Show how each question is operationalized (e.g. which data sources and methods address which question).
      ​

    • Chapter 4: Use research questions (or themes derived from them) to organize subsections of results.
      ​

    • Chapter 5–6: Answer the research questions explicitly, typically in the discussion and conclusion sections.
      ​

The researcher’s positionality

  • What it is

    • The researcher’s social identities, background, values, professional role, and epistemological stance, and how these shape the research process and interpretation.
      ​
      ​

    • It includes insider/outsider status, power relations with participants, and reflexive awareness of potential bias and influence.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Briefly signal positionality in the introduction as part of the project background and motivation (e.g. why this topic, why this setting).
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Provide a more systematic and reflexive account in the methodology chapter, linking positionality to choices of methods, access, ethics, and interpretation.
      ​

    • Chapter 5: Refer back briefly when discussing how interpretation may be shaped by your standpoint and how you mitigated or used this reflexively.
      ​

Dissertation limitations

  • What it is

    • Boundaries and weaknesses of the study that may affect generalizability, depth, or robustness (e.g. sample size, single-site design, self-reported data, time constraints, data access).
      ​

    • Includes both methodological and practical constraints, and sometimes theoretical limits of your approach.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Outline major, structural limitations briefly (e.g. “This study focuses on X district only and does not cover Y”).
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Discuss methodological limitations in more detail (e.g. trade‑offs in design, sampling, measures, analytic strategies).
      ​

    • Chapter 5–6: Revisit limitations when interpreting findings and proposing future research, clearly noting what the study can and cannot claim.
      ​

Academic, practical, and originality values

  • What it is

    • Academic value: how the study contributes to theory, concepts, or methods in Housing Studies and related fields.
      ​

    • Practical value: implications for policy, practice, housing management, community groups, or other stakeholders.
      ​

    • Originality value: what is genuinely new (e.g. new context, perspective, dataset, conceptual link, or methodological innovation).
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Provide a concise statement of expected academic, practical, and originality contributions to justify the study’s significance.
      ​

    • Chapter 5: Discuss actual contributions, linking them explicitly to your findings and the literature.
      ​

    • Chapter 6: Summarize contributions and translate them into clear recommendations and suggestions for future research.
      ​

Scope of the dissertation project

  • What it is

    • The boundaries of the study in terms of topic, population, geographical area, timeframe, theoretical focus, and methods.
      ​

    • It defines what is included and excluded so that the project is coherent and feasible.
      ​

  • Where and when to mention

    • Chapter 1: Present a clear statement of scope, often alongside the background and objectives (e.g. “This study focuses on public rental housing estates in X city between 2015–2025”).
      ​

    • Chapter 3: Operationalize the scope through sampling frame, inclusion/exclusion criteria, data sources, and analytic boundaries.
      ​

    • Chapter 6: Briefly restate scope when clarifying the range of applicability of conclusions and recommendations.
      ​"


My question 2: "Please suggest which of these terms (a to i) are usually examined together initially (e.g. because some of the terms are directly or closely derived from other terms conceptually, or some of the terms are vital for clarifying the other terms)."
The reply: "Several of the terms a–i naturally form conceptual “clusters” that are usually introduced and examined together, especially in Chapter 1, then deepened later.

​

Below each cluster, the related term letters are shown in brackets.

Cluster 1: Problem–gap–aims–questions

These elements form the logical backbone from context to inquiry and are usually drafted and revised as a set.
​

  • Housing issues (a) + public media‑reported issues (b)

    • Use together in the background to show the real-world problem: empirical housing conditions plus how society and media frame them.
      ​

    • This pairing motivates why the topic matters practically and socially before moving to academic gaps.

  • Research issues / research gaps (c)

    • Conceptually derived from the housing issues and existing scholarship: “Given these housing problems and existing studies, what is not yet known or adequately explained?”
      ​

    • Media and policy debates can help surface gaps (e.g. problems widely discussed in practice but under‑researched academically).
      ​

  • Research objectives (d) + research questions (e)

    • Objectives translate the research gap into what the study will achieve; questions are the precise inquiries that operationalize those objectives.
      ​

    • Methodologically, each research question should map to at least one objective; they are therefore best designed side‑by‑side, not in isolation.
      ​

In practice, these five items (a, b, c, d, e) are usually developed iteratively and presented in the Introduction as a coherent sequence: context → problem → gap → objectives → questions.
​

Cluster 2: Scope, limitations, and positionality

These define and justify how far the study can go, and from where it is conducted. They are closely linked conceptually and in methodology.
​

  • Scope of the dissertation project (i)

    • Determines boundaries: population, site, period, aspects of housing, theoretical focus, and methods.
      ​

    • Scope must be consistent with objectives and questions; hence it is refined alongside cluster 1 and made explicit when planning methods.
      ​

  • Dissertation limitations (g)

    • Arise partly from the chosen scope (e.g. single-district, one group only) and partly from practical/methodological constraints (access, time, instruments).
      ​

    • Early recognition of limitations prevents over‑claiming and increases coherence between design and claims.
      ​

  • Researcher’s positionality (f)

    • Shapes what is feasible (scope), what data can be accessed, and what kinds of limitations are most salient (e.g. power relations, insider/outsider status).
      ​

    • Reflexive accounts of positionality often sit in the methodology chapter but conceptually belong with scope and limitations as all three concern the conditions of knowledge production.
      ​

Thus, f, g, and i are best thought through in combination: “Given who the researcher is (f), what is a realistic and ethical scope (i), and what limitations (g) follow?”
​

Cluster 3: Value and contribution

These clarify why this particular configuration of problem, scope, and methods is worth doing, and are tightly derived from cluster 1 and 2 elements.
​

  • Academic, practical, and originality values (h)

    • Academic value flows directly from research gaps and the theoretical/methodological choices that address them.
      ​

    • Practical value is grounded in the housing issues and media/policy debates identified earlier, and in how your findings speak to stakeholders (e.g. agencies, residents).
      ​

    • Originality is defined by the combination of: a specific gap (c), a particular angle on housing issues (a), bounded by a certain scope (i), via chosen methods shaped by positionality (f) and feasible within limitations (g).
      ​

In writing, h is often articulated in Chapter 1 as “significance” and revisited in Chapter 5–6 once findings show the actual academic and practical contributions.
​

Practical grouping suggestion for early drafting

When sketching the project (e.g. proposal, early Chapter 1 notes), a practical way to work in batches is:

  1. Context and problem batch: (a) housing issues + (b) media‑reported issues → leads to (c) research issues/gaps.
    ​

  2. Inquiry batch: From (c) derive (d) research objectives and (e) research questions together.
    ​

  3. Design conditions batch: Align (i) scope with (d) and (e); then identify (g) limitations and think through (f) positionality as part of the same design reflection.
    ​

  4. Contribution batch: From (c, d, e, f, g, i) formulate (h) academic, practical, and originality values."






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