Housing Mobility: Approaches for Sociological Analysis

Abstract

Elizaveta Polukhina – PhD, associate professor in faculty of social sciences, National Research  University Higher School of Economics (HSE), associate professor in sociological faculty, State Academic University for Humanities, Moscow, Russian Federation. Email: epolukhina@hse.ru

DOI: 10.17323/727-0634-2017-15-4-589-602

This article examines housing mobility among individuals, viewing it as a dynamic process of moving to another home. The idea of studying housing experiences, housing conditions and trends is introduced as a new research direction in this paper. These data allow us to understand: (a) what kind of dynamic processes take place within the studied groups and regions; (b) how social and physical structures have changed; (c) what new meanings are emerging from this process. Housing mobility offers an optical lens that can shed light on social problems by revealing what social groups are ‘doing well’ within the existing order, and which are stagnating or in decline. The article examines the criteria for singling out housing groups, including their multi-component structure, such as housing serving as a source of income, property relations, and the characteristics of a primary housing unit. Based on the analysis of housing groups, we raise the question of drawing the boundaries for their identification. The article also touches upon some of the constraints in studying housing mobility. Firstly, it is shown inter alia that there is some ambiguity in determining housing status, and the boundaries between housing groups, and the bearer of the housing status can be blurry (family or individual). Secondly, the problem of sampling (general population) was also revealed. Where should the priority be in achieving a representative sample? Should the focus be on the types of dwellings, who lives there (families, individuals) or the lifestyles of those living there? Thirdly, this article shows that it is methodologically challenging to survey the most ‘mobile’ and resourceful groups within housing. Not only do they live in hard-to-reach houses and buildings 'guarded' by concierges, these 'mobile' people are rarely at home. Therefore, these groups are hard to include in household surveys, and various methods of data collection and tracing techniques have to be used to reach them. Fourthly, the types of housing scales used are fragmented and empirically rootless. An adequate methodological solution may be found by working with local communities, be they small towns, districts, or villages. The article also focuses on the importance of integrating qualitative methods, which help discover the changes in the meanings, and quantitative methods, which show the scale and dynamics of housing mobility.