The workhorse of this research thesis has been an analytical framework that analyzes the social ecosystem and development process of two- to four-unit buildings. The framework was inspired by Bloom and Dees whose work on community development financial institution Self-Help Credit Unions effectively analyzed its social ecosystem and re-shaped the home mortgage market and prospects for low-wealth borrowers and clients (Bloom & Dees, 2008). The first component of the social ecosystem are the \u201cplayers\u201d (individuals and organizations): a web of interrelated individuals and organizations who are capable of exhibiting some form of agency that is pertinent to two- to four-unit building market, including resource providers, partners, alternative providers of housing, customers, problem makers and bystanders. The environmental conditions represent a second component that shapes which players can exist and their relationship with each other, including the economy, laws and regulations, demographics, culture and geography. I augmented this framework by explicitly incorporating the process of real estate development, the acquisition, renovation, disposition and management of two- to four-unit properties.<\/p>\n
The analytical process transformed many qualitative insights into a detailed examination of the social ecosystem. Though I recorded (with permission) all but a few of my interviews, I opted not to transcribe the majority of the interviews. I developed a 35-column database to organize the following background information for each informant, including detailed notes from the interview, and to perform a quick check about the important implications.<\/p>\n
| Category<\/b><\/td>\n | Informant Database Columns<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n| Source Background<\/b><\/td>\n | Information Type | \nName of Source \nStakeholder Category \nDate Conducted \nTitle & Affiliation \nContact Information \nPermissions Granted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n General<\/b><\/td>\n | Causes of Vacancy | \nChoice Neighborhoods Efforts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Environmental Conditions<\/b><\/td>\n | Economics and Markets | \nPolitics \nPublic Policy and Administrative Structures \nGeography and Infrastructure \nSocial and Cultural Factors \nHistorical Factors<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Players<\/b><\/td>\n | Resource Providers | \nCompetitors \nComplementary Organizations and allies \nBeneficiaries and customers \nOpponents and problem makers \nAffected and influential bystanders<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Development Processes<\/b><\/td>\n | Acquisition | \nRenovation \nSales, Leasing and Disposition of Buildings & Property Management \nCapital Availability<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Preliminary Analysis<\/b><\/td>\n | What people, event or situations were involved? | \nWhat were the main theme or issues in the contact? \nWhich research questions and which variables in the initial framework did the contact bear on most centrally? \nWhat new hypotheses, speculations, or hunches about the field situations were suggested by the contact? \nWhere should the field-worker place most energy during the next contact, and what kinds of information should be sought?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The primary reason for constructing a database was to translate hours of interviews into passages of written text (short of transcription) that could be re-organized and sorted by question as opposed to informant. Generating summaries of each question allowed them to be coded for the themes, conflicts, anecdotes and patterns. The classification scheme was employed through the discretion of the author according to criteria based on social ecosystem literature. Through an iterative process, I clarified the meaning of the categories, whether information was pertinent and where it falls in the analytical frame.<\/p>\n <\u2013 Previous Section<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Next Section \u2013><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The first component of the social ecosystem are the ÒplayersÓ (individuals and organizations): a web of interrelated individuals and organizations that are capable of exhibiting specific agency pertinent to two- to four-unit building market. The second component are the environmental conditions that shape which players can exist and their relationship with each other. I augmented this framework by formally including the process of real estate development. Continue reading |