Nach positiver Absolvierung der Lehrveranstaltung sind Studierende in der Lage qualitative Stadtforschung zu betreiben. Die Methoden, die in diesem Kurs vorgestellt werden, werden im Kontext eines Stadtquartiers im zwölften Wiener Gemeindebezirk (Meidling) angewandt, das sich im Rahmen von laufenden Stadterneuerungs- und Entwicklungsinitiativen stark verändert hat. Forschungspraktische Kompetenzen werden im Rahmen eines theoretisch fundierten qualitativen Ansatzes erworben und durch eine Reihe von strukturellen/quantitativen Beschreibungen weiter kontextualisiert.

Die zentralen Lernergebnisse sind:

• Anwendung von qualitativen Forschungsmethoden in der Stadtforschung
• Vertieftes Verständnis für die Auswahl von Methoden innerhalb verschiedener Forschungsdesigns
• Kritischer Umgang mit quantitativen Daten wie in sozialraumanalytischen Zugängen

Weitere Lernergebnisse:

• Selbständige Interpretation und Kodierung von qualitativen Daten
• Fähigkeit mit einer Fülle an Forschungsdaten umzugehen
• Fähigkeit einer selbstreflexiven Forschungspraxis
• Einblicke in die Möglichkeiten eines multimethodischen und partizipativen Ansatzes
• Grundlegende Einsichten in den Unterschied zwischen lebensweltlichen und alltagsbezogenen Ansätzen in der qualitativen Stadtforschung

English version:

After successful completion of the course, students are able to conduct qualitative urban research and understand the relationship between a research design and its methodology. The methods that will be presented in this course will be applied in the context of an urban area of Vienna’s twelfth district (Meidling), that has seen considerable change in terms of still ongoing urban renewal and development processes. Research practice competencies are acquired within an overall qualitative approach, that is theoretically informed and contextualised by a basic set of structural/quantitative descriptions.

The main learning outcomes are:

• Hands-on approach towards the application of qualitative research methods in urban research
• Enhanced understanding about the choice of methods within different research designs
• Critical use of quantitative data as in social area analysis settings (e.g. Sozialraumanalyse)

Additional learning outcomes:

• Interpretation and coding skills when dealing with qualitative data
• Enhanced research data management skills
• Capability of a self-reflexive research practice
• Insights in the possibilities of a multi-methodical and participatory approach
• Basic insights in the difference between lifeworld and everyday life-based approaches in qualitative urban research

The primary aim of the course is to provide an overview of basic socio-spatial research methods with an emphasis on a qualitative research strategy.
The secondary aim is to investigate spatial strategies against socio-spatial polarization using housing, public space, and everyday life as a heuristic entry point for empirical research. Empirical research hence shall explore the impact of urban restructuring on existing social spaces and analyse abstract spatial representations within the realm of urban development and renewal discourse.

This seminar will be realised as far as possible in presence teaching modus as the embodied proximity is key for constituting good group dynamics, for jointly training methods on site and for carrying out empirical field research.

Unit 1    Kick Off,
10. October, 10:30 – 12:00  

This seminar will be realised as far as possible in presence teaching modus as the embodied proximity is key for constituting good group dynamics, for jointly training methods on site and for carrying out empirical field research. The kick off unit will present the lectures, give an overview on the exercise grading proposal, debate and, if needed, amendment, Q&R. The unit concludes with an introduction to qualitative research, an overview of the research process and outline different types of qualitative data sources.

Unit 2,3 (blocked) - The study of everyday life and „lived space“
17 Oct., 10:30 – 14:00  

This lecture unit consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part introduces the spatial critique of everyday life. It examines what it means to look at urban phenomena through the conceptual lens of lived space. It then explores the possibilities of incorporating critical notions of 'affect' into an urban research agenda. The empirically oriented part of this unit engages with research design and its consequences in terms of questions and methods. Furthermore, critical inquiries are made into the duality of researcher and researched, and finally introduces the empirical field of enquiry. The final part of the lecture gives students the opportunity to form groups based on their initial reading and their methodological preferences.

Unit 4,5 (blocked)    Excursion to Meidling and individual exploration
24. Oct, 10:30 – 14:00 

This unit will be entirely dedicated to exploring, on foot, the neighbourhood of interest. Different inputs of stakeholders will share their analysis and perspectives on the neighbourhood and its development. The student working groups will have time to explore the neighbourhood individually and can decide on their group work modalities. 

Unit 6   Qualitative research strategies, research questions and interviewing techniques
31.Oct, 10:30 - 12:00 

This unit will recap the different qualitative research strategies and how they help to explore the topic of housing and public space. This will then be further discussed in terms of how to formulate a feasible research question and the main objectives of the research project. Furthermore, the lecture will discuss different interviewing techniques and give an outlook on ways of working with texts in a qualitative way.

Unit 7   Open lecture
7.Nov, 8:00 - 09:00 

Date: Monday November 7th
Time: 8:00-9:00
Venue: Resselpark, between the Otto Wabern pavilions

Unit 8   Everyday life vs lifeworld in ethnographic research practice
14.Nov, 10:30 - 12:00 

This unit is dedicated to ethnographic research practice and discusses the challenges and opportunities of ethnographic fieldwork. In order to raise awareness of the importance of background philosophies within qualitative research, this unit addresses the difference in the conceptualisation of "routines" within two different epistemologies (lifeworld vs. everyday life).

Unit 9 . Triangulation - Quantitative data in qualitative research
28.Nov, 10:30 - 12:00 

This unit problematises the use of quantitative data as part of a comprehensive qualitative research approach (mixed-method). It will explore and discuss the use of statistics within an area-based research approach (Sozialraumanalyse).

Unit 10, 11 (blocked) …. Presentation and discussion of preliminary results I, II
09. Jan, 10:30 - 14:00 

This unit is about the empirical work conducted by the student groups. Each group will present theirwork, point to preliminary results and give an overview on their research experience. This will then lead into an open debate. 

Unit 12,13 (blocked)… The interpretation of research results, wrap up and closing session
16. Jan, 10:30 - 14:00 

The focus of this unit is to further support ongoing qualitative work and to support the interpretation and analysis of empirical data to produce substantiated research findings. In the second half of the unit, the main content covered in the previous units will be reviewed and there will be space for students to ask final questions.

Debate (consensual; dissent-oriented), empirical field research, intra-research team review, shared interpretation of data

Depiction of the Research Field for Empirical Study:

The students are expected to carry out research about and in spatial proximity to the IBA Quartier Wolfganggasse in the eastern part of the Meidling district (12^th). This urban development is a new, so-called “socially inclusive quarter” that is currently in the final construction phase. While the IBA Quartier Wolfganggasse acts as a focal point, the geography of the course is not limited to the urban development area itself. This is also justified because the development project also became the starting point for a broader urban renewal program (see below), for which a subcontractor of wohnfonds.wien has developed a renewal concept.

Overall, this area is one of the most densely built-up working-class neighbourhoods in Vienna, close to the city centre. The selected area can be described as a heterogeneous urban fabric, in which mainly late Gründerzeit residential buildings are mixed with small-scale economic functions such as craft businesses and historical infrastructures such as railway tracks and railway depots.

The railway, which initiated the industrialisation of the area, demarcates the south. The belt that borders the eastern side of the area also bears witness to Vienna's radical past. Just on the opposite side we find early examples of the Red Vienna housing programme. Within walking distance are two larger green spaces such as the Paula von Mirtow Park or the Haydn Park.

The geography of the course could, depending on the chosen orientations within the student working groups, also include the southern surroundings of the development project, which consists of an ÖBB housing estate and a terrain vague that could very soon turn into a predominantly private urban development project.

The Kick-Off of the Elective Module 5: Society, Everyday Life and Space will take place on October 4, 2022, 9:00 - 11:00 am together with all Course Instructors.

We invite all students to participate:

Tuesday, 4.10.2022 | 9:00 am - 11:00 am | Room BA 02B

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Each group further develops their presentation into a final research report/research design with main findings, description of the overall research design and critically self-reflects on the chosen methodology and its bias. The precise way of examination shall be agreed with students during the kick-off units and shall then be updated here.

Please also visit, if possible, the core courses of this module (i.e. VO 280.909, UE  and SE 280.911) as well as the VU 280.A28 and the SE 280.948)