Homelessness is a serious problem in Seattle. Earlier this year it concluded a 10 year initiative to end homelessness, only to find that it's problem had grown, not shrunk, let alone"ended." I am new to the Seattle, Pacific Northwest, and research. I am, however, in a position to collect and develop a body of data about a small portion of the homeless in Seattle. The shelter I will be volunteering in weekly has 20 beds for homeless men. It is located in the Fremont District and is run by Union Gospel Mission inside of a church building.
20 homeless is a small sample of a larger segment. Some estimates have shown numbers as high as 10,000 homeless in the Seattle area. That means my sample accounts for just 1/500 or .2% of the entire population. It has other limitations in that it only contains males, is geographically in one district, and is a temporary shelter space until April, thus limiting my time scope. Even further, I will be going only 1 time / week for approximately 12-15 weeks. The 20 men in the shelter may change. According to one of the volunteers of the shelter, approximately 94 men came through the location last year, so the people I meet with may be changing over time.
So that's what I am limited by. With that said, I believe there is an opportunity to study this segment and evaluate some of the issues in Seattle's housing system. I hope to conduct a contextual inquiry with as many of the 20 men in the temporary shelter as possible. I hope to have recurring interactions with some of the men that find this to be there home in the early parts of 2016. I will be using the practices outlined in Karen Holtzblatt's book on contextual design, as my design is to describe the homeless system as it exists today and suggest systemic interventions that should improve measurable outcomes.
I am not committing to end homelessness, however, or even reduce it. Instead, my research objective will be to better understand and construct models of the Seattle homeless from the perspective of this population. Findings from this qualitative research can be contrasted with existing research that has been done on the homeless population. I will be organizing and conducting a literature review, studying the issues of homelessness in Seattle, occasionally reaching more broadly to examine homelessness in other areas.
Right now, I am in the early stages of planning this research project, while simultaneously studying qualitative & social research methods, principles, and practices. I am seeking literature sources, feedback, and support for the initiative. At the moment, no funding is needed, just time and commitment on my part. I have ethical responsibilities to keep all individuals involved privacy rights. This will limit my ability to gather data completely, and therefore, I do not expect to produce a completely clean data set. Instead, I hope to create unbiased information available from those are facing homelessness today. Any advice, support or comments that help progress that are greatly accepted.
More to come, thank you,
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