Mixed methods research design

The CityDiv Project employs a number of research methods, including quantitative and qualitative approaches, for the study of city responses to increasing diversity:

An original mail survey addressed to more than 2000 urban actors in the 20 largest cities of France and Germany. We look at a broad spectrum of urban actors, in order to capture the “city” beyond its administration and political leadership. We thus include in our sample business representatives, trade unions and welfare organisations, as well as collective actors representing the immigrant population such as immigrant umbrella organisations. The survey includes factual and opinion items on local approaches to increasing city diversity. It is the first systematic and deliberately comparative survey of its kind. Data will be made publicly available at a later stage. A detailed technical report will be published early in 2017.

The project also uses

• In-depth, guided and semi-structured interviews with local politicians, city planners and civil society leaders in selected cities from our overall sample.
• Participant Observation for instance in local fora and consultative bodies, and in municipal libraries.
• Analyses of local media, city publications and policy documents
• Analyses of networks between specific types of urban actors