ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the research design and techniques used in sample selection and data collection and analysis. It presents a description of the setting and the sample, placing them within a wider context of gecekondu settlements and dwellers in the Turkish capital. The sample selection eligible households had to have: an average monthly income below US$370; four members; nuclear structure; one child at or above the age of 15; and Sunni or Alevi religious backgrounds. In principle, eligible households could have been randomly sampled across the city or from multiple settlements. The data was drawn from face-to-face interviews, participant observation and document collection. Various public documents were surveyed primarily to collect information about the research setting and its stage in the gecekondu redevelopment process. These documents included newspaper cuttings, plan reports, environmental risk surveys and official records concerning the legal status of the Northern gecekondus.
