Browsing by Subject "comparative research"
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(2019)Households account for a significant proportion of final energy consumption in Europe. Household energy consumption has been researched intensively and intervention studies aiming at changing energy behaviour have been popular. Previous intervention studies have mainly been concentrating on individual behaviour, and research analysing the role of contextual factors has been very limited. The aim of the thesis is to study the effects of geographical and cultural, material and institutional, and socioeconomic and demographic contexts on the outcomes of household energy use interventions. The data used in this thesis was collected in a European research project “ENERGISE”, in which interventions on two energy intensive household practices, space heating and laundry washing, were carried out. The data included 306 households from eight European countries: Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Hungary, Ireland and the UK. The data was analysed using the following methods: one-way ANOVA, independent samples t-test, Pearson’s correlation, and multiple linear regression. The following independent variables were tested: country, building type, baseline consumption levels, education level, employment status, family size, and age. The analyses were conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the main effects of the independent variables were tested. In the second phase, multiple regression models were built based on the results from the first phase. The intervention outcomes differ between some of the geographical contexts. Temperatures are reduced the most in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, and laundry cycles are reduced more in Denmark than in other countries during the interventions. Higher baseline consumption levels are connected to higher reductions in both household practices. Families with five or more persons reduce the room temperatures and laundry cycles less than smaller families. Households with contact person aged 55-64 reduce laundry cycles the least. Building type, contact person education level and contact person employment status are not connected to the intervention outcomes. The results confirm observations from previous studies, that context may significantly affect the successfulness of energy behaviour interventions and therefore it should be carefully considered in planning interventions. The results also suggest that different energy practices are likely to be affected by different sets of contextual factors. The thesis shows that conducting cross-national comparative research is challenging and it requires careful planning throughout the research process.
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(2024)This thesis is guided by the research question, how is policy to reduce homelessness influenced by the principles of the Housing First approach? The research explores how public policy is informed by the principles of Housing First nationally in the United States and Finland, and particularly in two cities, New York City and Helsinki. Housing First is an approach used both in Finland and the United States to reduce homelessness. The approach requires immediate housing once someone becomes homeless, without any preconditions and with the ability to choose supportive services. As defined in the Housing First Europe Guide, there are eight main principles of Housing First. The principles are housing is a human right, choice and control for service users, separation of housing and treatment, recovery orientation, harm reduction, active engagement without coercion, person-centered planning, and flexible support as long as is required. Research data is collected from national reports published in the United States and Finland during 2022-2023, supplemented by reports from New York City and Helsinki. The interest in examining Housing First in recent reports is to see if and how the principles are present and whether they have any influence on policy recommendations. Reports are supplemented by interviews with actors from different levels of governance and practice. Using Esping-Andresen’s welfare regime types as a theoretical framework, a thematic analysis is used to inquire into how the principles of Housing First are present in the data and what their application means for ending homelessness in each context. The analysis finds that Housing First principles are indeed present and their articulation is embedded within societal values, which align with the country’s welfare regime type. The discussion offers how this research can support the work being done to end homelessness, by presenting a perspective on the importance of societal value systems, and how by aligning these systems to Housing First principles, ending homelessness becomes possible. Conclusions are drawn on the research process and possibilities for future research are presented.
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