Changing public space

5 Research design and methodology
It is not that there is more than one truth. It is simply that truth is so large that no one telling
can encompass it. Special Agent Mulder in “The X-Files” (in: Mulderij, 1999: 292)
5.1 Introduction
This chapter serves as an intermezzo between the theoretical and the empirical parts of the thesis.
Here, we translate the research questions formulated in Section 1.4 into practical instruments
that can generate answers. For this purpose, multiple research methods and sources of data are
used in a research design known as triangulation (Leedy, 1997). This design is particularly suited
to qualitative research because – as indicated in the line from “The X-Files” quoted above –
more ‘tellings’ lead to the discovery of larger parts of the ‘truth’. In academic terms, triangulation
increases the construct validity or credibility of the research findings. This chapter presents the
research methods and data sources employed in the present study.
The empirical grounds for the thesis are the four Dutch city centres where we carried out
case-study research. Each of these case studies included two adjacent redeveloped city squares
(Section 5.2.3). These are referred to as the research objects. Case-study research entails a
profound, lengthy, and non-superficial examination of a social phenomenon in one or a few
research units (Swansborn, 1996). It is the preferred strategy when asking the kind of questions
posed earlier: why and how urban redevelopment of Dutch city squares occurs. Moreover, much
of the present study is based on the perspective of various actors (Chapter 4 and the following
chapters), and the case study is conducive to multi-perspective analysis. Instead of selecting
one good example, we have constructed four cases. The reason is that we seek to investigate the
background and process of urban redevelopment rather than to confirm or challenge an existing
theory or represent a unique or extreme situation, as one would do when using a single case (Yin,
1984, in: Yücesoy, 2006).
Critics of this method point out that just one or a few cases would not provide adequate
grounds for generalisation. Case-study research is said to take a microscopic view and lack
in-depth statistical analysis; therefore it cannot ‘prove’ anything (Flyvbjerg, 2004). Though we are
aware of these drawbacks, we do not regard them as obstacles. Rather than seeking proof, our aim
is to elucidate the urban redevelopment processes that are occurring to some degree throughout
the Netherlands. The cities selected for investigation are not necessarily representative but rather
illustrative of the process we intend to clarify. As such, the cases are more about relatability than
generalisation, in the sense that they should typify issues that other cities in the Netherlands can
relate to (Yücesoy, 2006). We set out to establish these reference points by acquiring as much
information as possible on urban redevelopment. In order to do so, we have applied multiple
research methods, as indeed most case-study research does (Braster, 2000): semi-structured
individual interviews, focus group meetings with an advisory team, observations, and the analysis
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