The Housing Dimension of Welfare Reform - the ICCR

like, for instance, the gini coefficient tapping on the general level of
inequality in a society – are always relevant for the assessment of social
policies, but they might not be equally relevant for all types of
assessment.
For instance, in the EUROHOME-IMPACT project the focus of the
study were the construction of indicators tapping on housing integration.
However, given our interest on the situation of risk groups, it was also
important to look at indicators tapping on standard of living or income
poverty.
The micro-level of analysis
What outcome indicators tell us little about are the pathways or processes
through which social integration succeeds or fails at the micro-level of
individuals or families.
This can be studied either quantitative or qualitatively and ideally
through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods (as in the
EUROHOME-IMPACT project).
An interdisciplinary multi-criteria framework approach
An evaluation of policies or programmes as described above cannot be
carried out in the framework of one discipline alone. Political science
will inform the institutional analysis (either at the policy or programme
level) whereas sociology and economics should inform the construction
and comparison of indicators, be it at the aggregate level using large
scale survey data sets or at the micro-level using qualitative data input.
Only by combining the above disciplinary approaches and combining
information across dimensions, criteria or indicators and at different
levels of analysis – the aggregate policy level, the meso-level of the
organisation implementing specific programmes and the micro-level of
users or beneficiaries of social policies or programmes – is it possible to
gain a comprehensive and reasonable view regarding the operation of
social policies, individually and in a comparative framework.
EUROHOME-IMPACT FINAL REPORT 65