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Rethinking research on forming typologies of homelessness
William McAllister1, Mary Clare Lennon, Li Kuang
1Institute for Social & Economic Research & Policy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. wm134@columbia.edu
Abstract:
In homelessness research and policymaking, it seems to be axiomatic that single adults experience 3 temporally based types of homelessness: chronic, episodic, and transitional. We discuss problems with the theorization of this typology and with the research design, data analysis, and time-aggregated conceptualization and measurement of temporality in the empirical work supporting the typology. To address the latter, we suggest a time-patterned approach to temporality and report a 10-group typology that differs significantly from the more familiar 3-group typology. We argue that which approach is used-and how typologies are developed more generally-should be based on theory and the uses to which typologies are put rather than on claims to being more true.
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