QUALITATIVE
Homelessness is a social problem whose definition is socially constructed. How we think about homelessness can be measured through qualitative analysis. There are 11 main places to find qualitative data on homelessness,
Academic literature
Legal cases
Newspapers
Radio
TV news
Social media – Facebook, twitter, youtube, instagram
Music – Lyrics, Songmeanings
Movies – IMDB, Scripts
TV – IMDB
Comics
Jokes
QUANTITATIVE
Homelessness is not easy to measure, and estimates of the extent of homelessness vary widely depending on the data source. There are 11 main sources of statistical data on homelessness:
Public opinion
COC PIT counts (unsheltered)
COC HIC counts (sheltered)
COC Performance data
Schools data
Census data
Surveys of homeless individuals
Health Systems data
Crime and Police data
Government spending
Nonprofit spending
Google searches
Note: COC refers to Continuum of Care, which is the HUD designated geographic area that provides HUD-sponsored homeless services.
PIT refers to Point in Time count, which is the annual count of street homelessness by COC volunteers.
HIC refers to Housing Inventory County, which is the annual count of sheltered homelessness.