Chapter 1 | Page 21 interpreting international human rights obligations can be better appreciated within a framework of subjective analysis of the relevant practices. In addition, qualitative research methodology offers a wide range of approaches that can be used to provide ‘an in-depth and interpreted understanding of the social world, by learning about people’s social and material circumstances, their experiences, perspectives and histories’.43 Thus it is more compatible with the objectives of understanding the ‘societal and material circumstances’ that affect the level of ESC rights realisation and the characteristics of policies associated with them.44 Finally, given the fact that previous research on this topic is scarce and often fragmented, the methodology of inductive content analysis allows for the collection of many different pieces of evidence and their integration into a comprehensive model for resources within the framework of ESC rights. For these reasons, a qualitative methodological approach was clearly advantageous in being able to capture cross-disciplinary components under one common theme and develop a practical understanding of a key concept in ESC rights advocacy.45 In this thesis, documentary data were analysed and the findings were supported by case studies. The core data sources were institutional and academic materials from the relevant disciplines and areas. The types of data, analysis methodologies and justifications for the case studies are given below. 43 Dawn Snape and Liz Spencer, 'The Foundations of Qualitative Research' in Jane Ritchie and Jane Elewis (eds), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers (SAGE Publications, London, 2003) 1, 22. 44 Jane Ritchie et al (eds), Qualitative Research Practice: A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers (Sage Publications, 2013). 45 While qualitative methodology is adopted as the primary research paradigm, the thesis makes use of elements of quantitative analysis where relevant to provide a more detailed and complete picture of the issue covered, especially in case studies.