Research Methods for Construction (eBook)

Professor Richard Fellows, Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Loughborough University Richard Fellows is Professor of Construction Business Management at Loughborough University, UK; previously, he was a Professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong and Professor of Culture in Construction at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.?He graduated from the University of Aston and has worked as a quantity surveyor for several major contractors.?Richard has a PhD from the University of Reading, has taught at a number of universities in UK and other countries and was co-ordinator for research in construction management for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK.?His research interests concern economics, contracts and law, and management of people in construction - especially cultural issues as drivers of behaviour and performance.?He was a founder and for many years was joint coordinator of the CIB group, W112 - 'Culture in Construction'.?Richard has published widely in books, journals and international conferences and is qualified as a mediator. Professor Anita Liu, Department of Real Estate and Construction, University of Hong Kong Anita Liu graduated from the University of Reading.? She returned to Hong Kong to work in a quantity surveying consultancy, for the Hong Kong government, and for a major contractor before moving into academia. She obtained an MSc and a PhD from the University of Hong Kong. She has obtained many research grants from different awarding bodies, including ESRC (UK) and RGC (Hong Kong) projects and has presented papers at many international research conferences. She publishes widely in a variety of leading journals, is a regular reviewer for international journals and research awarding bodies, and is a member of several editorial boards. Anita has been chairperson of the Quantity Surveying Division of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors and a member of committees and boards in various professional institutions in China and in UK. Anita was chair professor of Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying at Loughborough University. Currently, she is Professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction at The University of Hong Kong and joint co-coordinator of CIB W112: 'Culture in Construction'.

Preface to Third Edition viii

Preface to Second Edition x

Part 1 Producing a Proposal 1

1 Introduction 3

The concept of research 3

Classifications of research 7

Theories and paradigms 12

Research styles 20

Quantitative and qualitative approaches 26

Where to begin 30

Summary 32

References 32

2 Topic for Study 35

Selection of a topic 35

Writing the proposal 42

Summary 50

References 50

Part 2 Executing the Research 51

3 Initial Research 53

The research process 53

Initial search 60

Assembling the theoretical framework 66

Philosophy and methodology 67

Theoretical models and constructs 73

Proper referencing 77

Summary 77

References 78

4 Approaches to Empirical Work 81

Role of experience 81

Research design 83

Qualitative approaches 91

Quantitative approaches 97

Experimental design (including experiments and quasi-experiments) 102

Case study research 110

Modelling 114

Simulation 118

Summary 121

References 121

5 Hypotheses 125

Essentials of a valid hypothesis 125

Roles of hypotheses 129

Objective testing of hypotheses 130

Role of sampling 131

Common statistical measures 133

Null hypotheses 141

Validities 143

Summary 145

References 146

6 Data Collection 147

Data requirements 147

Collecting data from respondents 150

Sampling 159

Sample size 163

Scales of measurement 167

Obtaining data 175

Summary 183

References 183

7 Data Analysis 186

Analysing data 186

Plotting data 191

Statistical methods 194

Non-parametric tests 194

Parametric tests 202

Other analytical techniques 225

Summary 242

References 242

8 Ethics in Research 246

The concepts of morals and ethics 246

Research ethics 249

Data analysis, intellectual property and data protection 256

Summary 259

References 259

Part 3 Reporting the Results 261

9 Results, Inferences and Conclusions 263

Requirements for valid results 263

Potential sources of error 264

Reliability 265

Results 266

Inferences 270

Conclusions 276

Summary 279

References 279

10 Reports and Presentations 281

Report production 281

Communication 282

Contents of the report 284

Oral presentation 293

Summary 294

Index 295