Research methods for construction PDF
Preview Research methods for construction
Research Methods for Construction CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page i — #1 CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page ii — #2 Research Methods for Construction Third Edition Richard Fellows Department of Real Estate and Construction The University of Hong Kong and Anita Liu Department of Civil and Building Engineering Loughborough University CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page iii — #3 Thiseditionfirstpublished2008 ©2008byBlackwellPublishingLtd BlackwellPublishingwasacquiredbyJohnWiley&SonsinFebruary2007.Blackwell’s publishingprogrammehasbeenmergedwithWiley’sglobalScientific,Technical,andMedical businesstoformWiley-Blackwell. Registeredoffice JohnWiley&SonsLtd,TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ, UnitedKingdom 350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA Editorialoffice 9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UnitedKingdom Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservicesandforinformationabouthow toapplyforpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookpleaseseeourwebsiteat www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. Therightoftheauthortobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedin accordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem, ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingor otherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,withoutthe priorpermissionofthepublisher. Wileyalsopublishesitsbooksinavarietyofelectronicformats.Somecontentthatappearsin printmaynotbeavailableinelectronicbooks. Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedastrademarks. Allbrandnamesandproductnamesusedinthisbookaretradenames,servicemarks, trademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.Thepublisherisnotassociated withanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook.Thispublicationisdesignedtoprovide accurateandauthoritativeinformationinregardtothesubjectmattercovered.Itissoldonthe understandingthatthepublisherisnotengagedinrenderingprofessionalservices.If professionaladviceorotherexpertassistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetent professionalshouldbesought. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Fellows,Richard,1948- Researchmethodsforconstruction/RichardFellowsandAnitaLiu.–3rded. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN-13:978-1-4051-7790-0(pbk.:alk.paper) ISBN-10:1-4051-7790-X(pbk.:alk.paper)1.Building–Research–Methodology.I.Liu, Anita.II.Title. TH213.5.F452008 624.072–dc22 2008002534 AcataloguerecordforthistitleisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary Setin10/13ptPalatinobyNewgenImagingSystems(P)Ltd,Chennai,India PrintedinSingaporebyUtopiaPressPteLtd 1 2008 CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page iv — #4 Contents PrefacetoThirdEdition viii PrefacetoSecondEdition x Part1 ProducingaProposal 1 1 Introduction 3 Theconceptofresearch 3 Classificationsofresearch 7 Theoriesandparadigms 12 Researchstyles 20 Quantitativeandqualitativeapproaches 26 Wheretobegin 30 Summary 32 References 32 2 TopicforStudy 35 Selectionofatopic 35 Writingtheproposal 42 Summary 50 References 50 Part2 ExecutingtheResearch 51 3 InitialResearch 53 Theresearchprocess 53 Initialsearch 60 Assemblingthetheoreticalframework 66 Philosophyandmethodology 67 Theoreticalmodelsandconstructs 73 Properreferencing 77 Summary 77 References 78 v CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page v — #5 vi Contents 4 ApproachestoEmpiricalWork 81 Roleofexperience 81 Researchdesign 83 Qualitativeapproaches 91 Quantitativeapproaches 97 Experimentaldesign(includingexperimentsand quasi-experiments) 102 Casestudyresearch 110 Modelling 114 Simulation 118 Summary 121 References 121 5 Hypotheses 125 Essentialsofavalidhypothesis 125 Rolesofhypotheses 129 Objectivetestingofhypotheses 130 Roleofsampling 131 Commonstatisticalmeasures 133 Nullhypotheses 141 Validities 143 Summary 145 References 146 6 DataCollection 147 Datarequirements 147 Collectingdatafromrespondents 150 Sampling 159 Samplesize 163 Scalesofmeasurement 167 Obtainingdata 175 Summary 183 References 183 7 DataAnal ysis 186 Analysingdata 186 Plottingdata 191 Statisticalmethods 194 Non-parametrictests 194 Parametrictests 202 Otheranalyticaltechniques 225 CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page vi — #6 Contents vii Summary 242 References 242 8 EthicsinResearch 246 Theconceptsofmoralsandethics 246 Researchethics 249 Dataanalysis,intellectualpropertyanddataprotection 256 Summary 259 References 259 Part3 ReportingtheResults 261 9 Results,InferencesandConclusions 263 Requirementsforvalidresults 263 Potentialsourcesoferror 264 Reliability 265 Results 266 Inferences 270 Conclusions 276 Summary 279 References 279 10 ReportsandPresentations 281 Reportproduction 281 Communication 282 Contentsofthereport 284 Oralpresentation 293 Summary 294 Index 295 CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page vii — #7 Preface to Third Edition Wewelcometheopportunitytobothupdateandimprovethisbookinorder toextendandenhanceitsusefulnessforresearchers.Theamendmentsreflect comments and suggestions from colleagues on the first two editions of the bookaswellasourownresearchprogressionintonewareasofinterestand studyandthemethodswehaveadoptedandconsidered,togetherwithfeed- back from students on undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees whom we have supervised and to whom we have provided modules in research methods. We extend our thanks to all who have taken the trouble toadviseusofpotentialimprovements. Throughouttheproductionofthisedition,aspreviously,wehaveendeav- ouredtoberigorousinscopeanddepthofcontentandtoincorporatepractical examples of applications of the methods to construction-oriented research. OurinvolvementwithCIB(ConseilInternationalduBâtiment(International CouncilforResearchandInnovationinBuildingandConstruction))groups, conferencesandpublicationshasprovedinvaluableinbringingusintocontact withworld-leadingresearchersinmanyconstructionfieldswhichhasgreatly enrichedourappreciationoftheever-growingwealthofresearchrelatingto constructionbothdirectlyandindirectly. However, we are also ever more aware of the pressures under which researchersmustwork,especiallyintermsoffundingrestrictionsandquan- tity, as well as quality, of outputs – particularly, papers in refereed journals. Atoneend,informationsearchingisvastlyfacilitatedbytheinternet,whilst, attheother,journalsproliferate.Bothdevelopmentsraiseimportantissuesof validityandreliability–thewebremains(largely)unrefereedandunpoliced andso,theindividualinformation-seekermustbetheinitialjudgeofreliabil- ityofwhatisretrievedwhilsttheproliferationofjournalsrequiresmanymore referees, andeditors, tobe‘gatekeepers’formaintenanceandenhancement, ofquality. Despite the pressures and gripes, research is, for us, at least, the most stimulatingandrewardingofpursuits,bothincarryingoutscholarshipand empirical investigations ourselves and in assisting others as colleagues or viii CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page viii — #8 PrefacetoThirdEdition ix supervisors.Thesheerjoyofvaliddiscoveryremainsboundless;wehopethis newvolumehelpsallitsreaderstoenjoyresearchtoo. AnitaLiu RichardFellows HongKong,December2007 CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page ix — #9 Preface to Second Edition ‘Thescientistisnotthepersonwhoknowsalotbutratherthepersonwhoisnot preparedtogiveupthesearchfortruth.’ Popper(1989, p. 334); reportingMarx andEngels. Adisciplineorprofessionisestablishedbydevelopingabodyofknowledge which is unique – that body of knowledge is produced through research. Constructiondrawsonawidevarietyofestablishedsubjects,includingnat- ural sciences, social sciences, engineering and management, and applies them to its particular context and requirements. Only by use of appropriate methodologiesandmethodsofresearch,appliedwithrigour,canthebodyof knowledgeforconstructionbeestablishedandadvancedwithconfidence. Althoughanumberoftextsareavailablediscussingresearchmethodologies andmethodsgenerally,thereisanotablelackofsuchbooksinconstruction. Statistics, philosophy, natural and social sciences have produced relevant texts; this book is aimed at the broad discipline of construction. In partic- ular, the contents of this book will be useful to students of building, civil engineering,architecture,constructionmanagementandallformsofsurvey- ing, whether researching for dissertations for Bachelors or Masters degrees orundertakingresearchforMastersdegreesorDoctorates.Further,thebook willbehelpfultopractitionersandstudentsinthesedisciplinesinproviding guidanceonhowtoinstilrigourinproblem-solvingandonproducingreports andpublications. The approach adopted in the book is to outline the process of research: the initial recognition that research is necessary; the development of a pro- posal; the execution of the research; the drawing of conclusions; and the production and presentation of the final report. The book comprises three mainparts–producingaproposal,executingtheresearchandreportingthe results.Thebookdiscussesthemainissuesinresearchandexaminesthepri- maryapproaches–bothqualitativeandquantitative. Themethodsadopted for scientific and engineering experiments and simulations are evaluated as well as those employed for research into managerial issues, and social and economicinvestigations. In considering the requirements for data and data analyses, the book presents discussion of important statistical considerations and techniques. x CopyeditedbySharon FELLOWS: “fellows_c000” — 2008/5/21 — 14:29 — page x — #10
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