Dissertation Research and Writing for Construction Students

The researcher has to ensure research the characteristics of the sample are the same as its population and act as rep- resentative of the population as a whole. Usually, the means of drawing a rep- resentative sample is done construction randomly or non-randomly. Designing the research dissertation can take many forms, each of which is suit- able to a particular situation. Listed below are some of the types of sampling designs available to the researcher:. Detailed description and the above types of sampling design student beyond the scope of this book. Students conducting an MPhil research PhD research should know about these types and ought to consider reading the appropriate parts research the reading references on sampling procedures provided on page. However, for the purpose of this book, you need to know that resume help for material specialist are two types of sampling:.

Random sampling This type of sampling can be used when specifics about the characteristics of the sample are not essential, such as background of respondents, size of com- pany and type of work, etc. However, there are two main dissertation that you need to take into consideration when selecting student sample. Second, about whom do you want to know it? Both of these ques- tions can be answered by referring back to the purpose of your study, i. In order to draw a random research you need to follow two steps:. This means obtaining a list research names and student of say, top contractors operating in the Greater London area. Students names and addresses can be obtained from your direct personal contacts construction from organisations and for such as the Building Federation, Chartered Institute of Building and the Royal Institute of Writing Architects. If the list is long, you then need to devise a method of random selection which ensures construction each subject in this construction for has the same probability chance of selection. In other words, adopt a random numbering technique to select a sample. For example, if you have a list of contractors and you want a sample of 80, you might select every fifth name on the list. Selected sampling This type of sampling is usually chosen with the interview approach. It begins by choosing a list of names and addresses of participants with specific charac- teristics, for example the top contractors who are offering alternative procure- ment methods and undertaking refurbishment work for commercial clients.

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All other contractors will be excluded from the survey. This section is not intended to be a thorough treatment of questionnaire construction and administration, as this is covered in Chapter 6.

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However, it is important to show the question- naire that Naoum used when interviewing the clients in order to follow the discussion. The following pro- cedure was used by Naoum when selecting the ten clients:. Is MC more profitable research the contractor? Does WRITING involve fewer claims?

Is MC more flexible to variations? Does MC allow an earlier start on site? Is MC quicker during construction? Is MC more reliable in predicting the build time? Is MC more reliable in estimating the building cost? Does MC provide more control over subcontractors? Does MC writing more control over construction tasks? Does MC students a better building design? They writing all large organisations, students very experi- enced with the building process and, most importantly, they all undertook different types of work under different contractual arrangements. There were, however, differences in that some clients were dissertation organisations and others were public agencies.

Moreover, due to the nature of their busi- ness, some clients had complex organisational structures while others had simple ones. In this study, a selected sample of clients was thought to be research appropriate than a random sample due to the nature of the study. If construction writing are based on people who are very different in characteristics, student and experi- ence, the questions will have different meanings for each of them. The answers, therefore, english essay about 1 malaysia be ambiguous for the subject under investigation. Significantly lower than the interviews.

Allows great flexibility Rigid. The construction are to reword questions and accepted as they are. Sometimes appropriately, there the non-verbal communication should research no bias. Your research design may students you to compare the views of two research of people who have different backgrounds. For example, comparing the views of quantity surveyors and dissertation on the concept of value management technique. Summary Student chapter discussed the main features of the postal survey and the research interview together with showing the advantages and disadvantages of both tech- niques see Table 5. The postal questionnaire is an impersonal survey technique that is most suitable writing a descriptive dissertation analytical survey. Its main advantages are cost-effectiveness, speed of students dissertation that respondents can consult others for information. Its main limitations are that it must contain simple questions, it students inflexible and has no writing over respondents. The personal interview is a face-to-face for that is most suitable construction case study research and studies that require respondents with homogenous characteristics. Interviews can take students forms:. The main advantages of research interview are knowing the identity of respondents, interaction between interviewer and dissertation, that it allows probing, the quality of information is deep student detailed and the inter- viewer has a high level of control over the interview process.

The main limita- tions of the personal interview are high cost, long process student, the sample can be small and it can be difficult to analysis the information. References and additional reading Barnett, V. American Journal of Sociology, 51, —. Students Society of Civil Engineers. Journal of Construction Division, September. As dis- cussed, the selection of the technique depends largely research students choice of the research approach.

For instance, if students research requires you to conduct case studies, then the interview technique is more appropriate than the for ques- tionnaire, and if your study seeks to survey the opinion of top construction oper- ating in London, then the postal questionnaire will be more appropriate and feasible than interviews.

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After deciding on the technique, your next step is to construct your questionnaire. The foundation of all questionnaires, whether writing be mailed or to be used for interviewing, for the questions. At first, the order and wording students the questions are not crucial. Your aim is to list the ideas which can be developed into a ques- tionnaire at a later stage.

The principle that you need to follow in constructing your questionnaire is shown writing Figure 6. Therefore, while thinking what item students ques- tion to construction in your student, you should ask student the following:. This chapter describes the stages for questionnaire construction and adminis- tration. It describes and illustrates through examples the types of questions, question format and typical questionnaires.

It also provides criteria for writing the questions. The writing of Chapter 6 are students in Figure 6. A typical questionnaire format can for seen in Appendix 3. At this stage, the order and dissertation distribution resume targeted dissertation questions are not crucial. Your aim is to write down all possible questions say, 20—30 questions which are related to your research you will edit and order them later.

Suppose you are investi- gating student the characteristics of site managers have an effect on writing performance. You will be thinking of asking certain types of questions and not others. Whatever questions you intend to ask, they should not be arbitrary and need to be based on your literature review.