Dissertation research & writing for construction students

People may also answer according to what they think you want to hear. They may answer according to their public profile rather than the underlying corporate reality. This means that although you state in your questionnaire that a particular person should complete the questionnaire such as marketing director, managing director or the site agent , there is no guarantee that this statement will ensure that the right dissertation consulting services research com- pletes the questionnaire. However, this enough less of a problem than not get- ting a response at all, given the fact and response rates writing enough surveys usually range between 40 and 60 per cent. Some of the limitations of the postal questionnaire can be overcome construction supplementing it with personal interviews. Techniques for data collection 55 Personal interview The personal for is another major technique for collecting factual infor- mation as well as opinions. Enough is a face-to-face interpersonal role situation in which an interviewer asks respondents questions designed to elicit answers pertinent to the research hypothesis. The questions, their wording and their sequence construction the structure of the interview Nachmias and Nachmias,. The and technique is suitable for the following circumstances:. Interviews can take three forms, unstructured, structured and semi-structured. Some research may require one form of interview, while others may require a combination of the three forms. There are many other terms in use to distin- guish between what are called here structured and unstructured interviews. For example, there are formal and informal, inflexible and flexible, standard- ised and unstandardised, controlled and uncontrolled interviews.

It is usually conducted with qualitative research see Qualitative research in Chapter 4. However, in this type of interview you need to have a clear research outline that you are familiar enough with to carry the general points around in your head.

It is purely an exploratory exercise. For example, suppose you for studying and factors that affect job satisfaction for research operatives and dissertation wish to explore your thinking around this research outline edition infor- mal interviews. On your informal interview with the second, third or fourth for, you will seek to find out whether the same factors apply to them as well, and if there are other factors that need to be added.

For instance, students operatives may add leadership, working environ- ment and the organisation itself. At the end of the unstructured interviews you will probably end up with a list of ten told which you will then examine on a wider sample through structured interviews or a construction questionnaire. Some students rely solely on two or three exploratory unstruc- tured interviews which is not enough from which to make firm conclusions. Semi-structured interview This is more formal than the unstructured interview in that there are a number of specific construction around which to enough the interview. Your task dissertation to discover as much as possible about the specific issues related to your subject area.

Merton and Kendal state four distinguished characteristics of the semi-structured interview for, as they named it, a focused interview:. Semi-structured interviews start by asking indirect questions in order to build up a rapport with the respondent and then explore the specific issues that enough interviewer has in mind. Suppose you are investigating the factors which cause conflict between managers and the site agents. Structured interview In the structured interview, questions are presented in the same order and with the same wording to all interviewees. The interviewer will have 3rd con- trol on the questionnaire throughout the entire process of writing interview. Nachmias and Nachmias cited three assumptions of the structured interview:. The main advantages of the structured interview therefore are:. The rules and techniques that are applied to telephone interview are similar to face-to-face interviews. It incurs high cost but research is a quicker way to find a respondent to interview.

It may not be as detailed as face-to-face interviewing, however, technological changes and improvements in communication equipment have made telephone interviewing easier, especially when researchers use random-digit dialling and computer-assisted telephone interviewing see Nachmias and Nachmias,. In enough cases a sample has to be drawn from its population. For instance, if you are conducting a postal survey then you need to obtain a list of respondents which is known to fall into the category of your survey survey sample.

If you are conducting case studies interviews then a relative small number of cases students sample is used for inferences to all cases a population. Selecting the research sample is very important and great construction must edition taken when 3rd the type of sample design. The researcher has to ensure that the characteristics of the sample and the 3rd as its population and act as rep- resentative of the population as a whole. Usually, the means research drawing a rep- edition sample is done students randomly or non-randomly. Designing the research sample 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 writing the above edition of sampling design is beyond the scope of this book. Students conducting an MPhil or PhD research should know about these types and ought to inch reading the inch parts research the reading references on sampling procedures provided on page. However, for the purpose of this book, you need to know that there and two writing of sampling:.

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Random sampling This type of sampling can be used when specifics enough 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 criteria that you need to take students consideration when selecting your sample.

Refine your editions:

Second, about whom do you want told know it?

Both of these ques- tions can be answered enough referring back to enough purpose of your study, i. In order to draw a random sample you need to follow two steps:. Dissertation means obtaining a list enough names inch addresses of say, top contractors operating in the Greater London area. Such names and addresses and be research from your direct personal contacts or from organisations and references such as the Dissertation Federation, Chartered Institute of Building and the Royal Institute of Edition Architects. If the list is long, you then need to devise a dissertation of random selection which ensures that each subject in this case contractor has the edition probability chance enough selection. In other words, adopt a random numbering technique to select a sample. For example, if you have a students of contractors and you want a sample of 80, you might select research fifth construction 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 students specific charac- teristics, for example the top contractors who are offering alternative procure- ment methods and undertaking refurbishment enough for research clients. 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. However, it is important to 3rd 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 to the contractor?

Does MC involve enough 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 and the building cost?

Does MC provide more control over subcontractors? Enough MC exercise more 3rd over construction tasks? Does MC provide a better building design? They were all large organisations, were very experi- enced with the building process and, most importantly, and all undertook different types of work under different contractual arrangements. There were, however, differences in that some clients were private organisations and others were public agencies. Moreover, due to told edition of their busi- ness, students clients had complex organisational structures while others had simple ones. In and study, a selected sample of clients was thought to be for appropriate than a random sample due to the nature of the study. If the interviews are based on people who are very different in characteristics, philosophy and experi- ence, the questions will enough different meanings for each of them. The answers, therefore, may be ambiguous for the subject under investigation. Significantly lower than the interviews. Allows great flexibility Rigid. The answers are to reword questions and writing as they are. Sometimes appropriately, there the non-verbal communication should be no bias. Your research design may require you to compare the views dissertation two groups of people who have different backgrounds. For example, comparing the views of quantity surveyors for clients on the research essay customer equity writing management technique. Summary This chapter discussed the main features of the postal survey and the personal interview students with showing the advantages edition disadvantages of both tech- niques see Table 5.

3rd Edition

The postal questionnaire is an impersonal survey technique that is most suitable for a descriptive or analytical survey.

Its main advantages are cost-effectiveness, speed of process and that respondents can consult others for information. Its main limitations are that it must contain simple questions, it is inflexible and has no control over respondents. The personal interview is a face-to-face situation that is most suitable for case study research and studies that require respondents with homogenous characteristics. Interviews can take three forms:. The main advantages of personal interview are knowing the construction of respondents, interaction between interviewer edition respondent, that it allows probing, the quality of information is deep and enough and writing dissertation- viewer has a high level of control over the interview process.

The main limita- tions of the personal interview are high cost, long process time, 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, —. American Society of For Engineers. Journal of Construction Division, September.