PhD Final Thesis April 2013.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

Thesis Keith Gale 2013performance data and share it with clients and each other without compromisinglegitimate needs for confidentiality’. Egan’s’ comments arrived from observationsthat research into construction projects was limited and outcomes between projectsdifficult to compare. This is due to the large number of variables and varyingelements aggregated within each project. Differing clients, design teams, designsolutions, project location, financial models, procurement and engagement methods,and supervision controls can affect outcomes and performance perception.Measurement of performance between projects may not be reliable or sufficientlyaccurate to determine comparable results. Evidence from projects contained withinthis study is not subject to such wide variances as those from external sourcesbecause the same project controls apply to all 164 projects. Design standards,contractual mechanisms, financial controls and project objectives remained constantfor the period examined. This allows ’variables to be identified and relationshipsmeasured’ (Glesne and Peshkin, 1992, p7). Characteristics of projects are examinedin further detail in a later chapter with data analysis of the outcomes to detecttendencies.4.13 Triangulation of methodsTriangulation is a strategic test for improving validity and reliability of research bycombining research methods. Mathison (1988, p13) deduced that triangulation ‘hasrisen an important methodological issue in naturalistic and qualitative approachesto evaluation in order to control bias and establishing valid propositions becausetraditional scientific techniques are incompatible with this alternate epistemology.’Patton (2002, p 247) advocated use of triangulation by adding that ‘triangulationstrengthens a study by combining methods. This can mean using several kinds ofmixed methods or data, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches.’Johnson (1997) recognised that use of investigators, method and data triangulationsto record reality is appropriate. This is particularly so when an ‘open-ended’approach is developed where participants to a research project assist with theresearch question in addition to data collection. Barbour (1998, p353) does howeverwarn of potential problems through mixing methods within a single paradigm,because each method carries its own assumptions in ‘terms of theoretical frameworkswe bring to bear on our research’. Conversely, mixed method triangulation95