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

Thesis Keith Gale 2013CHAPTER 9: BEHAVIORAL AWARENESS: DETECTION OFQUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE FINDINGS UPON PERFORMANCE9.1 Introduction: Purpose of qualitative and quantitative research intoparticipants viewsConstruction is a humanistic organisational group activity and use of a case studymethod provides an opportunity to gain knowledge from views of experiencedpractitioners immersed within a framework agreement. Three beneficial outcomesare achieved by use of such data:• Mintzberg (1979) noted that ‘we uncover all kinds of relationships in ourhard data, but it is only through the use of this soft data that we are able toexplain them’.• Collection of data through tacit knowledge provides a commonalityengagement for practitioners fulfilling the professional context of this study.• Comparisons of secondary data (qualitative views) with primary data(project outcomes) allow conclusions to be formed and reinforced throughthe triangulation paradigm.Practitioners generally conform to a theory of ‘group cohesiveness,’ defined byFestinger, Schachter and Back (1950) and demonstrated through professionalallegiance aligned with member community and group standards. Constructionprojects rely upon unrelated individuals coming together for mutual goal objectivesand these follow general principles for social cohesion/interpersonal interdependencesuggested by Hogg (1992). Practitioners align with a technical/social classdetermined by codes of conduct, professional standards and technological language(Oakley, 1994) with capture of views via a questionnaire being an appropriate tenetof this research. In order to engage with participants, the questionnaire is written to atechnical language assuming a level of technical competence, experience andknowledge relevant to the research subject.An initial examination of the raw questionnaire data allowed establishment of keyviews from participants to be discovered. Views from 100 construction managementprofessionals are discovered through use of measures of central tenancy and factoranalysis to identify group norms (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).194