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

Thesis Keith Gale 20139.4 Sociological mix of participantsThe questionnaire has been prepared in a sociological context for a specific group ofparticipants. This is a significant departure from generalised research where caremust be taken to represent the whole population (Houston and Fiore, 1998). Instead,the questionnaire is specifically targeted to interact with a professional group in orderto gain views and opinions from within a professional context. Questions have beenconstructed using from the context of tacit knowledge and engineering practice(Tourangeau et al, 2000). To illustrate the sociological mix of participants, Table 9.2gives an analysis of responses.Table 9.2: Analysis of questionnaire responses by professionProfessionPercentage of responseEngineer – design function 42Engineer – supervision function 11Quantity Surveyor 14Contracts Manager 14Other 19Total 100In recognition of the significant experience and technical abilities of participants,questions have been constructed using a cognitive approach in recognition ofsociological group context. Although responses from 19% of participants describedthemselves as ‘other’, further investigation has revealed that these individuals holdprofessional qualifications such as a Chartered Engineer or Surveyor, but theircurrent position is that of contracts director, commercial director or similar seniormanagement position.9.5 Contextual position of participantsFollowing an examination of the sociological mix, participants were questioned ontheir involvement with frameworks, involvement with discreet contracts together197