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

Thesis Keith Gale 2013CHAPTER 11: OVERVIEW OF VALIDATION OF HYPOTHESES ANDPROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE MODEL11.1 IntroductionThis chapter undertakes a validation review of hypotheses and procurementperformance model from a philosophical perspective by examining the deductive andinductive processes providing a reflection of methods used by this research. Asstressed by Law (2007), methods of validation will depend upon the specific purposeand contextual positioning of the research, with further views provided by El-Dirabyand O’Connor (2004) who felt that ‘no single definition of the ingredients or subsetsof the concept of validity’ exists. With this in mind, validation of the results usesaccepted techniques applied to construction research. These principally consist ofinternal validity which reflects upon performance differences, causality andderivability of relationships (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001) within the case study ofHampshire County Council. This process is particularly important for a theory forimprovement of the professional practice in use and management of frameworkagreements. External validity involves testing of the results across other public sectorconstruction management organisations so that they become more robust, and furtherresearch is recommended to achieve this purpose. Nonetheless, reproduction andreplication of results is suggested to be available due to the nature of public sectorauthorities and their similar structural composition (Brinberg and McGrath, 1985).During the validation process, engagement of accepted theories and publishedinformation specifically with professional practice is a reflection of the nature of thisthesis.11.2 Validation of Group A HypothesesGroup A hypotheses involved an introspective examination that focussed uponmeasurement and analysis of project outcomes. The group comprised two interlinkedhypothesis proposing that operational methods offered by framework agreementswould produce a measurable difference in critical success factors (H1) and a projectsuccess index (H2).252