The Importance of Research Methodology in Investigating Phenomena
The methodology used in research not only affects its reliability and validity; it has a great bearing on the accuracy of the results and plays a crucial role in the conclusions that can be reached at the end of a research undertaking. When investigating a phenomenon, the research methodology affects what can be said about the causes and factors that influence a phenomenon. The chosen research method for any research must be within the limits of what a researcher can do in the context of the research constraints, including feasibility, time, money, availability, and ethics. Often, research is a vast process that is often cyclical without a clear path from one point to the next. Following some path that is most appropriate for a given research will likely help the researcher meet their research objectives. The research methodology defines the kind of data to be collected for research and how this data is to be collected, as such, the research method chosen must be done with justification and based on scientific research principles. In this section, the chosen research methodology and data collection for this research is discussed and justified; starting with a justification on how data will be gathered and critical reflection on the gathered data will help the purposes of the research as well as the research design will help meet the objectives of the research. Further, an ethics from is filled at the end of the section, given that ethics is also an important aspect of research and is related to the research methodology.
The construction industry is a key sector for any economy, including the UK; one underlying feature of the construction sector is that projects can be massive and highly complex, involving huge sums of money and resources, and being a critical component of the development of any country; for instance, the construction of transport infrastructure. These projects, as with all projects, are prone to risks; the construction sector faces bigger risks due to the general scope of works and contract sums and resources involved in them. As such, risk management strategies unique to the sector must be used in order to effectively manage and mitigate all inherent risks. Risk management within the construction sector differs depending on geographical location, the prevailing culture of risk, and unique circumstances in the different locations. In this section, the research methods used and their differences, when evaluating risk management in the UK and how these differ with those in the Middle East are discussed. To collect the requisite data, a systematic research methodology and methods of data collection are used. These are discussed in the context of the research topic, with justifications and reasons for their use.
Risk Management Strategies in the Construction Industry
This paper will collect both primary and secondary data, meaning that primary research as well as secondary research will be undertaken. The researcher will collect primary data because of the advantages of using primary data, and because the purposes of this research will be better fulfilled through the collection of primary data. Every research projects requires data in order to obtain results and meet the research objectives. And help answer the research questions as well as understand the issues under research. Primary data gathering enables information specific to the particular research to be collected. The questions asked are tailor made to elicit specific responses that will form the bulk of data used for meeting the objectives of the research. Primary data has several ways for being collected; for this research, a survey interview with semi structured questions will be used. This is because the research is mainly qualitative where practices and approaches to construction project risk management will be evaluated, comparing those used in the UK and those used in the Middle East, and their differences established. Primary data will also be used because it is current, and thus, will provide a realistic view to the researcher concerning the topic under investigation. Further, the reliability of primary data is very high because reliable and concerned parties are involved n their collection.
Primary data will therefore be used for this research because it is very relevant to the research study topic and will result in a higher degree of accuracy in the research findings. This research proposes to use the interview method of survey that will entail the use of semi structured interview questions. The use of semi structured interviews entails engaging in a formal interview with the researcher using an interview guide that they have developed: the interview guide is a list of questions on the topic being discussed that is to be covered during the interview session. The guide is followed during the interview and it is possible to stray in to other topical trajectories if such a need may arise during the interview process. The use of the semi structured interviews are suitable for this paper because they will result in reliable and comparable qualitative data on the differences in construction project risk management between the UK and the Middle East (ME). This paper seeks to get qualitative information on the kind of practices undertaken in construction risk management in the UK and the ME and then make a comparison to establish the differences. By using semi structured interviews, deep insights will be obtained because the respondent can be probed further. In addition, this method will ensure accurate results because interview questions and their context can be explained further to the respondent.
Primary and Secondary Data Collection
The semi structured interviews to be used will also have a record to facilitate in depth evaluation so that patterns can be identified and used for the research. Secondary data will also be used for this research; to develop the points of discussion and to provide the context for this research and to give initial insights into the research topic. Secondary data is to be used because it is easy and cost effective to obtain; evaluating a journal just requires typing a few keywords into a journal database such as Google scholar and obtaining the desired material. Further secondary data enables one to access works by the best scholars from around the world, and one can get very high quality information from peer reviewed journals. The research question needs proper framing: through secondary data, it is easy to get the desired frame of mind to help guide the direction which the research ought to take. Because such data is readily available, they save time, resources, and effort in acquiring and add significant value to the study. In particular, secondary data is used extensively in the literature review and possibly in meta analysis; through the literature review, the work done by past researchers is reviewed in the context of the present research topic and question.
The research has been conceptualized and developed in a systematic manner; after reviewing various topic areas, the researcher sought this research topic because of its relevance to career and project management, where risk management has acquired a new importance. The research then proceeded to develop a research question and developed aims and objectives that would guide the execution of the research and create a research focus area. The project also justified the need for this research by establishing gaps in the context of the research topic. Having done this, a feasible project plan and project time-line is developed; the project time-line ensures that important activities are identified and scheduled for execution, with dependencies between the tasks established. The time lines are important because they help give an idea on the feasibility of the research topic: this is because underestimating the required time line for a project can result in a poorly done research. The time line development defines / maps out what will be done and when they will be done. The literature review will be done using peer reviewed and other scholarly material to give the research the right context. At any level, a thorough and carefully done literature review is essential.
Method of Data Collection: Semi-Structured Interviews
The literature review is done not only to survey past related work by other scholars, but also to appraise, compare, contrast, and correlate various view points in relation to the topic under study. The literature review creates rapport with the readers (audience) to create the necessary trust and assurance that the researcher has done their due diligence well and the research is founded on sound concepts. A thorough literature review gives the readers confidence that the researcher understands what they are doing (the research being done) and has referred to peer reviewed articles by senior researchers and other specialists in that filed. The result is that the research findings are trustworthy, as are the research methods used for the research. The literature review has also been properly cited as a way of helping to avoid incidental plagiarism when undertaking the research. The literature review is also done in order to sharpen the focus of the research and this helps place the relevance of this research in the wider context of what has already been done by other researchers, who are likely to be more senior and experienced experts in their fields. Through the literature review, comparisons and contrasts are done on the current research based on the historical context of the research topic and also shows the difference between the present research locus and from what has been done by others. Further, the extensive literature review ensures there is justification on why the present research is being done.
The research methodology has also been developed systematically, taking into consideration the requirements of the research, its objectives, and the feasibility of the research. The chosen research approach is suitable for the kind of research to be undertaken and will help answer the objectives of this research. The research methodology is also aligned with the type of research and the research objectives, while the sources of data to use and data gathering have also been selected based on the requirements of the research and the research aim, with justification. The data gathering method will further help in achieving the objectives of this research. The data will be analyzed thematically by seeking patterns from the research findings; these will then be discussed, and justified from the themes gleaned from a meta analysis of similar research in the past, and in the context form the literature review done earlier. The interviews will be done by taking advantage of information and communication systems which make it possible for the identified participants to participate in the interview through video conferencing, even using mobile devices on social media platforms such as WhatsApp TM. The content of the interview can then be recorded as the interview proceeds and then reviewed later for analysis.
The Role of Literature Review in Research
Before conducting the interviews, the aspects of validity will be assured by first sending the semi structured questions to the respondents to enable them prepare and seek as in depth responses as they can find. Quality assurance will be maintained in the process of collecting data and finding meanings from the gathered data; quality control will be implemented to preserve the data validity. Quality assurance are the activities that occur before the data is gathered, such as seeking the cooperation and participation of the respondents and using the right tools to collect data, based on a fitting research methodology and overall research approach. Quality control for data will also be implemented after the data has been gathered. The preparations before data collection will be done to achieve quality assurance by identifying possible participants and communicating with them early and making sure on the data and time of interview. The questions will be developed and Pre-tested, and even shared with the respondents before conducting the interview. After data collection, quality control will be done, by having a record of the entire interview in a retrievable electronic format that can enable evaluation and analysis after the interviews are done. Notes will also be taken during the process of the interview and then analyzed together when the recorded material will be reviewed. Only the collected data will be used for the review, after analysis to establish the main patterns contained in them with respect to the research topic and the research question.
The data to be gathered from primary research through the use of the semi structured interview is essential in order for the research question to be answered and the research objectives to be fully met. Data gathering is the process by which information is collected and measured during research in an established and systematic manner that enables the researcher to be able to answer the research questions and meet research aims and objectives as ell as evaluate the research outcomes. The accurate collection of data, with the concepts of validity and reliability built in to the data collection is important in maintaining research integrity. For this research, appropriate instruments for collecting the data and the using them correctly to collect the desired data underpin the data collection. This will ensure the likelihood of errors that undermine the validity and reliability of the research are greatly reduced or eliminated altogether. The data collection has been planned and evaluated keenly in order to identify possible sources of error that can undermine the integrity of the collected data and the research results. Further, care is to be taken to ensure systemic and deliberate errors are omitted from the research findings. Objectivity will be maintained throughout the process of data gathering, especially for primary data during interviews as bias may affect the quality of the research.
Project Plan and Timeline Development
Before undertaking this project, I had assumed a lot of things: I imagined that things will just fall into place, until I reviewed the institutions guidelines and requirements for undertaking a research and had discussions with my supervisor, as well as my personal readings on conducting research. I had even though I would use a questionnaire to undertake the research, until I went into the nitty gritty of preparing for the research. The purpose of this research is to compare and contracts, and identify the differences in risk management in construction projects in the UK and the ME. While the literature review provides a suitable context for the research, meeting the research purpose requires getting information from project managers that have worked in construction projects in the UK, as well as in the ME; getting a project manager that has experience in handling risks in both countries will even be better. However, based on their experiences and responses to the research questions, important insights will be gleaned and then analyzed to identify patterns. The purpose of collecting data is to help answer the research question or to ensure the research objectives are met. After gathering the data, it is analyzed and then interpreted and this will have important ramifications on the research and its outcomes.
Depending on the finding from the data gathering and their analysis, important insights will be identified and then discussed in the context of the research literature review and the research aims and objectives. The findings from the primary research, plus any other secondary data related to the research obtained from a meta analysis. Because of the measures taken to ensure the validity and reliability of the data, the integrity of the research will be maintained, meaning that the collected data will accurately reflect the wider population. Further, the collected data should be able obtained if a similar research is conducted under similar circumstances: the data gathering will therefore ensure the research question is answered accurately during the discussion and a conclusion arrived at on the main differences between UK and ME in the context of risk management practices in construction project management. By discussing with my supervisor and reading how research of this nature is done, I have come to the realization and conclusion that the research topic, research aim and objectives, and the research question as being the most important aspects in successfully conducting research: they give guidance to where research should be focused. The literature review provides the context, and the data gathering and its subsequent analysis provides answers to the research question/ thesis and ensures the research objective is met. The gathering of data is therefore the most important part of the research as it is what ensures the research purpose is met.
Thorough Literature Review to Establish Research Relevance and Justification
I had imagined that research just involves seeking relevant information and discussing it; however, by preparing and planning for this research, I have come to realize that the approach used to conduct the research is crucial in meeting the research objectives. The overall research approach provides a framework upon which all other research activities are based. The research design ensures that the findings are accurate and are a true reflection of the population represented by the participants. The research design is like the blue print or plan for building a house: it gives direction and ensures the right thing is done throughout the entire process. The research design details the necessary procedure to collect the needed data and information to solve the research question and meet the objectives of the research. Scientific research is about following the right procedures and processes and doing this the proper way in order to arrive at a conclusion that meets the research aim and objective. The research design helps focus and refine what the research is all about, justify why the research is being undertaken, help establish where the research will be conducted, help determine the required data types, and also establish the periods when all activities related to the research can be undertaken. The research design also defines the sample to be used as well as the targeted population, what techniques and tools will be used for collecting the data, and how the data will be analyzed, as well as how to discuss and report the findings. All these are geared towards meeting the objectives specific to this research and will ensure there is no deviation of focus on factors outside the scope of this research. The research design creates the scope of the research and helps achieve the deliverables, just like a project plan ensures the set objectives are attained; all within the requisite constraints
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