Crowley, L G; Lutz, J D and Burleson, R C (1997) Functional illiteracy in construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 123(2), pp. 162-170. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
There is a commonly held perception that the United States is failing to adequately educate its young people, and some would suggest the construction industry is inordinately exposed to educational shortcomings. The validity of this notion of literacy skill deficiencies in the construction industry relative to the nation is addressed through a focused, exploratory assessment. This assessment involved administering standardized literacy tests to employees of participating construction companies at various job sites around Birmingham, Ala., and statistically analyzing the collected data. This analysis on the exploratory sample provides a comparison of literacy skills between the Birmingham construction workforce and the general population, an assessment of literacy skills by job categories, and observed differences in employee literacy skills between contractors.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | validity, construction industry, construction company, Birmingham, United States, population |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, demography, Geography, evaluation and assessment methods, organization |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here