Ahn, S and Lee, S (2015) Methodology for creating empirically supported agent-based simulation with survey data for studying group behavior of construction workers. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(1): 04014065, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Construction workers' attitudes and behaviors are one of the most important factors of a construction project's performance. As the attention paid to the impact of social influences and norms on worker behavior grows, agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) emerges as a research tool for studying workers' group behavior. With ABMS, researchers can uncover the underlying process of group behavior emerging from individuals' interactions in an organization. However, validating agent-based simulation with real data is the greatest challenge in using ABMS for organizational behavior research. With this background in mind, the objective of this paper is to propose a methodology for creating an empirically supported agent-based model for studying workers' behavior influenced by social norms. The proposed methodology suggests that empirical data collected by a questionnaire can be used for ABMS in three steps: (1) testing the agent behavior rules used in an agent-based model (i.e., testing the modeling assumptions), (2) demonstrating the model behavior's qualitative agreement with real workers' behavior (i.e., testing the simulation results against real data in a qualitative manner), and (3) creating a specific agent-based model with the model parameters that correspond to a specific empirical case. A specific agent-based model created in this way can then be seen as a scenario generator that corresponds to a specific reality and can be used to answer what if questions. Therefore, the model can be used to develop policies/interventions to improve workers' behavior in a given situation. The proposed methodology is illustrated by a study on construction workers' absenteeism that was conducted by the authors. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge of workforce management in construction; the proposed methodology provides a means of simulating workers' group behavior and developing policies/interventions to improve worker behavior at the group level in construction.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | absenteeism; agent-based modeling and simulation; group behavior; quantitative methods; social norm; worker behavior |
| Index terms: | social norms, survey, absenteeism, body of knowledge, agent, norms, construction project, methodology, quantitative method, questionnaire, agent-based modelling, organizational behaviour, construction worker, interaction, modelling, testing |
| Subjects: | social justice, sociology, behavioral psychology, research methods, management, production management, modelling and simulation, analytical methods, professional practice, data analysis and analytics, knowledge management, business, data collection methods, practitioner |
| Topics: | Information Management, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Ethics, Human Resources, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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