Gorse, C A and Emmitt, S (2005) Group interaction research methods. In: Khosrowshahi, F (ed.) Proceedings of 21st Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2005, London, UK.
Abstract
The importance of group interaction in construction projects should not be underestimated. However, observing, capturing and understanding the behaviour, dynamics and nature of even a small group's interaction is difficult. Individual behaviour, speed of interaction, sociological, psychological, organisational and environmental factors that influence the process make group research complicated. The tools used to capture and analyse group interaction must be relatively simple to use but effective. Unfortunately the growing interest in construction communication and group behaviour is not matched with developments in interaction based research methods. A problem faced by researchers is whether research tools are appropriate and will produce useable and meaningful results. The paper reviews six research methods and tests their usefulness on a group of post-graduate research students studying group interaction. Often the difficulties with using such tools are not self-evident. The practical limitations associated with each method are discussed along with their potential benefits.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction communication; group research; communication research methods |
| Index terms: | dynamics, construction project, environmental factor, interaction |
| Subjects: | production management, systems engineering, behavioral psychology, environmental science |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Project Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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