Emuze, F and Shakantu, W M (2012) Resolving the methodological conundrum: Bolstering the research Achilles' heel in South Africa. In: Smith, S D (ed.) Proceedings of 28th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
Determining, understanding, writing and applying research methodology to treatises, dissertations and theses has been and continues to be a major challenge for students and supervisors alike. This research was thus conducted in order to chart a pathway out of the methodological conundrum. The method used is an expository review of the methodology chapters of existing honours treatises, masters treatises and dissertations, and doctoral theses archived in a South African university. The critical literature examination was however limited to construction management research (CMR) outputs. The findings reveal that the research planning, locating the related literature, balancing between describing the problem qualitatively and quantitatively, establishing the number of parameters that need to be measured / observed, and determining
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; philosophical position; research methodology; South Africa |
| Index terms: | research methodology, methodology, dissertation, supervisor, South Africa, management research, research planning |
| Subjects: | research methods, Geography, research management, research design and methodology, research dissemination and communication, practitioner |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Geographical Context, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PTA |
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