Bigelow, B F (2012) Perceived positive and negative effects of participation in student construction management competitions: A qualitative priority mixed methods study. PhD thesis, Colorado State University, USA.
Abstract
In the discipline of construction management (CM) student competitions are well thought of and have good construction industry support. Very little published research was found however addressing these competitions. This qualitative priority, mixed methods study collected qualitative data via interviews and quantitative data via surveys to learn what the perceived positive and negative effects of competition participation are, and what differences there might be between participants and non-participants in the competitions. The quantitative data from this study compared participants and non-participants in regard to starting salaries, GPA, and frequency of employment. However it did not produce statistically significant results in relation to any of these variables. Practical significance is however reported regarding the higher average starting salary of participants. Using a grounded theory research design, the study's qualitative data produced positive and negative effects of participation. The four negative effects that emerged in coding, are reported; expectations, resources, scoring methods, and time. Time was the most strongly supported of the negative effects and presents an interesting point in this study's findings because, time emerged as a negative effect and time management emerged as a positive effect of competition participation. This study was however, focused on the positive effects of competition participation. Eleven positive effects emerged; confidence, connecting all the dots, industry involvement leadership, motivation, presentation skills, problem solving, real world experience, teamwork, and time management. Following identification of these effects in open coding, construction industry involvement was identified as the central phenomenon connecting them in axial coding. The selective coding process then identified a cyclical pattern showing a connection between the positive effects, leadership and graduate key competencies, and construction industry involvement. The cycle tells the story of the phenomenon of student construction management competitions.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Gloeckner, G W and Glick, S A |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | competition; employment; graduate; grounded theory; leadership; motivation; participation; problem solving; skills; teamwork; time management |
| Index terms: | motivation, survey, interview, competition, problem solving, grounded theory, research design, employment, time management, mixed method, teamwork, construction industry |
| Subjects: | market analysis, theoretical framing, decision-making and reasoning, psychology, project controls, industry analysis, management, data collection methods, research design and methodology |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Human Resources, Organizational Design, Time Control |
| 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