Betts, M (1991) Achieving and measuring flexibility in project information retrieval. Construction Management and Economics, 9(3), pp. 231-245. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Because of the diversity of people, organizations and activities involved in the management of construction, there is a need for great flexibility in the way in which project information can he presented. This paper describes how relational database technology can be used with integrated database design methodology to develop a flexible means of information retrieval. An implementation of a database of this type, for the purposes of research, has used project data from a real life project. The testing of the database has been of its ability to enable flexible information retrieval. The results show a significant improvement in flexibility measured on an ordinal scale. The paper thus shows how to gain greater flexibility in informat ion retrieval for basic retrieval forms. It also presents a methodology by which flexibility can be measured and compared. It concludes by speculating on the consequences of extrapolating the results of the study to more complex forms of information retrieval.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | information management; information retrieval; project information; relational databases |
| Index terms: | information retrieval, testing, implementation, database, methodology, relational database, project data |
| Subjects: | research methods, data management, data collection methods, contractual arrangements, professional practice |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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