research methodology (srr782)

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (SRR782) SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT DEAKIN UNIVERSITY TRIMESTER 1, 2016 - ASSIGNMENT 2

MICHELLE RODRIGUES 215168799

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (SRR782) | A2 | 215168799

TABLE OF CONTENTS Assessment Task Information Page ..................................................................................... 2 Research Proposal 1 ............................................................................................................ 3 1. Refined Aims and Rationale ....................................................................................... 3 A.

Aim ....................................................................................................................... 3

B.

Research Proposal ............................................................................................... 3

C.

Research Proposal Rationale ............................................................................... 3

2. Methodology (Aimed at a one-year research) ............................................................. 4 A.

Why? .................................................................................................................... 4

B.

Identifying Methodology pattern in existing research............................................ 4

C.

Identifying Methodology through Research Guides .............................................. 4

D.

Reason for Effectiveness ..................................................................................... 4

E.

Sequence of Methods .......................................................................................... 5

3. 11-Week Thesis Approach.......................................................................................... 6 4. 11-Week Thesis Timeline Layout ................................................................................ 7 Research Proposal 2 ............................................................................................................ 8 1. Refined Aims and Rationale ....................................................................................... 8 A.

Aim ....................................................................................................................... 8

B.

Research Proposal ............................................................................................... 8

C.

Research Proposal Rationale............................................................................... 8

2. Methodology (Aimed at a one-year research) ............................................................. 9 A.

Why? .................................................................................................................... 9

B.

Identifying Methodology pattern in existing Research .......................................... 9

C.

Identifying Methodology through Research Guides .............................................. 9

D.

Reason for Effectiveness ....................................................................................10

E.

Sequence of Methods .........................................................................................10

3. 11-Week Thesis Approach.........................................................................................11 4. 11-Week Thesis Timeline Layout ...............................................................................13 References ..........................................................................................................................14

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Assessment Task Information Page

Student name: Rodrigues Michelle

Student ID: 215168799

Course enrolled in: Master of Construction Management (Professional) Thesis Option 1 ‘Topic’ (Field of Research): Risk Management towards the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) Thesis Option 2 ‘Topic’ (Field of Research): Legal Framework for implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

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Research Proposal 1 Title: ‘Enterprise Risk Management for Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Small and Medium Scaled Companies in Australia’ 1. Refined Aims and Rationale A. Aim The aim of this research is to conduct a study that will investigate the various risks that may arise in the event of a complete implementation of collaborative ‘Building Information Modeling (BIM)’ in small and medium scale enterprises and to analyse and apply a risk management approach towards the enterprise to enhance the successful implementation of BIM in the enterprise. B. Research Proposal With the advancement in technology, and the frenzy of implementation of BIM in various projects, for the successful deliverance of the project, a systematic adoption and implementation of BIM play a crucial factor. For this to be possible, an in-depth analysis of the risks faced at various phases of construction, through critical analysis of the implementation technique used by various organisations, taking a starting point right from inception stage to closing out stage, becomes essential. (Ahn et al., 2015) I propose to cultivate a draft of a ‘Risk Management’ Approach for Implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM); focussing on small and medium scale industries, and use this towards forming a Risk Register as the next step of this topic. C. Research Proposal Rationale In the recent years, there has been an increased surge to implement BIM, in an over-all context, in the construction industry.(Ahn et al., 2015) This is the case in Australia, especially after a Government recommendation to mandate the implementation of BIM Australia wide (Australasia, 2012). Keeping this nearing milestone in mind, and the fact that risks in small scale industries are comparatively higher (Rodgers et al.), an in-depth analysis of the risks, barriers and challenge becomes essential (Moeller, 2007). A gap of knowledge is fabricated on the basis of the above findings to assess ‘Enterprise Risk Management Approach for Building Information Modeling(BIM) in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Australia’.

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2. Methodology (Aimed at a one-year research) The system of enquiry for this research topic is deductive in the beginnings and inductive for the latter part. A. Why? This research is aimed at studying the existing risks that have been recorded through case studies, and use the bench markers to formulate a questionnaire or data collection methods from small and medium scale companies in Australia implementing BIM to draft out a ‘Risk Management Approach’. B. Identifying Methodology pattern in existing research I. (Eadie et al., 2014), first identified the various risks that may arise in the event of implementation of BIM through literature review, and then went on to collect empirical data tough an online survey opened to the top 100 companies in the UK who implemented BIM into their organisation. This data was then analysed and ranked according to the degree of intensity. II. (Rogers et al., 2015), adopted a deductive reasoning research approach in the form of focus group interviews and online questionnaires keeping the bench markers found in the literature review that was conducted before the interviews and questionnaires. C. Identifying Methodology through Research Guides Therefore, to improve the quality of the research, my methodology would be to carry out a detailed, evocative ‘Qualitative Research’ for this topic as classified in (Fellows et al., 2015). Using this approach, I will develop a complete outline of the risks that a project, implementing a completely collaborative BIM would face, and identify all the critical issues to map out a risk management approach, it in order of intensity; and will conclude it by materialising a theoretical draft of a Risk Management approach. (Fellows et al., 2015) To further strengthen my research, an inductive logic based approach will be used. This will ensure that in the beginning my deductions on the current scenarios that arise in risks in the projects implementing BIM would be precise, which would then lead me to look for similar pointers in the industry, in real life projects. Through these observations, I will propose a feasible theoretical risk management approach for small and medium scaled companies implementing a fully collaborative BIM in their projects. This proposed hypothesis will then be subjected to testing to find the best approach possible. D. Reason for Effectiveness Implementing an ‘Inductive’ and ‘Qualitative’ approach to my research will enable me to start with the existing pointers to risks in implementation of BIM at various stages of design in small and medium scale companies in Australia through case studies, and explore a sample of the industry of small and medium scale companies to identify any variations in the risks, as advancement in

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technologies gives birth to many new issues.(Fellows et al., 2015). And finally develop a detailed theoretical hypothesis on a feasible ‘Risk Management Approach’ which will be subjected to trials to attain the best ‘Risk Management Approach’ in the event of a complete implementation of a collaborative BIM in the companies.(Groat et al., 2013) E. Sequence of Methods I. Literature Review: Taking a sample of similar researches and identifying pointers of risks arising through the complete implementation of a collaborative BIM into the company, and documenting these into a hierarchy based on their intensity. Later analysing if these have a potential to aggravate the situation later. II.

Design Mapping: Specifically locating where in the design stages do these risks occur, and tabulate a comparison based on the company’s sample and type of project selected.

III.

Questionnaire / Online Survey: Conducting an online, telephonic or email based questionnaire to identify current scenarios and risks arising due to the complete implementation of a collaborative BIM. After the collection of data, mapping and analysing the coherent risks to structure a draft of the ‘Risk Management Approach’ (Taking this step up would require a completely approved application for ‘Human Research Ethics’)

IV.

Analysis of Data Collected: After the collection of data, mapping and analysing the coherent risks to structure a draft of the ‘Risk Management Approach’

V.

Final Findings The empirical data collected and analysed will be thoroughly and systematically tabulated to come up with a feasible ‘Risk Management Approach’ will be subjected to trials as the initial draft may or may not be feasible. Only by trial and error can a feasible approach be finalised upon.(Fellows et al., 2015)

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3. 11-Week Thesis Approach

One-Year Thesis Approach: If given the chance of a One-Year thesis, with ample of time on my side, I would like to detail out the ‘Questionnaire / Survey’ that I would be using for secondary data collection. The following checklist will be followed to systematically collect the secondary data required for this research: Literature Review Research Fundamentals Human Research Ethics Application Sample Design Data Collection

Data Analysis Reseach Results A. Creating a sample design for ‘Small and Medium Scale’ Companies. These will consist of new and well established companies that have implemented BIM into their organisation. B. The sample design will depend on the size and type of project to get best results. C. Drafting a formal invitation letter to engage the selected companies to participate in the questionnaire/survey. D. Drafting a general questionnaire/survey to collect specific information demanded by the research at each stage in design. E. Tabulate the findings in hierarchy of intensity of the risks identified by the survey. F. Compare the tabulated findings to the findings from literature review. G. Using the analysis to draft an initial version of the ‘Risk Management Approach’ towards the complete implementation of a fully collaborative BIM. (The above procedure is subjected to modification based on further research and suggestions from experts on the research topic.)

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11-Week Thesis Approach: Due to time constraints, and given just 11 weeks to complete this research as a thesis topic, the below is a simplified version of the Questionnaire that I would be following for this 11-Week Thesis Approach. The Research will be divided into 6 instead of 7 stages as mentioned above, negating the step where a ‘Human Research Ethics Application’ will be required. With the absence of a ‘Human Research Ethics Approval’, the first stage, ie. Literature Review, will compromise of a critical review approach. The input here would compromise of library books, journal articles, conference papers, references from previous researches or thesis, etc. the main aim of this critical literature review will be to conduct a Desktop Study to identify the different theories, previously established databases, regarding this topic, and understand the methods and techniques related to identifying the various risk pointers and various scenarios where there is a potential of these risks to arise. 4. 11-Week Thesis Timeline Layout Task

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2

3

Allocated Time (In Weeks) 4 TB 5 6 7 8

Literature Review Research Fundamentals Human Research (In case the application is Ethics successful) Application Sample Design Data Collection Data Analysis Research Results Final Editing TB = Intra Trimester Break

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10

11

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Research Proposal 2 Title: ‘Legal Framework towards the implementation of Building Information Modeling(BIM) in Australia 1. Refined Aims and Rationale A. Aim The aim of this research is to investigate the legal issues that arise while implementing a fully collaborative BIM in an organisation, critically analyse it and propose a Legal Binding framework at various stages of a Project. B. Research Proposal In the construction industry, there exists a legal or contractual document for the protection of all the individual involved in any given project. With the horizon of new eras, as s recommended mandatory implementation of BIM in Australia (Australasia, 2012), assessing these legal issue and analysing it to form a legal framework to abide by during the implementation of BIM at various stages of the project, becomes imperative. I propose to cultivate a draft of a legal or contractual framework to abide by while implementing a collaborative BIM in any project. C. Research Proposal Rationale The AEC industry is vigorously working toward the successful and complete implementation of a collaborative Building Information Modeling in their projects. Even with new studies towards the successful implementation of BIM, scenarios of legal issues connected arise (McAdam, 2010). BIM possesses heaps of sensitive information, copyrighted material, etc. which has to be secured on various stages of design to negate any related liabilities. A collaborative and streamlined process of a legal framework for the implementation of BIM at various stages in a project becomes necessary. With the approaching milestone where Australia is recommended to make implementation of BIM mandatory in the construction industry(Australasia, 2012), there arises a gap in knowledge with an opportunity to propose a ‘Legal Framework towards the implementation of Building Information Modeling(BIM) in Australia.’

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2. Methodology (Aimed at a one-year research) The system of enquiry for this research topic is deductive initially and then takes an inductive approach. A. Why? This research is aimed at collecting and studying the legal issues that may arise in various stages of design of a project in different companies, and stipulate the identified issues to formulate a general draft of a binding legal framework to abide by while implementing a fully collaborative BIM into a project of the organisation. B. Identifying Methodology pattern in existing Research I. (Eadie et al., 2015) conducted an online survey for around 100 top companies of UK according to the Construction Index turnover column of the UK. The respondent companies were further contacted via email, telephone or through business oriented website. Before stipulating the data, legal bench markers were identifying through previous case studies and papers. He then collected the empirical data and analysed it to tabulate the various legal issues arising in the course of the design progress and rank it accordingly. II. (McAdam, 2010), in his paper on BIM taking the UK legal context in mind, used a deductive approach to first outline the legal problems that existed in the industry through a literature review, and then went on to follow an inductive route to draw out a potential best practice for the procurement of BIM. C. Identifying Methodology through Research Guides The research will first focus on an investigative form of study to identify the existing legal issues and parameters that exist in the industry to get a better understanding of the legal system applied while implementing BIM through literature review and case studies (Fellows et al., 2015). This will enable the research to take on an inductive approach towards generating or develop a draft of the ‘Legal Framework’ to abide while implementing BIM. These finding will then be analysed and tabulated to find any correlations between the findings, as suggested by (Groat et al., 2013). Further in the research, a ‘Qualitative Approach’ will be carried out to collect secondary data from the companies that face legal issues at various stages in design and construction. This will be done through online surveys / questionnaires, telephonic, email conversations. The data collected will be critically analysed and tabulated to identify key pointers towards the framing of the ‘Legal Framework’ (Fellows et al., 2015). Thought the findings and analysed data, I hope to propose a hypothesis that would hope to form a ‘Legal or Binding Framework’ to abide by while

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implementing BIM into an organisation. This draft will further be subjected to a trial and error method before fully applying it, as initial drafts may or may not be feasible.(Fellows et al., 2015) D. Reason for Effectiveness This type of ‘Investigative’ or ‘Qualitative’ research aims at broadening the researcher’s perception to a higher level of understanding, through exposure to similar variables or pointers. This enables a higher quality of Literature Review. Inter-relating these variables comes under a sophisticated form of research rather than casual, as is demanded by this research topic; as categorised by (Groat et al., 2013). Collection of data required by the research topic only through a statistical point of view is not sufficient as the main aim of this research is to compare and derive co-related legal issues embedded in the system if implementing BIM into an organisation. Thus a ‘Qualitative Approach’ is much more appropriate compared to a ‘Quantitative Approach’, as the quantitative approach can blur the expected result of the findings as it only focuses on the individual matter and not a related matter(Groat et al., 2013). E. Sequence of Methods I. Literature Review: Taking a sample of similar researches and identifying pointers of existing legal systems or issues faced due to implementation of BIM, through case studies or previous work done in the vicinity of this topic, and documenting these into a hierarchy based on their intensity. Later analysing if these have a potential to aggravate the situation later. II.

Design Mapping: Specifically locating where in the design stages do these legal issues have a potential to occur, and tabulate a comparison based on the company’s sample and type of project selected.

III.

Questionnaire / Online Survey: Conducting an online, telephonic or email based questionnaire to identify current scenarios based on the legal issues arising due to the complete implementation of a collaborative BIM. After the collection of data, mapping and analysing the coherent legal boundaries that can help to structure a draft of a ‘Legal Framework’. (Taking this step up would require a completely approved application for ‘Human Research Ethics’)

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IV.

Analysis of Data Collected: After the collection of data, mapping and analysing potential legal issues or scenarios, (may it be menial or grave) a ‘Legal’ or ‘Binding’ framework can be developed based on the findings.

V.

Final Findings The empirical data collected and analysed will be thoroughly and systematically tabulated to come up with a feasible ‘’Legal Framework’, which will be subjected to trials as the initial draft may or may not be feasible. Only by trial and error can a feasible approach be finalised upon.(Fellows et al., 2015)

3. 11-Week Thesis Approach

One-Year Thesis Approach: If given the chance of a One-Year thesis, with ample of time on my side, I would like to detail out the ‘Questionnaire / Survey’ that I would be using for secondary data collection. The following checklist will be followed to systematically collect the secondary data required for this research: Literature Review Research Fundamentals Human Research Ethics Application Sample Design Data Collection

Data Analysis Reseach Results

A. Creating a sample design for local companies, selecting a sample size of 20 for convenience. These will consist of new and well established companies that have implemented BIM into their organisation. B. The sample design will depend on the size and type of project to get best results.

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C. Drafting a formal invitation letter to engage the selected companies to participate in the questionnaire/survey. D. Drafting a general questionnaire/survey to collect specific information demanded by the research at each stage in design. E. Tabulate the findings in hierarchy of intensity of the potential legal issues identified by the survey. F. Compare the tabulated findings to the findings from literature review. G. Using the analysis to draft an initial version of a ‘Legal Framework’ to abide by while implementing BIM into an organisation. (The above procedure is subjected to modification based on further research and suggestions from experts on the research topic.) 11-Week Thesis Approach: Due to time constraints, and given just 11 weeks to complete this research as a thesis topic, the below is a simplified version of the Questionnaire that I would be following for this 11-Week Thesis Approach. The Research will be divided into 6 instead of 7 stages as mentioned above, negating the step where a ‘Human Research Ethics Application’ will be required. With the absence of a ‘Human Research Ethics Approval’, the first stage, ie. Literature Review, will compromise of a critical review approach. The input here would compromise of library books, journal articles, conference papers, references from previous researches or thesis, etc. the main aim of this critical literature review will be to conduct a Desktop Study to identify the different theories, previously established databases, regarding this topic, and understand the methods and techniques related to identifying the various legal barriers and various scenarios where there is a potential of these legal issues to arise.

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4. 11-Week Thesis Timeline Layout Task

1

2

3

Allocated Time (In Weeks) 4 TB 5 6 7 8

Literature Review Research Fundamentals Human Research (In case the application is Ethics successful) Application Sample Design Data Collection Data Analysis Research Results Final Editing TB = Intra Trimester Break

9

10

11

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References 

AHN, Y. H., KWAK, Y. H. & SUK, S. J. 2015. Contractors' Transformation Strategies for Adopting Building Information Modeling. Journal of Management Engineering, 32, 13.

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AUSTRALASIA, B. 2012. National building information modelling initiative. Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education Sydney.

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EADIE, R., MCLERNON, T. & PATTON, A. 2015. An Investigation into the Legal Issues relating to Building Information Modeling (BIM). RICS COBRA AUBEA 2015. Sydney, Australia: RICS 2015.

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EADIE, R., ODEYINKA, H., BROWNE, M., MCKEOWN, C. & YOHANIS, M. 2014. Building Information Modeling Adoption: An Analysis of the Barriers to Implementaion. Journal of Engineering and ARchitecture, 2, 77-101.

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FELLOWS, RICHARD, LIU & ANITA 2015. Research Desgin, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Research Methods for Construction. John Wiley and Sons.

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GROAT, N., L. & DAVID, W. 2013. Architectural Research MEthods. Architectural Research MEthods. Wiley Somereset.

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MCADAM, B. 2010. Building information modelling: the UK legal context. International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, 2, 246-259.

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MOELLER, R. R. 2007. COSO Enterprise Risk Management: Understanding the new Integrated ERM Framework, John Wiley & Sons.

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RODGERS, C., HOSSEINI, M. R., CHILESHE, N. & RAMEEZDEEN, R. BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) WITHIN THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTRUCTION RELATED SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES: AWARENESS, PRACTICES AND DRIVERS. Management, 691, 700.

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ROGERS, J., CHONG, H.-Y. & PREECE, C. 2015. Adoption of Building Information Modeling Technology(BIM): Perspectives from Malaysian Engineering Consulting Service Firms. Engineerinf Construction & Architectural Management, 22, 424-445.

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