Research Methodology in the Built Environment PDF

Individual Project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
From an moral and functional point of view, structural and construction technicians need
to design security for buildings, equipment and related building procedures (Ahmed, Opoku and
Aziz, 2016). The design stages of pre-construction obviously require cognitive processes and
hence, in order to alter how architecture is practised, it is necessary to modify the understanding
used by civil or structural engineers and construction engineers in their design choices. The study
report Include a response to a issue identified, handle a project under specified timelines and
requirements, report the entire system. Report also contains possible project management
solutions and complete aspects of civil engineering sector.
TASK 1
Project Identification:
In study a main topic is influences of construction method on project sustainability.
Around this topic following problem is selected to complete the project report:
“Barriers in replacing cement in concrete to substitution of virgin materials by recycled
ones”
Cement is widely used aggregate in construction of buildings and real estate projects, but
prices of cements are increasing continuously which leads to reduction in profits of contractors
and increase in construction costs. Thus civil engineers approaching for use of recycled projects
because with day to day increase in population, waste items are increasing. For government it is
difficult to dump out such wide amount of waste materials (Anderson, 2018). So recycling and
use of such waste material is vital. But here is a problem that contractors or owners concerned
about cost of recycling and quality of constructed project. Table 1 demonstrates the amount and
allocation by disposal technique and type of operation of solid waste generated by the building
industry. The table displays that 85% of aggregate solid waste of: approx 1720 tons/year is
belongs to class of building construction material waste and other unused items of which approx
90% dumped. About 20 percent construction waste comprises of bottle, metal, and concrete,
though. Thus, it is nationally necessary to introduce a further implies of disposal through
recycling.

Research Methods: Research methods are most often contrasted with research methods, that
involves the study techniques ' science assessment to discover solution to these problems at hand.
Research method relates to those processes used by a scientist to conduct study processes to fix
the issue in question. Methods and procedures used in the study of research issue are recognised
as Research Methods. Following is a discussion on different research methods:
 Experiments: People involved in experimental studies may be questioned to finish
different trials to evaluate their cognitive capabilities such as word recall, focus,
awareness, thinking capacity, etc. Ordinarily, on paper either on a laptop. Comparison is
then made of the outcomes of distinct organizations (Ball, 2014). Respondents should
never be concerned about doing well, but it should merely do their utmost.
 Surveys: It require gathering data, generally from quite big groups of individuals, using
questionnaires, but some methods such as presentations or phoning can be applied. There
are distinct study kinds. At a fixed stage in period of time, most simple sort ("one shot
study") is given to a dataset of individuals. Another sort is the "pre and post study" that
individuals finish during a significant case or experience.
 Questionnaires: A questionnaire is indeed a study tool that consists of a sequence of
issues to collect data from participants. Questionnaires could be considered as a type of
written interview. They could be done face-to-face, through mobile, by laptop or by post.
 Focus Group: A moderator asks a number of issues in focus group to obtain
understanding into how the group views the product, brand, pictures, slogans, ideas or
symbols. A focus group could give perspectives coherent to those communicated by
wider target audience as a random sample of customers selected by the business.
Illustration 1: Department of statistics/environmental statistics

From above methods solution of mentioned problem can be easily detected. As in this
study questionnaire is used to resolve targeted problem. Which can provide assistance in
addressing main problem involved in use of recycled products as substitution of cement.
Feasibility studies: A feasibility study is indeed an assessment that reflects all appropriate
variables of a proposal, including financial, technological, lawful and planning considerations, in
order to determine the probability of effective project completion. Analyses of feasibility are
essential for the growth of company (Birkeland, 2012). They can enable a company to tackle
where and how it will function ; identify future barriers that may hinder its activities, and
understand how much financing it will have to get company going.
In this context, Research into fresh and exciting waste material's uses is progressing
steadily. These study attempts are attempting to fit any need for secure and economical waste
material's disposal by society. Using recycled outputs saves renewable resources as well as
spaces for dumping and enables keep a clean atmosphere. This present research focuses on such
waste components, particularly glass waste, metals and construction waste, for use as
replacements for standard materials, primarily aggregates, in normal cement concrete (OPC)
mixtures. Recycling concrete as something of an aggregate provides an alternative to the issues
of quarrying normal aggregates as well as disposing of ancient concrete. Since these
replacements require comprehensive studies on their impact on concrete dwellings, a lot of
research have been conducted. Following is a comparison of approach applied in report i.e.
questionnaire and survey method:

Particulars Questionnaire Survey
Meaning It contains a series of pre-
determined questions
mentioned in a form, which is
delivered to people to record
their responses and gather
statistical information
(Cotgrave and Riley, 2012).
It is related with collecting,
recording and analysing
information gathered from one
to one talk with an individual
or a group of people on a
particular subject or an area of
topic (Kibert, 2016).
Time It is a fast process. It is a time consuming process.
Usage It is distributed to the target
audience to fill their responses
themselves.
It is conducted by investigator
on the target respondents.
Type of questions Close ended Open/close ended
Responses Objective in nature Subjective or objective
Characteristic It is an instrument used for
data collection
It is a wholesome process of
gathering & analysing data.
Recommendation:
Questionnaire method and survey method resemble with one another due to their basic
characteristics, however there is a core difference between them which makes investigators to
pursue one over another as per the need. Questionnaire is the method through which investigator
distributes physical or virtual forms to the respondents which are to be filled by them as per their
individual perspective. However in survey method, the investigator records responses by
interacting with the respondents. In overall feasibility between two, questionnaire method is
widely preferred and better reliable as compared to the survey method. The questionnaire
method provides direct behavioural responses of the individual whereas in survey the data can be
a bit skewed to negative because often the respondents don't take much interest in interacting but
on the same time can put tick yes and no easily (Fewings and Henjewele, 2019). The behavioural
implications also work here, in survey method the respondents are bit irrational because of not

knowing the scope of questions been asked and the nature of the study. However , In
questionnaire the document is there which fills need of the respondents to know the scope of
research, which helps them to draw better line between the answers. Hence, questionnaire
method would prevail between the two despite lowering the value of survey method.
TASK 2
CPM Method
Data Processing With CPM Method:
The components of a project are identified through dividing the project purview into
activities or series of activities (Naoum, 2012). The next stage is to reorder the activities into a
chain of processes, which can help us in knowing the order of activities from the beginning till
the closure of the project. Afterwards, evaluate forward calculation using the formula (a) and (b).
Forward calculation begins from the beginning event to the final event. The aim is to evaluate
the quickest event, the earliest commencement and the exhaustion of activities. (TE, ES & EF).
Where :
ES : The fastest beginning of activity
TE: The quickest event
EF : The quickest completion of activities
T : Time needed for the activity
Subsequent to forward calculation, the countdown calculation will be done using the
formulas (c) & (d). The countdown calculation proceeds from event terminal till the first event.
The purpose is to evaluate the latest event, the earliest commencement and completion of events.
(TL, LS & LF).

Where :
LS : The earliest beginning of an activity
LF : The earliest closure of an activity
TL : The earliest event
T : Time needed for an activity
The next stage is to determine the free float and total float to identify the critical path.
Total float (e) is the time at which the closure time of an event can be delayed without affecting
the quickest time of closure of the project. The stage is the critical stage which defines the
project closure time (Santamouris, 2013). Critical path have a total float which equals to zero
while finding the critical path, afterwards first evaluate the total float of each activity engaged in
the project. Free float (f) is the time that the achievement of an activity can be evaluated without
disturbing the quickest time from the beginning of different activity or the quickest event of
something else on a network.
Where :
TF : Total float
LF : The earliest beginning of an activity

ES : The quickest beginning of an activity
T : Time needed for an activity
Where :
FF : Free float
EF : The quickest completion of an activity
ES : The quickest beginning of an activity
T : Time needed for an activity
NO ACTIVITY CODE TIME
PREDECE
SSORS
1 Preparatory Works A 3 -
2 Excavation Works B 5 A
3 Foundation Works C 10 B
4 Column Structure Works D 12 C
5 Sloof Works F 6 C
6 Wall and Frame Works G 12 E
7 Roof Trust Works H 10 D
8 Roof (Ceilings and Tiles) Works I 17 G
9 Sanitary Works and Electrical Installations J 20 F,H
10 Plaster Works K 25 F,H
11 Floor Works L 18 I
12
Installation Works (Lamps, Glass, Doors, Windows,
Switches, Outlets, Locks, Sanitation) M 15 F
13 Painting Works N 30 J,K
14 Fencing Works O 10 L
15 Complementary Works P 6 M,N

PERT Method:
Data processing by PERT method
PERT method to demonstrate the project path by an arrow diagram. While calculating the
critical event, Critical path in PERT is called as slack (Van der Heijden, 2014). The difference
amidst CPM and PERT is quite clear while estimating the activity period. Three time estimations
in PERT are :
▪ Optimistic time (To) – Possible time in which activities can be completed in
shortest span
▪ Most time happening (Tm) – time supposed time occurring during normal
situations.
▪ The pessimistic time (Tp) – is the possible time in which activities can be
completed in longer span.
The next stage is to look for the average time with the help of the formula (g) :

Then, find the critical path of PERT. This can be ascertained by slack calculation, where
the activities have the total value of free slack (FS) & total slack (TS) = 0. After finding the
critical path, the next stage is to evaluate the variance (h) and standard deviation (I) for every
activity.
While calculating the settling time by PERT, the probability of closure construction time can be
calculated by deviation formula (j).
BEFORE AFTER
NO. ACITIVITY TIME START FINISH START FINISH FREE FLOAT
TOTAL
FLOAT
1 A 3 0 3 0 3 0 0*
2 B 5 3 8 3 8 0 0*
3 C 10 8 18 8 18 0 0*
4 D 12 18 30 18 30 0 0*
5 E 6 18 24 18 45 0 21
6 F 12 24 36 45 57 0 21
7 G 10 30 40 30 40 0 0*
8 H 17 40 57 40 57 0 0*
9 I 20 57 77 57 77 0 0*
10 J 25 57 95 57 95 13 13
11 K 18 77 95 77 95 0 0*

12 L 15 36 51 57 115 0 64
13 M 30 95 125 95 125 0 0*
14 N 10 51 125 115 125 64 64
15 O 6 125 131 125 131 0 0*

Probability = 1-0.2546 = 0.7454 Based from the above measurement outcome, Z = -0.66,
the value of 0.2546 (from the normal distribution table), d is probable or likely to beat the project
by 74.54 percent.

Gaint Chart:

TASK 3
Project management strategies to determine suitability of the project:
In order to analyse how project management is affecting an organisation's growth, certain
solutions such as PERT and CPM are applied (Smith, Whitelegg and Williams, 2013). The effect
of these techniques can be initially recorded in log book and then can be summarised in the main
report. These are program evaluation and review techniques which are statistical tools used in
project management to identify and resolve any problems. It is a critical path method which is
used to assist the project manager in scheduling the activities. This was designed to analyse as
well as represent the tasks involved in completion of a certain project. The problem identified in
given scenario relates to replacing cement in concrete to substitution of virgin materials by
recycled ones. Above stated methods are explained below:
PERT: It stands for program evaluation review technique which consists of preparing
charts used to plan various task within a program. This is a project management tool by which a
person can calculate how much time will it take to completely finish a task. With coming of
PERT, it has made easy for the people working in an organisation to co-ordinate and
communicate problems faced when completing a task. This holds the ability to plan & control
time as it is event-oriented. These are basically suitable for research & development projects
undertaken by management in an organisation. Initially at the beginning of a project, this can be
recorded in the log book and as time passes by then it can be summarised in the main report.
The problem listed in the scenario states that how replacement of cement in concrete has
been substituted with virgin materials by recycled ones. Due to emerging level of pollution, it is
very difficult to recycle construction waste materials as that consists of high amount of chemical
waste. However, with increasing population the amount of waste recovered on a daily basis is

wide. In relation to that, if these materials are used in construction of a building then it will be
beneficial as that will cost low, reduce the amount of waste material generated. And since
cement is priced very high so by replacing it with virgin raw materials or recycled waste, this can
prove out to be a huge success for government as well as companies.
CPM: This stands for critical path method which is used in process planning by defining
different ways in which a problem can be identified and is generally prepared to identify various
set of paths that can reach to a common goal or objective. It is defined as a systematic technique
of project management used by managers to well define activities in a project. This is a method
which control costs as it is an activity-oriented technique and can be evolved as a construction
project. There are several steps involved in CPM which are defining the required task to be
performed, creating a flowchart or any other form of diagram to minimally present the issue,
identification of both crucial as well as non-crucial route within the project allocated,
determining the expected duration in which the solution can be attained, analysing different
routes that can reach to identify & resolve a problem by choosing the best alternative available.
Initially at the beginning of a project, this can be recorded in the log book and as time passes by
then it can be summarised in the main report.
The problem mentioned in the scenario states that how replacement of cement in concrete
can be substituted with virgin materials by recycled ones. If these materials are used in
construction of a building then these can result to be harmful as it cannot use decompose or any
other waste which is rotten vegetables or fruits. However, it can be beneficial for the civil
engineers as any garbage or waste can be literally gathered from anywhere due to rise in
population and lack of awareness among people. By using recycled materials or waste, this can
lead in cost saving for the organisation.
Justification of preferred project with initial project chosen: The project that has been
opted relates to two types of project management techniques i.e. PERT & CPM to identify &
resolve the problem of replacing cement in concrete to substitution of virgin materials by
recycled waste. However, to tackle with the identified problem initial solutions that were used
include research methods, feasibility studies, project identification etc. These consists of use of
questionnaires, surveys, experiments etc. whereas the preferred solution i.e. project management
tools list ways & techniques that can be implemented while solving the issue. It has proved to be