Research Methodology Report: Construction Industry, Myanmar, Analysis

This report presents a comprehensive overview of the research methodology employed to investigate quality management within the construction industry of Myanmar. It outlines the research framework, beginning with an introduction to research methodology and its constituent elements, including ontology, philosophy, and approach. The report identifies objectivism as the ontological stance and positivism as the research philosophy, justifying these choices based on the need for measurable and objective data. A deductive research approach is adopted, and a mixed-methods research design is implemented to leverage both qualitative and quantitative methods. The research strategy involves surveys and action research, focusing on the problems and quality issues in the construction industry. A cross-sectional time horizon is used, with primary data collected through questionnaires and interviews from a sample of 80 employees. The report details the sampling techniques (random and purposive), ethical considerations, and definitions of quality within the construction context, referencing relevant literature.

RUNNING HEAD: Research Methodology
Research Methodology

Research Methodology 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research Ontology...........................................................................................................................3
Research Philosophy........................................................................................................................3
Positivism.....................................................................................................................................4
Realism.........................................................................................................................................4
Interpretivism...............................................................................................................................4
Research Philosophy Selection and Justification............................................................................4
Research Approach..........................................................................................................................4
Deductive Research Approach type.............................................................................................4
Inductive Research Approach type..............................................................................................4
Research Approach selection and Justification............................................................................5
Research Design..............................................................................................................................5
Qualitative Research Design........................................................................................................5
Quantitative Research Approach.................................................................................................5
Mixed Methods Research Design................................................................................................5
Research Design selection and justification.................................................................................5
Research Strategy............................................................................................................................6
Research Strategies Selection and Justification...........................................................................6
Time Horizon...................................................................................................................................6
Cross-Sectional Study..................................................................................................................6
Longitudinal Studies....................................................................................................................6
Time Horizon Selection and Justification....................................................................................6
Data Collection Methods.................................................................................................................6
Data Collection Methods Selection and Justification..................................................................7

Research Methodology 2
Size of Population in research.........................................................................................................7
Techniques of Sampling..................................................................................................................8
Random Sampling........................................................................................................................8
Sample Sizing..............................................................................................................................8
Purposive Sampling.....................................................................................................................8
Code of Ethics..................................................................................................................................8
What is Quality?..............................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10

Research Methodology 3
Research Methodology
Introduction
Research Methodology can be defined as the backbone of a research which enables a researcher
to conduct a perfect research by deciding the method to be applied along with the reason for its
application.
The individual parts of epistemology, ontology, research approach, research philosophy and
research methodology constitutes a research methodology framework. All the structural details
like the nature and intention of the research, methods, philosophies, etc. are included to make it a
complete research.
Moreover, method classification is made for the purpose of conducting this research. Suitable
research paradigm has been chosen by the researcher and justification has been provided for the
same.
Research Ontology
The term ontology can be defined as the engagement of the series of philosophies for social
science, natural science, arts and humanities. This term is basically connected with research and
acts as the assumptions regarding the nature of reality for the purpose of study of things and is
known as ontological view. Ontology are of two kinds- objectivism and subjectivism.
Objectivism is the presence of social truths that are self-determining and not related with any
other social factors but reliant onto the using of quantifiable and recognizable factors. On the
other side, subjectivism is the realism which is prejudiced by the outlooks, emotions and other
social factors. Therefore, the following research is considered to be objectivism of ontology
since measurable facts like literature reviews are used for the purpose of this research and is not
affected by feelings and emotions of the researcher.
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is the consideration of the ways for the collection of data, analysis,
evaluation and implementation of a particular occurrence in the case scenario. Research
philosophy are of three types- positivism, realism and interpretivism.

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Positivism
The gathering of observable and true data is positivism. This philosophy is used in statistics and
experiments with a view to prove the natural phenomenon. Structural methodology is applied by
the positivist researchers for the purpose of providing stress onto capable observations.
Realism
Realism is quite similar to positivism and is all about inspecting scientific position of the
research philosophy. It becomes more clear when the contrast of two kinds of realism take place
in the research.
Interpretivism
Interpretivism means different viewpoints on the reality of knowledge is evaluated from different
perceptions, therefore, the empathetic stance must be considered while selecting interpretivist
philosophy.
Research Philosophy Selection and Justification
The following research is a positivism and is not influenced by human perception and social
factors. The intention of the research is to recognize the quality issues in the Myanmar’s
construction industry by using questionnaires, theories and measurements.
Research Approach
Research Approach is dependent on the research framework and chosen in accordance with the
design of the research grounded on the timing to collect the data and the consideration of
theories. There are two types of research approach- deductive and inductive.
Deductive Research Approach type
In this type, the researcher investigates regarding the problems faced by the organization and
uses theories for answering the research questions by taking into account the literature reviews of
other researchers.
Inductive Research Approach type
This research approach start with observation and complete data collection and then the flow of
the topic is detected and hypothesis is performed. Lastly, certain theory is provided to the
researcher at the time of conclusion after the analysis.

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Research Approach selection and Justification
In this research, deductive research approach is applied and initial reviewing of the problems and
quality issues in the Myanmar’s construction industry. After that, the collection of data along
with analysis is performed by the researcher on the basis of literature reviews and hypothesis are
verified in that chosen industries.
Research Design
It is a general plan which determines the way the research questions will be answered. The main
strategies of the research is required to be identified by the researcher to achieve coherence
throughout the research design.
Research design are of three kinds- qualitative, quantitative and mixed method and each of the
methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Qualitative Research Design
It is concerned with achieving the understanding of the research topic instead of analyzing of
charts and quantities. Qualitative research design involves an interpretive philosophy. There is no
standardization of data and even researcher can be changed in between the research.
Quantitative Research Approach
It is concerned with the collection of data in which data analysis procedures generates
relationship between quantifiable numeric data and variables such as graphs, tables, etc.
Mixed Methods Research Design
Mixed method is the combination of qualitative and quantitative method and is applied with the
view to overcome the drawback of the research. It allows to obtain comprehensive response to
the research questions.
Research Design selection and justification
Mixed method research design has been applied to get the benefit of qualitative and quantitative
methods and to ensure that the findings of the research are in consistency with the understanding
of the organization.

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Research Strategy
Various strategies are used by a researcher in order to reach the target. It is an action plan with a
view to reach the expected goal. Some of the research strategies are- survey, experiment, case
study, narrative enquiry, etc.
Research Strategies Selection and Justification
In this research, the research goals were aimed by the researcher through the application of
survey and action research strategies. More emphasis is placed on the purposing and figuring out
of the issues and problems of the organization. The researcher aims at utilizing the human
resources for the purpose of improving the output in construction industries.
Time Horizon
Every research require a time frame. Time horizons are of two kinds- cross-sectional studies and
longitudinal studies.
Cross-Sectional Study
It is a typical research that consists of a specific phenomenon during a small and firm time
constraint such as questionnaires which gathers a lot of data within a small time frame and
interviews which are also completed within a short time.
Longitudinal Studies
Its basic purpose is to study and analyze the variations and improvements over time.
Longitudinal Studies is greater in comparison with the cross-sectional studies. A research with
several observations may take many years and can lead to Longitudinal Studies.
Time Horizon Selection and Justification
This research is cross-sectional study as the data was required to be collected within three
months. Moreover, a valid and reliable sample size was limited through the reply of the targeted
audiences.
Data Collection Methods
These are of two types- Primary and Secondary research method. Primary researches are
conducted by the researchers themselves for the collection of data, for example- interviews,

Research Methodology 7
questionnaires, etc. (Wild and Diggines, 2010) On the other hand, secondary research is wholly
dependent on the existing data which is collected by others, for example- books, journals, etc.
Data Collection Methods Selection and Justification
The researcher applied primary data collection method as it appears to be more reliable and valid
for the purpose of given topic Quality Management in construction industries. Moreover,
questionnaires an interviews will be conducted by approaching to the researcher of the
designated organization.
Interviews- Generally it is believed that the employees working at the higher positions can
provide collected knowledge of the problems and provide an overview of the operation processes
of the entire construction industry from a detailed point of view. Therefore, standard questions
must be prepared by the researcher to collect the necessary data from the targeted audiences.
Targeted Audiences- Targeted audiences will be approached by the researcher for the issues and
problems of the research under consideration. The targeted audience in this research are quality
managers, Managing Director, Operations Manager, Operations Supervisors, Quality Staffs and
Production Workers.
Questionnaires- Employees and workers will be approached by the researchers for the purpose of
obtaining answers. Around 14 days are required to prepare the questionnaires covering the areas
of research objectives.
Size of Population in research
This research paper’s aim is to verify that effective Quality Management provides benefit to the
labour workforce in Myanmar. Due to the limitation of time, the research was restricted to one
local construction industry situated in Yangon, Myanmar.
The designated industry of the researcher is having a population size of 100 which includes the
production workers, staffs and managers such that adequate data can be collected for general
insights.

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Techniques of Sampling
Random Sampling
The participants are selected from the chosen population during questionnaires distribution with
a view to provide unbiased results by utilization of the minimalized influenced data collection
(Thompson, 2012).
Sample Sizing
The chosen construction industry has various managers, workers and staff therefore, it is very
time and cost consuming to obtain the feedback from all of them regarding the questionnaires.
Hence, 80 random employees were selected as participants representing 26% of the total
population.
Purposive Sampling
Managing Director, Operations Manager and Quality manager were selected for the purpose of
personal interview with a view to obtain feedback regarding the semi-structured interview
questions. It was expected by the researcher that all the details regarding the present state of
quality management and the issues related with the customer reputation and client satisfaction in
Yangon, Myanmar will be described.
Code of Ethics
The code of ethics require this research to be conducted with the help of data collection methods
like questionnaires and interviews such that participants are required to fill the consent forms in
order to allow the researcher to use the collected data. The researcher ensures that the
confidentiality of the answers are maintained and the privacy of the participants is not harmed.
What is Quality?
Quality can be defined as the lawful, aesthetic and functional necessities of a task which may be
simple or complicated or may be specified in terms of final outcome required or as the
explanation of what is required to be done. The quality is said to be obtained if the indicated
requirements are sufficient and followed properly.
Quality is also defined as professional liability which is a concept of law that necessitates the
professionals to have knowledge about their skill and practice it reliably. It is also believed by

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some design professionals that aesthetics of the facilities determines the quality as it is largely
subjective and the objective definitions of the aesthetic quality still does not exist.
Function is also a basis for the definition of quality by how closely the project follows its
requirements. In the context of construction industry, quality can be defined as the meeting the
requisites of the designer, regulatory agencies owner and constructor.

Research Methodology 10
References
Thompson, S. K. 2012. Sampling. John Wiley & Sons.
Wild, J. and Diggines, C. 2010. Marketing Research. Juta and Company Ltd.