x University
Dr. X
The Influence of Project Managers on Project Success Criteria and Project Success by Type of Project
There is a large body of research that supports the importance of effective project management and completion. The mixed method study, completed by Ralf Muller and Rodney Turner (2007), considered the impact of project managers, including attitudes and management methods, as qualitative factors, and age and overall success rate, as quantitative factors, on project completion and success. It should be noted that this was particularly interesting because it considered not only construction related project success but grouped findings by industry and then considered the comparative impact of different features according to industry, and industry success as it related to one another. The study specifically determined that there is a critical link between importance and achievements (Muller & Turner, 2007). This is to say, that the factors which impact project success are directly tied to the industry or type of project in question. This specifically relates to my study in that it provides a unique point of view regarding the factors the effect project success.
Risk assessment and allocation in the UAE construction
Mixed media research as it relates to construction projects, specifically, however is more limited. A mixed method study was conducted by Sameh Monir El-Sayegh (2008) used a mixed method approach to identify and asses the risk factors for construction specifically in the UAE. This is helpful to my research, when compared to the previous study, because it is extremely specific, when considering the factorial impact on construction, from a more broad point pf view. In this mixed method study, a questioneer was used to collect data regarding a number of quantitative and qualitative variables, as they relate to project success. More specifically, the study considered the impact of: “economic risks such as inflation and sudden changes in prices, shortage in material and labor supply, owner risks such as unrealistic construction schedule, improper intervention and changes in design, and political, social and cultural risk factors (El-Sayegh, 2018). Thee article specifically determined that risk factors are more related to the contractors than the owners, while some risks could be deemed shared.
Summary
My intended topic of study is focused on construction projects in the UAE, and considers there key points of performance : cost, schedule, and risk and uncertainty management (El-Sayegh, 2008; Muller & Turner, 2007). The purpose is to create a more through body of knowledge as it relates to project management and project framework, to improve project success rates overall. The consideration of success factors that are common among all industries like those identified by Muller & Turner, (2007) must be considered in cohesion with UAE specific factors (El-Sayegh, 2008) in order to apply best practices which can benefit the UAE construction as it relates to the global market or industry competitiveness.
Questions
Most of the articles I’ve encountered in my literary reviews utilized a qualitative design. My intended topic is project success and outcomes. Do you think a mixed method approach would work for this type of study? The data collection technique used, most commonly, seems to be collection of a survey, with self-reported data. Dos is create meaningful limitation?
References:
El-Sayegh, S. M. (2008). Risk assessment and allocation in the UAE construction industry. International Journal of Project Management, 26(4), 431-438. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.07.004
Müller, R., & Turner, R. (2007). The Influence of Project Managers on Project Success Criteria and Project Success by Type of Project. European Management Journal, 25(4), 298-309. doi:10.1016/j.emj.2007.06.003
Part 2:
Qualitative and quantitative methods are attractive for different reasons because they consider, and measure very different sets of information. The qualitative data collects observations that are significant but cannot be measured while quantitative data considers the numbers involved. Mixed method designs are beneficial when, for example, when a topic needs explored from every given angle, and not all factors can be quantitatively measured.
As such, both quantitative and qualitative approaches are completely legitimate research design styles. Which of the three methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed) is most appropriate to use depends on what needs to be studied or understood, and how variables can be best described. All three methods are equally valid but applicable to different research designs, or research questions. Mixed method can extend the total understanding of a research problem by allowing us to consider the research from a greater number of perspectives, or including a more comprehensive view of variables.
In order to be an effective researcher you have to be able to select the method of collecting data, and measuring that data that is most relative to the research question at hand. That means being conversant in all the tools at your disposal to answer that question, including both quantitative and qualitative designs. I think that in the world, and in research, it is easy to see things as black and white, when in reality, there are lots of thing that are more complex to understand. Not all relative factors can be counted, measured, or broken down into right and wrong. As such, it is important for observation to play a role in determining those things that cannot be mathematically measured. To become a more effective researcher I have to become better at identifying the variables I want to study, and how best to measure them. This can be done by studying how other researchers have approached similar problems as well as getting comfortable with the language and the formats of various research approaches.
