Post-disaster housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka : what methodology?

Amaratunga, N; Haigh, RP; Ingirige, Bingunath

Abstract

Research methodology is the procedural framework within which the research is conducted. This includes the overall approach to a problem that could be put into practice in a research process, from the theoretical underpinning to the collection and analysis of data. Choice of methodology depends on the primary drivers: topic to be researched and the specific research questions. Hence, methodological perspectives of managing stakeholder expectations of PDHR context are composed of research philosophies, research strategy, research design, and research techniques. This research belonged to social constructivism or interpretivism within a philosophical continuum. The nature of the study was more toward subjectivism where human behavior favored voluntary stance. Ontological, methodological, epistemological, and axiological positioning carried the characteristics of idealism, ideographic, anti-positivism, and value laden, respectively. Data collection comprises two phases, preliminary and secondary. Exploratory interviews with construction experts in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka were carried out to refine the interview questions and identify the case studies. Case study interviews during the secondary phase took place in Sri Lanka. Data collected at the preliminary stage were used to assess the attributes of power, legitimacy/proximity, and urgency of stakeholders to the project using Stakeholder Circle™ software. Moreover, the data collected at secondary phase via case studies will be analyzed with NVivo 8. This article aims to discuss these methodological underpinnings in detail applied in a post-disaster housing reconstruction context in Sri Lanka.

Citation

Amaratunga, N., Haigh, R., & Ingirige, B. (2015). Post-disaster housing reconstruction in Sri Lanka : what methodology?. SAGE Open, 5(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015583072

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jul 23, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: SAGE Open
• Print ISSN: 2158-2440
• Electronic ISSN: 2158-2440
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 1-7
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015583072
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244015583072
• Related Public URLs: http://sgo.sagepub.com/content/5/3/2158244015583072
• Additional Information: Access Information : © The Author(s) 2015 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).