Course syllabus

Course-PM

ACE120 ACE120 Methods and enquiry in organisations lp2 HT24 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner and main teacher

Martine Buser, MB, Associate professor

E-mail: buser@chalmers.se

Teacher course assistants

Janneke van der Leer, JVL, PhD student 

E-mail: janneke.vanderleer@chalmers.se

Elton Chan, EC, post doc

E-mail: elton.chan@chalmers.se

ACE
Sven Hultins gata 8
SE - 412 96 Gothenburg

 

Course purpose

This course introduces and trains students to define, plan, perform and present empirical investigations regarding new developments or challenges related to management in the construction sector. Students will learn how to formulate research questions, select appropriate empirical methods, analyse qualitative and quantitative empirical material, present and report data and findings, reflect upon and motivate methodological choices and understand ethical implications of choices and actions.

The theme for the assignment is “new technology in the construction industry”. The students will be asked to study the potential of one specific technology in the particular context of one of the organizations active in the sector.

Reading : a few papers are mandatory to read, they will be signalised during the lectures. Besides, there is a tool box on Canvas with chapters and articles on the different topics of the lectures that you are asked to use as references.

Tasks: list the work to be done during and or after the session

 

Schedule

Session	Date, time, room	Topic	People
1	Wednesday 4/9	Introduction :
	10.45 – 11.45 SB-M500	Course schedule and activities	MB, JVL, EC
2	Wednesday 4/9	Knowledge:
	13.15 – 16.00 SB-M500	- Former master students - What is knowledge in different contexts? - What we communicate, how and to whom? Tasks  - Create the diary - Introduce team members in the diary - Include project plan and rules of cooperation Read for next Monday   Luker chapter 5 Reviewing the Literature	MB Former students JVL
3	Thursday 5/9	DCPM get-together day
	09.00-17.00  Mandatory	Slottsskogen Lunch included	MB, JVL, EC, DUD, DK
4	Monday 9/9	Knowledge production in academia,
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Why and how we use literature - CHATBOT, rules, use and contribution - Technology topic - Abstract Tasks - See slides Read for Wednesday  Luker Ch. 8 Field (and Other) Methods	JVL
5	Wednesday 11/9	Observation - Interviews - Focus groups
	10.00-11.45 SB-M500	- Three methods and their purpose Tasks - See slides	JVL/EC
6	Wednesday 11/9	Observation - Interviews - Focus groups
	13.15-16.00 SB-M500 Mandatory	- Three methods and their purpose Tasks - See slides Read for Monday Flick chapt. 2 Worldview in social research To watch about paradigms : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xvpxBVCo0c	JVL /EC
7	Monday 16/9	Paradigms
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- What are paradigms - Why do we use theory Tasks - Summarise your answers of today lecture Read for the literature seminar on Wednesday Gabriel Y. (2017). Interpretation, reflexivity and imagination in qualitative research, in ed. Ciesielska, M. & Kozminski, D. Qualitative Methodologies in Business and Management - New Approaches to Current Research Dilemmas, pp. 137-157	MB
8	Wednesday 18/9	Literature seminar
	10.00 – 11.45 SB-M500 Mandatory	- Literature seminar about Gabriel paper Tasks - Summarise the answers of todays seminar (2 pages in the diary)	JVL, MB
9	Wednesday 18/9	Knowledge workshop
	13.15 – 17.00 SB-M500 Mandatory	Tasks - Summary of the group answers to the questions - Photo of your poster + short description Read for Monday Luker chapt. 4 Research interest	MB, JVL,
10	Monday 23/9	SWOT and Translating concept into information
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- SWOT analysis - Working with PF and research	MB
11	Wednesday 25/9	Group work, negotiation and conflict resolution
	13.15– 16.00 SB-M500	- Types of negotiations and resolving conflicts - Group work management	MB
12	Monday 30/9	Master suppression techniques
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- The 7 master suppression techniques and workshops - Peer review on the dairy Read for Wednesday Gibbs Ch.4 Thematic Coding and Categorizing	MB  EC, JVL
13	Wednesday 2/10	Analysis of the empirical material
	13.15– 16.00 SB-M500	- How to analyze your interviews - Discussion structure	EC
14	Monday 7/10	Method chapter
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500 Mandatory	- Method chapter Tasks - Deliver a method chapter for your project	MB
15	Wednesday 9/10	Methods peer review
	09.00 –09.45  10.00- 11.45 SB-M500	- Methods review deadline delivery at 08.00   - Methods peer review in groups - Lecture presentation skills	MB, JVL
16	Wednesday 9/10	Supervision
	13.15-17.00 SB M500	- Content: feedback diary and method  - To be organized with your supervisor	MB, JVL, EC
17	Monday 14/10	Privilege walk
	09.00 – 11.45 SB-M500	- Identity and privilege Read for Wednesday Flick chapt. 3 Ethical issues in social research	MB, JVL
18	Wednesday 16/10	Ethic session
	13.15 – 16.00 SB-M500	- What is ethic? - Ethic in research - Ethics and engineering	MB
19	Thursday 24/10	Presentation of groupwork* 1st round
	08.00 – 17.00 SB-M022	Mandatory	MB, JLV, EC
19 bis	Friday 25/10	Presentation of groupwork* 2nd round
	08.00 – 17.00 SB-M022	Mandatory	MB, JLV, EC

TimeEdit

Course literature

Main reference

Bell E., Bryman A. and Harley B. (2015) Business research methods. OUP, Oxford.

Flick U. (2020) Introducing research methodology, Sage, Thousand Oaks.

Luker K. (2008) Salsa dancing into the social science. Harvard Institute press

Other material such as scientific papers, book chapters and videos will be provided on Canvas.

Course design

This course provides knowledge and practical training in designing and conducting research studies. It consists of lectures, literature seminars and practical exercises in research strategy and design, quantitative and qualitative research approaches, formulation of research questions, interviewing and observation, as well as in data analysis. It includes the following topics:

• Defining and conducting systematic production of knowledge
• Introduction to theory of science
• Engineering ethics
• Reflective practice
• Communication and team work skills

The course includes lectures, exercises, seminars and quizzes aiming at giving the students general knowledge and training practices to conduct research.

Project groups are formed at the beginning of the course, and group supervision is provided. The compulsory activities are listed in the course schedule. 

The groups will be asked to deliver a diary of the project processes with a weekly update of their progression.

The students are required to attend 80% of the sessions; attendance will be checked in the class. Missing mandatory events will be compensated by supplementary assignments.

Changes made since the last occasion

The content of sessions  5, 6, 10 and 13 has been revised.

New references have been added.

The list of technologies has been updated.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

• Reflect upon the notion of knowledge in the context of science, engineering and organisations
• Asses the need for scientific information, search for that information and critically evaluate its relevance
• Analyse specific context to define and delimit a research question
• Select appropriate research methods for fulfilling the research project objectives
• Critically evaluate used methods with consideration to both scientific trustworthiness and ethical aspects
• Interpret and assess the quality of the results from a research project
• Formulate and organise a discussion
• Evaluate whether research has been carried out in a trustworthy and defensible manner

Besides, the students should

• Organise, plan and manage the project work load according to the tasks and the members of the group
• Collaborate professionally according to the project group's needs of structured management and task distribution
• Perform a clear oral presentation of the project result that is well-suited to its intended audience
• Assess and give constructive feedback to other projects group's work
• Reflect on and reason about ethical aspects of engineering work, academic research and corporate codes of conduct according to sustainable concerns
• Show ability to discuss and reflect on equality, diversity and inclusion and in connection to their future professional role be able to challenge existing practices in the construction industry.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

Examination form

You are expected to have read the assigned literature before the beginning of each lecture. This will provide you with the necessary terminology and preconceptions to enable further collective exploration in class.

Participation in mandatory course activities (or a relevant compensation assignment in agreement with the examiner) is a prerequisite for passing the course.

Each group has to attend all the sessions of the course

Exercises done in class will be part of the dairy

Active project group work, including the completed project diary, as well as the presentation material, and oral presentation of the technology, constitutes the group components of the final grade of 90%. 

The project topic is to assess the potential of a given technology for the construction sector. The students will be distributed in groups of 4 members, randomly chosen and have 7 weeks or 600 hours to produce a credible result.

To do so, the students are expected to 

• Plan and organize the project
• Manage the workload, the tasks and the team 
• Possible interviews with companies in weeks 38-39
• Presentation of the results to the class on the 24-25 October (one out of two dates only for each group)
• Attend the course and participate in the workshops
• Document the group’s work in a diary

An individual assessment of the project process constitutes the final 10%. 

The grading builds on:

• The fulfillment of the project diary, including the group’s assignments related to workshops, for 50% of the grade
• The slides and oral presentation of the case study for 40% 
• The individual assessment for 10%
• Students need to participate in at least 80% of the course sessions; attendance will be checked, and supplementary tasks will be given for missing sessions
• Non-participation in group work leads to failure!

The course is graded 5, 4, 3 or fail.