AN ETHNOGRAPHIC METHOD TO COLLECT INPUT DATA FOR FORMAL SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSES OF PROJECT TEAMS

A sound understanding of internal communication networks is essential for the strategic design of high performance project teams. Formal social network analysis (SNA) promises to improve such understanding. However, traditional survey methods to collect data for SNAs that rely on averaging disparate survey answers across large populations do not lend themselves well to collect data for the analysis of construction project teams that are characterized by a small team size and a high communication density. To overcome this problem, we introduce a formal method of how to collect and quantify social communication network data by using ethnographic techniques. In particular, the method relies on collecting data by interviewing project team members using an open-ended, ethnographic interview format. Using the interview data the method then suggests analyzing and consecutively quantifying the language the respondents use to describe their communication behavior with others. To show first validity for the method, we present results of an initial data analysis from two construction projects. In particular, we use the method to quantify data for formal SNAs by analyzing the two project networks with respect to how well the specific teams were able to implement a new technology. The initial results show that the method provides input data for meaningful SNAs