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Riemer, J W (1975) On building buildings: The social organization of a transitional work setting, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of New Hampshire.

• Type: Thesis
• Keywords: culture; personnel; social organization; social science; construction project; specifications; builder; construction worker; electrician; owner; participant observation; sociology
• ISBN/ISSN:
• URL: https://www.proquest.com/docview/302801501
• Abstract:
  This research was designed to illuminate the sociological aspects of building construction work. The social organization of the construction project and the social processes involved in the building of buildings are systematically described and explained. More specifically the work culture of building construction workers was delineated by focusing on their "work world". Emphasis was given to their occupational identities, system of social stratification, and work and non-work activities on the job. Second, the transitional nature of the work setting was used to illuminate the relationship between persons' behavior and the inanimate physical setting in which that behavior occurs. Three alternative explanatory frameworks were simultaneously employed as informal hypotheses. 1. To what extent can the work setting (inanimate physical setting) be regarded as dominant and determining the nature of the existing behavioral system (workers behavior patterns), that is, are persons "used" (externally constrained and managed) by the conditions of their physical setting? Here it was expected that the work setting, including changes in it, influences workers' behavior. 2. To what extent can the behavioral system be regarded as dominant and determining the uses to which the work setting is put, that is, is the physical setting "used" (manipulated) by the persons acting in it? Here it was expected that workers' behavior, including changes in behavior patterns, influences the work setting. 3. To what extent can the work setting, and the behavioral system be regarded as mutually interdependent. Here it was expected that workers’ behavior patterns would both influence and be influenced by the changing conditions of their work setting. The research was conducted on a building construction project near a large mid-western city during the summer of 1973. This setting provided a natural location that was in constant structural transition while bounded in time and space. A longitudinal research design was used. The sample included all the workers on the project. A phase analysis was used to compare the behavior patterns of three groups of workers (those who did the "roughing work"; those who did the "finishing work"; and those who did both) with two transitional phases of the physical setting (the roughing phase and the finishing phase). The methodological techniques employed included: participant observation; selective, focused interviewing; and the use of available records and documents e.g., architectural drawings and job specifications. Considerable reliance was placed on the previous entree the investigator had in this city. He worked there for eight years as a building construction electrician. Evidence indicates that there is a mutual inter-dependence between the physical setting and the persons acting in it. Tradesmen were both "used" by the physical setting and "used" it to their advantage. The process of constructing a building progresses in an evolutionary manner with workers exhibiting cruder behavior patterns during the initial stage and more sophisticated behavior patterns during the latter stage. Buildings are not constructed in a systematic and organized manner. Rather, workers and management personnel, although skilled in their work, "muddle through" the entire sequence. This results in a completed building that is permeated with structural and processual imperfections. Mistakes are an essential aspect of building construction, and future owners end up accepting this unexpected product out of a compromise with the builder. The continually changing inanimate physical structure of the building project (transitional work setting) is seen to hinder social organization among the workers. It is argued that the inanimate physical setting in which behavior occurs is of critical importance for understanding human social behavior. This variable, however, has been generally ignored or treated as ancillary in most social science research. A behavioral setting model and typology for the study of work settings are developed and suggestions are offered for future research.

Yari, N (2018) New model for bridge management system (bms): Bridge repair priority ranking system (brprs), case based reasoning for bridge deterioration, cost optimization, and preservation strategy, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of New Hampshire.