Comparing Qualitative Analysis Techniques for Construction Engineering and Management Research: The Case of Arctic Water Infrastructure

Identifying the Built, Natural, and Social Factors of Successful and Failed Rural Alaskan Water Projects: Perspectives from State and Regional Professionals

“…The qualitative coding process outlined and categorized segments of interest for each interview transcript and assimilated these coded segments with similar findings, ideas, and themes across the breadth of interviews. The analysis took an iterative approach to coding, revisiting interview transcripts, and recoding segments as new categories emerged (i.e., inductive qualitative analysis). , While the research team used a list of questions to facilitate interviews, we did not use a predetermined list of coded categories to allow themes to emerge in the codes …”

“…The excerpts were categorized into four categories: (1) successful project attributes, (2) failed project attributes, (3) factors that matter to drinking water projects, and (4) advice and propositions. These parent codes were then analyzed and further segmented into the natural, built, and social system factors defined by the NSF (i.e., deductive qualitative analysis). ,, Each system factor (i.e., project attribute) includes child codes that describe a specific factor (e.g., water quality and regulatory compliance). System factors were coded as a successful or failed project attribute based on respondents’ explicit definitions, while “factors that matter to drinking water projects” encompassed topics that arose during separate questioning.…”

“…Here, we define a drinking water project as the process behind establishing access to drinking water, resulting in a final product: a drinking water system. Our hybrid approach to qualitative analysis (i.e., deductive content analysis with subsequent inductive coding) determined vital attributes and trends associated with successful and failed drinking water projects, discussions of water treatment and elements, and social equity and inclusion considerations within the context of rural Alaska. We seek to communicate these organizational stakeholders’ viewpoints rather than solely providing our own ideas to cocreate knowledge regarding drinking water project implementation.…”

Second Special Collection on Research Methodologies in Construction Engineering and Management

“…The authors propose procedural and statistical controls to mitigate the impact of this issue. • Spearing et al (2022) shows how three different qualitative analysis techniques applied to the same case study can be used to extract different data that can highlight different aspects of the case leading to different conclusions. Deductive content analysis provides a somewhat quantitative approach and is useful for comparison to existing frameworks.…”

Small Drinking Water Utilities’ Resilience: The Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…27,28 Presently, the literature comparing the operation and maintenance (O&M) of smaller and larger DWUs in emergencies is limited. 29,30 Additionally, few studies have examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium water utilities in the United States. This absence in the literature prevents us from comprehensively understanding how large-scale disruptions impact the resiliency and adaptability of critical water infrastructure.…”