The image of the construction industry: a cross sectional analysis

Abstract

A postal survey is described aimed at identifying the major factors associated with the image of the both the UK and Hungarian construction industries in terms of the differences in attitudes between the ages, gender, education, occupation, and various measures of construction industry experience of the respondents. The survey, conducted simultaneously in both countries in early 1988, produced a total of 409 and 456 complete responses in the UK and Hungary respectively on a wide range of topics covering both the products and processes of the industries concerned.

Using a multivariate technique, it was possible to separate the effects of each dependent variable on the independent variables. These were reduced routinely to a group of significant effects which were then considered for the purposes of hypothesis generation.

The major findings of the work indicate a dominating influence of direct personal experience, rather than reported evidence, on attitude formation. Respondents with the most industry experience were found to have a lesser regard for the influence of authority generally, and management in particular, on industry performance, than others.