Thematic analysis
As mentioned earlier in this report, four key themes arising from the initial research for the Systemic Risks Report were the subject of discussion during the focus groups.
In this report, a thematic analysis has been undertaken of comments made by focus groups participants in relation to each theme. More specifically, for each theme:
- key topics and issues that were raised by focus group participants have been identified; and
- for each issue, nuances of approach and/or perspective between focus group participants have been identified and analysed.
While comments made by focus group participants have informed the findings in this report, it is important to note that these are comments made by a limited number of sectoral participants. The comments cannot be taken to be representative of the relevant stakeholder group, nor reflective of the views of the ARBs. Nonetheless, the comments do highlight beliefs and opinions that exist within the sector, which have helped to deepen the ARBs’ understanding of systemic risks facing the Australian architecture sector.
Further information
The thematic analysis of focus group comments has been supplemented with further information to assist in providing relevant insights in relation to issues arising from the focus group discussions, particularly in areas of disagreement between focus group participants.
Given that a thorough review and consideration of relevant literature was undertaken for the Systemic Risks Report, limited additional information has been considered for this report and is confined to material that is directly relevant to points raised during the focus groups.
Structure
The subsequent chapters of this report concern each of the four themes covered by the focus groups – namely, client-architect relationships and agreements, D&C procurement, NCC compliance and disruptive change.
In particular, each chapter includes the following for the relevant focus group theme covered by that chapter:
- key issues raised during the focus group;
- findings based on cumulative research and findings from the Systemic Risks Report and the analysis of focus group comments; and
- insights and implications from the findings.
The final chapter of this report includes conclusions arising from the thematic analysis.
Appendix C contains a structured summary of comments made by focus group participants. The ARBs’ comments have been added to this summary in cases where focus group participant comments are clearly incorrect or based on misconceptions, but this was only necessary in a very limited number of instances. Individual participants have not been identified when referencing focus group comments, although abbreviations have been used to identify the relevant stakeholder group that made a comment and the focus group they participated in. The abbreviations to identify the source for each comments are set out in Appendix D.
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