CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction
The methodology used to conduct the research for this thesis shall be discussed in this chapter. This includes a description of the methods used to select the case studies, the interviewees and the survey population, as the three methods employed in this study, are, case studies, interviews and a survey. This study is an exploratory research and hence the focus of the case studies, interviews and survey.
It is a qualitative study, seeking to highlight the potential for Malaysian architects to use bamboo as a building material and how they are currently engaging with the material.
3.2 Research Approach
The main source of garnering first person experience in this study is through the first hand semi structured interviews with architects, who have completed building projects, using bamboo as a main building material in Malaysia.
Selected completed bamboo architecture installations shall also be looked at as case studies to highlight how the potential of bamboo has been realized in designs and execution of structures in informal architecture in Malaysia. The survey shall seek to establish an overview of Malaysian architects’ stance on the use of bamboo as a building material.
As this study is looking at a specific profession, and material, all individuals of the population are expected to have the same base knowledge, as their basic training is similar i.e. trained architects. Thus, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire as
used by Gichohi, (2014), shall be employed, in order to ascertain the views of architects on bamboo as a construction material. Assimilating these results, clear and precise conclusions, shall be deducted.
The research flow is shown in the figure 31 below. The order of research methods executed, were; the case studies were carried out first, then the interviews and finally the survey was conducted.
Figure 30 Research flow
Semi structured interviews with architects who have firsthand experience of working with bamboo shall be conducted in order to get a true picture of the realities of working with bamboo in Malaysia, with a survey of all PAM member architects, to ascertain the general perception of architects towards bamboo as a sustainable material. As this study is specifically looking at just bamboo and just architects, semi structured interviews are preferred over focus groups, as the discovery of the selected populations view on the matter shall be determined by the questionnaire and the view expressed shall not be tainted by conflicting interests, since the view of a single stakeholder namely the architect is covered under the scope of study.
Finally, selected completed bamboo structures, designed by architects in Malaysia shall be visited and studied as case studies, as supporting evidence to the architects’ interview, and to better establish the current state of bamboo architecture in Malaysia.
3.3 Research Design
The purpose of this research is to highlight the potential of the use of bamboo as an alternative building material in Malaysia. This research is a phenomenological study, following the classic theory of phenomenology being a work in research which emphasizes first person experience as stated by Wertz et al (2011). In doing this, the research methodology selected is qualitative research and the three research methods used which are traditional methods of qualitative studies were; case study, survey and interview, as highlighted by the research framework in figure 30, below.
Figure 31 Research Framework
The case study was designed to focus on flooring, walling, roofs and
columns, making use of bamboo as a construction material, as a modified expansion
on the method of Gichohi (2014) on “Factors influencing the use of Bamboo as a flooring construction material: a case of garden city project–Nairobi County,Kenya” . The interviews were focused on architects and other stakeholders who have
completed bamboo projects within Malaysia, modified from the focused groups conducted by Giesekam (2016) on “construction sector views on low carbon building materials”.
This research is a study on the willingness and ability of architects to use bamboo as a building material. Hence, the questionnaire focuses on comparing bamboo to wood. The specific questions were derived by the researcher, however, the themes for the questioning, was determined by findings from Wang et al, (2018) and Anokoye et al (2016), as those researchers were conducting experimental studies to establish the suitability of bamboo as a replacement for wood as a structural material.
3.4 Research Methods
The methods chosen in this study are the case study, interview and qualitative survey.
For the interviews, although, the focus of the research is on architects in particular within the bamboo construction industry, other relevant stakeholders, namely contractors and relevant government institutions were also interviewed, to provide triangulation of the interview data.
The purpose of the case studies in this study, is to establish how architects and engineers proposed bamboo to be used in structures they designed and to determine if those proposals were executed. As well as how elements constructed with bamboo have fared over time, against the intentions of the designer.
The survey was initially executed as a pilot survey on students of
architecture bachelors program in Univesiti Sains Islam Malaysia, from which the reliability of the results was established, by using the SPSS program to determine if the Cronbach’s alpha value attained is higher than the recommended value of .7, which was found to be .803 after which the main survey was conducted.
3.5 Sampling Strategy
The cases selected and the population targeted in this study are highlighted inn this section for the three methods employed in the study.
3.5.1 Case studies of formal bamboo architecture in Malaysia
This research shall study 6 completed projects, built with bamboo as a construction material. The purpose of these case studies is mainly to address the first objective of this thesis, which is; To reveal how bamboo is being used by Malaysian architects.There was no defining published piece of literature on bamboo architecture in Malaysia discovered during the literature review. Although the use of bamboo in buildings within Malaysia has been highlighted in certain articles and websites, there is no established codex, reference list or book or book chapter highlighting bamboo architecture in Malaysia as a whole. Thus, for the selection of case study buildings, as a reference point and due to the scope of study focusing on only formally trained architects, the KLAF festival, 2019, conducted by PAM was the main reference point for discovering completed bamboo architectural installations, in Malaysia. From that festival, a contact was made with Malaysia bamboo society, the recognized and only bamboo association in Malaysia, which is a national organization and the architectural projects discovered and selected were further corroborated by this group
to be the key completed standing bamboo projects in Malaysia. The main architects with complete bamboo architectural structures in Malaysia, were identified as well.
The method of research employed within the case study, was a site visit, photo and visual observation, and literature on the building.
It was notable that all completed bamboo projects in Malaysia were designed, commissioned and executed by Malaysians, albeit, with the manpower of Indonesian artisans.
The selected case studies for the bamboo projects discovered were:
a) Bamboo Playhouse
b) Bamboo Jungle Adventures c) Bamboo Village
d) Masjid Buluh, Gua Musang e) Tadom Hill Resort
f) Bamboo Ark
The criteria used was that the projects had to be designed and executed under the influence of an architect, structural engineer or both. Thus, ensuring that the structure was erected on the basis and principles of formal education required in the field of building and design.
3.5.1.1.1 Bamboo playhouse.
The bamboo playhouse was completed in the year 2015 when it became the first formal bamboo structure in the country (Peh, 2019). It was commissioned by the city of Kuala Lumpur and as the state was the client, it greatly aided in making sure that the material was optimized and that the final product was recognized, vetted and approved by the state.
It is an internationally recognized piece of architecture as it was highlighted in Dezeen (Mairs, 2015) and Architizer (2015) both of which are internationally recognized, leading architectural digests.
3.5.1.1.2 Bamboo Jungle Adventures
Bamboo Jungle Adventures is owned and run by Ir. Major Ahmad Mazlan Othman, who is a structural engineer, along with his daughter. It was founded in 2013 and is located at Sungai Saputo in Perak. In addition to hosting volunteers and guests, bamboo training is also offered as part of their services, there are different training packages, where one can learn how to grow bamboo, build houses and make furniture with bamboo or even make a bicycle with bamboo.
3.5.1.1.3 Bamboo Village
Bamboo Village is an eco-resort in the Hulu Langat area of Kuala Lumpur, owned and operated by Mr. Ramadhan, a noted bamboo builder in Malaysia. The main designer is Mr Ramadhan himself and he is the main builder as well, with bamboo sourced from the jungle, around the site. However, he was aided by a host of volunteers over the years, including architects and has collaborated with architects and master builders for various structures.
3.5.1.1.4 Masjid Buluh, Gua Musang
The Masjid Gua Musang was opened on 17th March 2018. It is located at Gua Musang in Kelantan and was commissioned by the state with the cooperation of the district council. The structure is intended to be a major tourist attraction for the region emulating the attraction of a bamboo structure, like the bamboo playhouse.
The main architect who designed the structure is architect Muhammad Ihsan.
3.5.1.1.5 Tadom Hill Resort
The Tadom Hill Resort is an amalgamation of the indigenous Orang Asli Temuan of Kampong Bukit Tadom and bamboo culture with the formal bamboo architecture made on reclaimed land from an old sand mine. It is an eco-resort, which embraces and fully integrates the local community into its operations, thus aiming to make both a social and an environmental impact. The use of bamboo at the resort is a point of pride and is highlighted as a way the resort makes it environmentally friendly and sustainable. Ar. Muhammed Ihsan is the architect who designed much of the structures of the resort, which is located at Banting in Selangor.
3.5.1.1.6 Bamboo Ark
The bamboo ark was constructed as part of events marking the KLAF festival organised by PAM in 2019. In particular, the use of bamboo in this structure was chosen, in order to highlight substitute construction materials, as a sub-theme of the shelter component of the festival. The structure is located at APW, in Bangsar, which is right next to the PAM headquarters. Ar. Low Ewe Jin, was commissioned to design and execute the structure and he did so with artisans he flew in from Bali, Indonesia.
3.5.2 Interview
The main purpose for conducting interviews is to answer the second research question which is: What is the current state of the formal bamboo architecture industry in Malaysia? Hence, although this thesis is focused on architects, other stakeholders were also interviewed as resource persons, to give a more complete picture of the bamboo architecture industry in Malaysia.
Interviewees were selected based on preliminary findings from the KLAF2019 festival, attendance of the 2019 Malaysia bamboo society annual general meeting and from literature with a focus to answer the research questions and provide a basis for analysing the survey results. Interviews were recorded with the permission of the interviewee and where permission was not granted, notes were taken on the responses. The interview was semi structured and questions asked were derived based on the research objectives, literature and findings from the survey. One key focus area of the interviews shall be the issue of the available workforce to execute designs.
First, architects who had executed projects in Malaysia were identified and interviewed, and shall be reported in this study as:
I. Architect interviewee one or AI1 II. Architect interviewee two or AI2 III. Architect interviewee three or AI3
Furthermore, in order to get a deeper understanding of the realities of executing a bamboo project in Malaysia, other stakeholders were also identified.
The interviewees were;
I. Supplier / contractor interviewee one or SCI1 II. Supplier / contractor interviewee two or SCI2 III. Bamboo researcher one or BR1
IV. Bamboo researcher two or BR2
3.5.3 Survey
After conducting an in-depth literature review on the use of bamboo in construction globally and the status of bamboo architecture in Malaysia, for this study, a questionnaire survey of member architects of PAM which is an association of professional architects in Malaysia shall be conducted. Architectural designs are done by architects and this study specifically ties to Malaysia, that is the reason for choosing this body as the population. There are up to 528 registered architects in the PAM directory. An online questionnaire survey was distributed to all of them. The questionnaire shall be administered to the subjects online using a google forms link, sent via email and they are to be filled in online. This is because this method is more efficient in terms of cost and time, and the geographical locations listed for offices on the website cover the length and breadth of Malaysia, an area too vast for an individual researcher to cover physically. Furthermore, it gives the respondents more flexibility to answer the survey at their convenience, rather than finding time out of their busy schedules to sit down for a face to face. Also, periodic follow up, to be performed twice a week, should the system detect the form unopened by the respondent and statistical tracking of the number of respondents can be automated in this manner. The entirety of the population targeted was accessible via email for the online survey thus, the method of Gichohi, (2014) to conduct the survey on the entire population was adopted.
3.6 Protocols and procedures
The procedure and protocols were set and followed for the various research methods employed in the study.
3.6.1 Procedure for case studies
The procedure for conducting the case studies in this research is divided into two parts, namely; off-site data collection and on-site data collection.
Off-site data collection shall be conducted, by looking at the literature on the project preliminarily and an interview, with either the architect, engineer or building contractor involved in the project. The literature review shall mainly focus on online resources such as, an official website of the site or project if available, news and journal articles on the site and information gleaned from the websites of stakeholders involved, regarding any relevant details about the project. In addition to the literature review, preliminary interviews with the members of the Malaysia bamboo society, PAM and stakeholders attending the Kuala Lumpur Architecture festival 2019 as well as the Malaysia bamboo society, 2019 annual general meeting, provided initial findings to determine case studies. The aim of this initial review is to gain data about:
− Project name
− Location
− Date project completed
− Chief architect or architectural firm
− Structural engineer
− Contractor
Then, the identified architect, engineer and/or contractor was interviewed as well as part of the off-site data collection. The data gathered from the interviews, focused on:
− Design method
− Construction method
− Workforce/labour
The on-site data collection involved visiting the site. Picture studies and observation were the main method used for data collection. The focus areas were:
− Building type
− Building use
− How was bamboo used in the structure (for walling, roofing, flooring and columns)?
Finally, additional comments and observations about the site, from both on- site and off-site sources were also noted down. The aim of conducting the case study shall be to discover how modern bamboo construction is being carried out in Malaysia.
3.6.2 Protocol for Interviews
The interview is chosen as the primary method for this research, as the study seeks to unearth the individual practices of the architects studied, in their use of bamboo in their projects. The type of interview employed in this study was a semi- structured interview, as architects are busy professionals with tight schedules, any opportunity and use of their time is highly valuable. Hence, it shall be unlikely and unreasonable to consume the extended amount of time, needed to glean the required information through an unstructured interview; whilst a structured interview does not
provide the flexibility to fully explore the phenomenon as per the requirements of the study. This study seeks to determine, investigate and evaluate the relationship between architects and bamboo in Malaysia. As each architect’s experience shall be peculiar to their experience, there will be a need to further delve into certain responses and aspects of the conversation, which the rigid nature of a structured interview does not encourage. Hence, it was determined that the best type of interview method shall be a semi structured interview, allowing for exploration into relevant aspects of responses in the time graciously given by the interviewee.
Furthermore, it is unlikely that the researcher will have more than one chance to have a sit-down interview with the interviewee and semi structured interviews are the best option for this, according to Bernard (1988).
The protocols for the semi structured interviews are outlined in table 6.
Table 6 Interview protocol Introductions
5 minutes Salutations
Briefing on research area
Request permission for recording Request permission for notes Topic 1
10 minutes Reason for selecting bamboo
● Why did you select bamboo as a construction material in your project(s)?
✔ PROBE: Is it the aesthetics that attracted you?
✔ PROBE: Was it the physical properties that attracted you?
✔ PROBE: Was it the cost?
✔ Was it the sustainability of the material (to have a green building)?
Topic 2
15 minutes Use of bamboo
◆ What was the design process to design the project to be made from bamboo?
✔ PROBE: Did you use CAD to design the structure
✔ PROBE: Which components of the building were designed to be made from bamboo?
◆ Did you use raw or engineered bamboo?
✔ PROBE: Was the material readily available?
◆ What was the construction process for using
bamboo?
✔ PROBE: Were there working drawings?
✔ PROBE: Was skilled labour for the type of construction required, readily available?
Topic 3
10 minutes Experience from completing the bamboo project
◆ Was designing with bamboo challenging?
◆ Was having your design executed with bamboo challenging?
Final thoughts 5 minutes
Any additional comments on the topic of discussion
Closing remarks
Express appreciation for the time given.
3.6.3 Survey of architects
The survey of this research is adopted as the main method to answer the third objective; 3. To ascertain the views of Malaysian architects towards bamboo as a building material.
The questionnaire is designed to answer; whether bamboo can be used as the main building material, whether architects believe it can be used in the flooring, walling or roofing of the building, in what architectural form is the bamboo used, the availability of skilled workers to execute design, the availability of the material in the local market, the quality of the available bamboo and design and physical capabilities of the materials, in line with the themes of, desirability, availability, sustainability durability and strength. Questionnaire questions shall be closed ended, on a 5 point Likert scale. This is for greater simplicity and so that a general picture can be derived from the survey on how the architects of PAM as a whole stand on designing for bamboo. There will be additional open-ended questions, to gain better insights
3.7 Methods of Data Analysis
The case studies were analyzed by developing a descriptive framework, (see appendix c) as recommended by Yin (2018, p. 219). Pattern matching was then the specific analytic call method used to determine the “how” and “why” bamboo was used as a construction material. The specific patterns this research focused on was the use of bamboo for the four main elements of a building, namely; walling flooring, roofing and columns, the level of involvement of stakeholders, the design and construction method, the workforce, building use and ownership as well as challenges and attractions experienced in the use of bamboo as a construction material for the case study under review.
The interviews shall be recorded (where permission is granted) and transcribed. Notes are also to be taken, during the interview. These scripts are then to be line by line coded manually. The type of coding used is inductive coding, as this research is exploratory, hence, a code book shall not be created beforehand. The precise method of analysis is thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews.
After receiving the filled in survey, the results shall be analysed, using SPSS software. The survey shall initially have a pilot survey on students of architecture bachelors program in Univesiti Sains Islam Malaysia, from which the reliability of the results shall be established, by using the SPSS program to determine if the Cronbach’s alpha value attained is higher than 0.7, after which the main survey shall be conducted. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation shall be generated of the results which shall be used for results synthesis with the other methods.
In line with the themes highlighted, on the 5 point Likert scale, wood is to be measured on all the same questions on which bamboo is to be measured. This is to act as a control, to cross tabulate (with symmetric measures of Kendall’s tau-b test,
as the cross tabulation is being done for ordinal variables) the results where necessary and better gauge the respondents' perception towards the use and properties of bamboo, with regards to construction, with the p value set at 0.05.
3.8 Ethical Considerations
The two major ethical concerns with regards to this study, namely with regards to interviewees and with regards to survey respondents. The survey questionnaire, issued, had a preamble, in which it was clearly stipulated that individual responses shall be kept confidential and anonymous and this was adhered to. Furthermore, at the completion of the study, the individual responses are permanently deleted and destroyed, thus maintaining the confidentiality of the respondents.
For the interviewees, permission was sought to be recorded and where the interviewee preferred not to be recorded, the interview was conducted with the researcher relying on note taking only for data collection. Furthermore, all generated transcripts and raw data, be it, audio, video or text files are also deleted and destroyed, at the completion of study, Thus maintaining the confidentiality of the interviewees as well.
Furthermore, the identity and name of the respondents respective company or organisation, has also been kept in strict confidentiality in the report. The study also follows the USIM code of ethics for research.
3.9 Problems and Limitations
The main limitation of this research is in the low number of respondents to the survey, despite there being multiple extensions to the survey period and countless efforts to contact and make follow up with architects and their firms. Out of the 595 recipients, 144 bounced, leaving 451 PAM registered architects contacted out of which, the final total respondents were 65, which is 14.4% of the total population of architects tested.
This research focuses on architects within the framework of building with bamboo in the modern construction industry. As such, one limitation of the research is that it does not delve deep into aspects, which other stakeholders within the construction industry are responsible for, extensively. These include supply chain and quantity surveying, as well as market research on clients and aspects of interior architecture and landscape design. The lack of previous research and documentation on modern bamboo architecture in Malaysia, was also a limitation.
3.10 Summary of methodology
This chapter laid out the methodology employed in this research. The methods to be used are; case study, interview and survey. These methods provide results which answer and verify the research question and objectives of this study.
Although the various methods all address each of the three objectives to some degree, each method is structured to focus more on the answering of a research question.
The first research question (How feasible is it to use bamboo in architectural design?) shall be addressed by the case study research method. The case study method adopted in this research (modified from Gichohi, 2014) shall involve two parts, on-site and off-site data collection. The off-site data collection shall involve
literature and interview of stakeholders and the on-site data collection shall involve a site visit, where picture studies and observation shall be employed. The data collected shall be collated into a fact sheet for each case study, paired with the picture studies, found in appendix b.
The research method focusing on the second research question (What is the current state of the formal bamboo architecture industry in Malaysia?) shall be the interviews. Semi structured interviews are to be conducted, in which the interview protocol shall be followed, focusing on three main topics, namely:
− Reason for selecting bamboo
− Use of bamboo
− Experience from completing the bamboo project
Where permission is given, the interviews shall be recorded and transcribed, and notes shall be taken during the interview. This data shall then be coded and categorized using inductive coding and responses on the finalized themes and categories shall be tabulated for each interviewee, as presented in appendix c.
The survey shall seek to answer the final research question of this study (What is the perception of Malaysian architects towards bamboo as a building material?). An online survey shall be conducted, with emails sent with gmass software, via google email account, of a questionnaire survey designed in google forms (see appendix A for sample survey). The results are to be entered into the SPSS statistical software, where descriptive statistics shall be generated., particularly frequency tables, with cross tabulation applied, where further analysis is needed.
