The productivity puzzle: Is it just about the data?

Measuring construction industry productivity at any level above that ofsite activities such as bricklaying or plastering remains a vexed question.A variety of methods have been developed and tested but results areoften far from consistent with different methods that appear equally validin theory producing quite different results. A recent study conducted inAustralia demonstrated the application of different methods that producedsome similar results but with some care required in the analysis of theoutcomes. Another example showed large variations in results followingthe application of a similar method to different yet apparently equallyvalid datasets. Analysis of these studies shows that it seems likely thatthe differences are often a function of the quality of the data rather thanthe underpinning theory. The second example displayed methodologicalproblems as well as data reliability issues.