Social science and construction - an uneasy and underused relation

摘要

The construction field, its people, its processes, its technologies and its industry are all going through changes and many of us have vested interests in trying to make sense of, interpret and understand the phenomena that evolve. Some actors frequently emphasize that productivity in the construction industry and construction business is low. BIM and Lean often have been presented as potential remedies for these problems of productivity. But what is the role of research in helping to understand these changes? Some researchers have mobilized the relevance argument and would like to change the focus of research on construction. It can be posited that if the aim is to understand changes "better", then there is a need for practice related research, and also more "holistic" and integrated approaches which require interdisciplinary research. It is such problematization which is the setting for this special issue.