# Blockchain and Information Integration: Applications in New Zealand's Prefabrication Supply Chain
## 3 Research Design  
This study uses an exploratory approach for identifying the communication channels in the prefabricated construction supply chain of New Zealand. A questionnaire survey was utilised to (1) identify the modes of information exchange between prefabrication projects' clients and contractors, and (2) explore the qualities of information critical for the enhancement of the prefabrication supply chain. Many studies have utilised questionnaire surveys for collating experts' perspectives and ideas on the construction supply chain [9; 52]. The questionnaire survey comprised three sections. A summary of the definitions was provided to the respondents in the opening statement. The next section obtained the preliminary demographic information of the participants. It is worth noting that respondents were requested to identify which major sector they belonged to, whether clients or contractors. Subsequently, participants were asked to respond to a number of questions associated with channels of information exchange and attributes of information. Multiple-choice questions were incorporated in the questionnaire survey to gain respondents' answers regarding the types of information technology used for communication with other stakeholders. This was followed by five-point Likert scale questions to measure the participants' degree of agreement with the importance of information attributes to the success of New Zealand's prefabrication supply chain. Responses ranged on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Respondents were also given an extra \"Other\" option with a textbox to provide their comments/other information. After pre-testing of the questionnaire survey, it was sent to PrefabNZ which has about 350 members across the design and construction sector ([[https://www.prefabnz.com/Membership](https://www.prefabnz.com/Membership)]([https://www.prefabnz.com/Membership](https://www.prefabnz.com/Membership)), accessed on 1 April 2021). The study uses a convenience sampling strategy by first targeting a few familiar PrefabNZ members and using snowball approach to recruit future respondents amongst their acquaintances. This snowball sampling method was utilised because of the challenges associated with accessing all PrefabNZ members. Snowball sampling is efficient and cost effective [53], and mainly helpful for conducting surveys in which respondents are required to have relevant experience or knowledge on a particular subject [54]. Forty-one valid responses were obtained from experts who received the questionnaire. The demography of respondents can be viewed in Table 1.  
Figure 1: Knowledge gap design. In this study, a descriptive analysis technique was employed. Two steps were taken for the analysis: (1) Communication channels and (2) critical information attributes. First, the multiple-choice responses regarding the channels used for information exchange were split into three groups (detailed design, construction and handover) and the frequency of each response was counted and divided by the total number of responses in each phase. Then, the analysis for the second step was conducted based on the respondent's answers to the questions set out in the Likert scale. An average value of greater than or equal to 2.6 for each question was deemed significant. Errors and biases were lessened by sequencing and writing the questions precisely and succinctly without authors' interpretations, ensuring the reliability and validity of the findings. Moreover, as using subjective data in the questionnaire survey may increase the researcher's bias [55], we avoided that by promising confidentiality of data to the respondents, highlighting the importance of the subject and emphasising the significance of the accuracy of data that they provide.