Verification and Validation Framework for Purdue Index for Construction

Abstract

The Purdue index for construction (Pi-C) was previously developed to facilitate and promote data-driven decision-making. Pi-C is an analytical platform that allows stakeholders and decision makers to measure the current health trajectory of the construction industry by gauging increased or decreased trends in five dimensions: (1) economy, (2) stability, (3) social, (4) development, and (5) quality. Pi-C is expected to be developed and extended to a reliable construction index by adding new metrics and dimensions. As such, this research proposes a verification and validation framework of Pi-C to evaluate (1) the stability of the structure, and (2) the connectedness of the network to deal with the missing metrics and the unbalanced structure of Pi-C. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to validate the hierarchical structure and the network of Pi-C. The implementation of the proposed framework was conducted by adding a new metric, supply, under the economy dimension. As a result, it was revealed that adding supply was acceptable, supported by quantitative analysis, and provided the balanced Pi-C structure. Moreover, this research provides a scientific foundation for researchers who attempt to verify or validate the hierarchical structure, which consists of multiple components and test the applicability of newly explored elements in the structure for further development.