This thesis is written from the perspective of a practitioner with many years of experience within this field of study. The author therefore takes a practical approach in undertaking the research. 

The lack of previous research in this field of study was one of the attractions of undertaking this topic for study, and is an attribute which gives added academic value to the thesis. However the lack of published literature created initial difficulties whilst compiling a knowledge base from which the analysis could evolve. To overcome this problem it required a method of research which was based on two forms of analysis. The first or primary form is an analysis of practical events, processes and structures which forms the knowledge base of the topic, and this primary analysis is not reliant on academic concepts and models. Rather it stems from a practical level of analysis which provides the cohesion to the written and oral evidence available on the topic. This practical analysis serves two purposes, it brings together the strands of knowledge and expands the level of understanding of the concepts involved. For example, the training levy introduced by the Construction Industry Training Board was recognized as a control mechanism for the funding of training, but from a practical analysis it was possible to show that in fact the levy discriminated against smaller size employers and thus served to restrain the level of training instead of encouraging it as was the original intention.

Therefore the description of events, processes and structures that form the content of the study in itself involves analysis based on the interpretation of available evidence. The secondary stage involved, secondary analysis in terms of the model adopted for the two case studies of craft and technician provision. The model was an adapted form of the Becher and Maclure model which was originally devised for higher education, and is presented in their book "Process and Structure in Higher Education"