Investigating The Practice Relevance Of Contemporary Estate Management Research In Nigeria

Abstract

The continuous development of membership proficiency is a principal objective of professional bodies. Some of the outcomes of this pursuit are new thinking and new knowledge typically generated, discovered or established by redefining old problems, creating insights and seeking better ways of doing things. These serve to drive proficiency and the advancement of learning. Undeniably, therefore, professions stand to gain from research which appropriately addresses issues of relevance to their functions in society. In this study which focuses on contemporary estate management and valuation research in Nigeria, an online database search was combined with primary data gathering using an empirical survey based on a structured questionnaire administered to estate surveyors and valuers in Benin City. The search and subsequent analysis reveals four main research issues. The first, transaction data inadequacy, is connected with the three others. The next two, valuation variances and valuation inaccuracies are connected with data inadequacy just as the fourth, which is, using an inapt approach to estimate market value in Nigeria’s data-challenged situation, may produce variances and inaccuracies. The minor research issues include land administration and property management. The findings reveal that 69.33% of respondents are aware of research recommendations on the challenges; 70.66% recognise as practice-relevant these data-related issues; and 76.00% regard the researchers’ main recommendations as appropriate. Given the majority of respondents who believe that the issues are practice-relevant, the suggestion is that their resolution has implications for practice, particularly because they concern the profession’s core valuation function for which data availability, accuracy and validity are essential. The conclusion is that the investigated research works are professionally relevant, with the potential to contribute to practice. However, the fact that a central data bank is not yet available suggests that practice is yet to benefit from this research.