Going Virtual: Distributed Communities in Practice

APPENDIX 1: THE METHOD

It is perhaps worth spending some time describing the method that was used for the study as it proved particularly useful in the detailed exploration of the inner workings of a CoP and could well prove useful in general CoP work. For the study, I adapted Beyer and Holtzblatt's (1998) Contextual Design method, as it provides support in the handling and analysis of the large volume of rich data created by ethnographic approaches. It is a multi-layered approach to understanding work, including cultural and social views. This would appear to be a useful tool in gaining an improved understanding of CoPs.