A research methodology for studying distributed communities of practice
by Ben K. Daniel
International Journal of Web Based Communities (IJWBC), Vol. 10, No. 4, 2014

Abstract: Distributed community of practice (DCoP) is a type of a focused virtual (web) community which aims at fostering knowledge sharing and professional development. DCoP as a theoretical framework offers a way of describing and understanding how different sectors and groups can collaborate and work together under distributed circumstances on issues of shared concern. Many disciplines have used DCoP to identify ways of fostering effective collaboration and knowledge sharing with a considerable level of success. For instance, DCoP was used to describe a collaborative platform for engaging clinicians, researchers, policymakers, students and communities to work together in addressing complex clinical problems. Drawing from previous research, this article first describes the notion of DCoP as a knowledge sharing platform. It then presents a research methodology for studying DCoPs.

Online publication date: Fri, 31-Oct-2014

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