Ethnographic Research Design

Nature of the Study

A case study research design was used to explore the internal communication and learning processes of members in small consulting organizations, specifically with regard to the presence and use of virtual communities of practice. Communication effectiveness, as explained to the interview participants, is the ability of members to communicate and learn with each other without unnecessary delays (Coates, 2008).

Effectiveness was evaluated based on the unique perceptions and opinions of the study participants.

A case study research design was appropriate because the design allows flexibility in the collection of multiple types of data (Yin, 2010). To triangulate the data, data were collected from administrators and employees. The case study design was developed from data provided in the interviews of company personnel through semistructured interviews. Other qualitative research designs received consideration but were rejected because case study research allows for an in-depth examination of a single real-world problem through triangulating data from various groups of participants with varying viewpoints.

A phenomenological research approach could be used to explore thoughts and feelings about a particular phenomenon, which is an approach that is often useful for

Ethnographic research is typically used in sociological research where the social backgrounds of the participants are critical to the study. Ethnographic research was not appropriate for this study because the experiences of an ethnically or socially homogenous population were not under examination. Rather, the focus was on exploring the experiences and perceptions of a mixed group of employees and administrators in small consulting organizations, regardless of their ethnic or social