Email Messages

As team members live in different parts of the province, most of our communication took place via email . Therefore, the core of the data for this chapter can be found in the more than 1300 messages team members sent to one another. Marina kept a file with all the messages and used them to analyse the methodological aspect of the research.

Journal and Notes

The team communicated via telephone both as a team with conference calls as well as through one-on-one phone conversations. We took turns taking minutes for every conference call. As well, we all kept notes of these conversations and these notes are also part of the data considered in this chapter. Some team members also wrote journal entries, which they occasionally shared with the team. Details on the above and how they influenced our communication as a team are in the section on Collaborative Research found later in this chapter.

Data Analysis

Marina listened to all team meeting tapes, read all the email messages, read all of her own notes, and those passed on by team members. As themes emerged from these data Marina organized the information accordingly. During the February 2002 team meeting, Marina discussed these themes with team members and got their feedback. Using the team’s input she then re-organized the themes and looked in the data for quotations to confirm or refute the ideas. She then shared a draft of this chapter with the team. Feedback from team members was incorporated into a new draft, which was integrated into the full report.

One of the challenges of writing this chapter was the team members’ constant interaction and our reflection on that interaction. As more themes emerged there appeared to be no end to the data production and collection. We know now that this research process will continue until we have finished writing and even beyond that as we present the project results and continue to reflect.

The research methodology for this project was original and appealing in two ways. It was a project designed and carried out by practitioners and it was a collaborative project. Each of these two aspects deserves separate attention.