From the Abstract: "...The purpose of this article is to discuss the research experience of 10 rural researchers scattered across Canada who participated in the study, Health Research: Accessible, Applicable and Useable for Rural Communities and Practitioners. Using focused ethnography, one aim of this study was to discover how research is utilized in rural and remote settings. The necessity of establishing networks to collect and manage data, and jointly analyze 72 qualitative transcripts from different geographical sites led to innovations and unexpected lessons learned." In this article, the researchers discuss the evolution of the research process, the mentoring process, the barriers related to collaboration across distances, and the strategies employed to enhance the study’s trustworthiness. They also consider the advantages and challenges of using a software application, Elluminate, as an interactive forum for this qualitative health research.

This collaborative research project included various levels of learners and researchers: (i) undergraduate and Master's -level research assistants local to the community research settings; (ii) doctoral students; (iii) newly graduated doctoral-prepared nurses; and (iv) experienced rural researchers. Mentoring in the rural health research study, both informal and formal, occurred through training sessions at the local sites, a binder of information prepared by the principal and co-investigators, and one-on-one interactions between research collaborators and student research assistants both face-to-face and by telephone (after meeting face-to-face to establish rapport and clarify the research process). Mentoring of research collaborators occurred during the development of the research proposal and at all stages of data collection and analysis. Monthly meetings with the principal and co-investigators were conducted using the web-based tool Elluminate. According to the document, "[t]he software was chosen to enable viewing of materials while holding simultaneous web-conferenced discussions; team members had password-protected access to ElluminateTM via a university BlackBoard® website....Monthly team meetings were used to develop clarity, encourage consistency in approach, outline challenges of data collection, and to analyze data."

According to the study, challenges and lessons included the following:

• "Collaboration among a number of rural and remote researchers builds research capacity in rural and remote settings, enhancing capabilities closer to the community. The process itself rekindled excitement and enthusiasm for local research among the research team largely because of the shared expertise that strengthened the depth and breadth of the study."
• "The insiders’...perspectives [researchers were often part of community health facilities] facilitated community access as well providing an ease in fielding questions and writing descriptive in-depth field notes."
•  On time demands in a long-term project: "Team members were aware of the time demands at the onset of the project, but it was critically important to be able to renegotiate commitments when necessary."
• On using technology: "While there were benefits to using technology, it was also time-consuming with a significant learning curve attached for all team members....Having a project manager to pilot test and troubleshoot technological issues was extremely valuable to this study. Nevertheless, there were occasions where the time commitment needed to work with the technology exacerbated the tension created by the external responsibilities and constraints of team members.... Individual researchers have different comfort levels with technology. The decision to use technology should be linked with the identified features of collaboration, perceptions of the goals of the collaboration, and perceptions of the nature of the collaborative activity."
• Student researchers reported that their involvement was positive, particularly if mentoring was face-to-face.
• On cooperative data analysis: "The use of the web-based technology was an affordable supportive means of sharing common data and deepening data analysis through shared perspectives. Data analysis individually, in partners and then in groups was a powerful method of theme verification, strengthening the rigor of the study."
• On group discussion: "The rigor of the study was strengthened by collaboration. The breadth and depth of the researchers’ perspectives stimulated intellectual discussion and ultimately enriched the data analysis. As researchers and collaborators worked together within the large group, the second level coding and thematic analysis were moved to a higher level of discussion and stronger analysis of the data." The researchers noted the importance of awareness that the need to cohere with the group may marginalise ideas unintentionally.

The study concludes that: "From the experience described here, collaboration is a means of overcoming the isolation occasionally experienced by rural researchers. Collaboration is a way of enhancing rural research capacity, and when combined with mentorship, provides healthcare professionals with research tools to increase research capacity locally."

Rural and Remote Health website accessed on September 29 2009.