  Context: The globalisation of activities associated with software development
and use has introduced many challenges in practice and for research. While the
predominant approach to research in software engineering has followed a
positivist science model, this approach may be sub-optimal when addressing
problems with a dominant social or cultural dimension, such as those frequently
encountered when studying work practices in a globally distributed team
setting. The investigation of such a team reported in this paper provides one
example of an alternative approach to research in a global context, through a
longitudinal interpretive field study seeking to understand how global virtual
teams mediated the use of technology. Objective: Our focus in this paper is on
the conduct of research in the context of global software activities,
particularly as applied to the actions and interactions of global virtual
teams. Method: We describe how we undertook a substantial field study of global
virtual teams, and highlight how the adopted structuration theory enabled us to
deliver effectively against our goals. Results: We believe that the approach
taken suited a research context in which situated practices were occurring over
time in a highly complex domain, ensuring that our results were both strongly
grounded and relevant to practice. It has resulted in the generation of
substantive theory and techniques that have been adapted and applied on a pilot
basis in further field settings. Conclusion: We conclude that globally
distributed teamwork presents a complex context which demands new research
approaches, beyond the limited set customarily applied by software engineering
researchers. We advocate experimenting with different research methodologies
and methods so that we have a more rounded repertoire to address the most
important and relevant issues in global software development
research.(Abridged)
