Knowledge development and knowledge sharing in expert communities.

Summary Theme and problem area In today's society expert knowledge has earned a high status where work is increasingly specialised and knowledge intensive (Knorr Cetina, 2001). Solving complex problems requires an understanding of how knowledge is being developed and shared by the people who engage in highly specialised knowledge work. In this study, we explore how knowledge development and knowledge sharing takes place in an expert community that develops software for room acoustics through investigating the role of epistemic objects and practices and the challenges the expert community faces when developing the software. We have explored how a team of experts in acoustic engineering organise their joint development of complex software by asking the broader research question: How is the development and sharing of knowledge in expert communities facilitated by working with joint epistemic objects? The research problem is answered by examining the following research questions: ● In what ways does this expert community develop knowledge by way of epistemic objects and epistemic practices? ● How does knowledge sharing take place related to their work on epistemic objects? ● What challenges does this expert community face when working on joint epistemic objects? The theoretical framework that has been utilised to investigate the research questions is based on the concepts of expert communities (Knorr Cetina, 1999, 2001), and its special place of knowledge in contemporary society. Epistemic objects (Knorr Cetina, 1997, 2001), dominate much of the expert community’s work, and in our study represents the shared epistemic object developed by the expert community. In this thesis we also explore the role of knowledge sharing activities in the practices of developing epistemic objects in expert communities. And finally, epistemic practices (Knorr Cetina, 2001) that concerns specific practices and dynamic relationship experts engage in when developing knowledge and practice, or what experts do when working with epistemic objects. The purpose of this theoretical framework is to shed light on how knowledge is developed and shared in an expert community that works with joint epistemic objects. Method and data collection To study how knowledge is developed and shared in expert communities when working with joint epistemic objects, we decided on a qualitative approach where we conducted a qualitative observation- and interview study. The data material was collected through both digital and physical semi-structured interviews and observations of a team of experts that collaborated on developing a software for room acoustic simulation. The recruitment process was based on a strategic selection, and the participants were of empirical interest as they were a team of highly specialised knowledge workers collaborating on developing a complex object. The collected data were analysed through thematic analysis. Results and conclusion We approached a team of experts forming an expert community around a room acoustic simulation software they collaborated on developing. As specialists in acoustic engineering their work was embedded in a wider knowledge culture within their field, and they participated in specific knowledge cultures for developing the software. The specialists engaged with the software as an epistemic object to solve complex acoustical knowledge problems in unfolding processes of exploration and stabilisation, applying scientific knowledge to concrete cases. Working with epistemic objects required knowledge sharing to coordinate the variegated knowledge of the expert community. Specific functions in the software acted as focus points for software development and contributed to developing the wider field of expertise. By engaging in epistemic practices of engineering they shared knowledge and solved complex knowledge problems linked to wider machineries of knowledge construction through practices of engineering in social contexts, uses of data and evidence to make decisions, tools and strategies for problem solving and finding solutions through creativity and innovation. The expert community was faced with challenges of complexity and uncertainty originating from working on highly complex epistemic objects and employed social strategies of communication and collaboration to handle these challenges. Companies developing epistemic objects need to encourage frequent interactions and communication to facilitate for expert communities to develop their own strategies to cope with the challenges embedded in working with epistemic objects