In this chapter, the authors discuss the use of experimental methods in the study of virtual groups. For some time, experimentalists have hoped, as noted in Bainbridge (2007), that virtual worlds would provide a locale for research. The authors discuss practical techniques for doing so, and provide a detailed example of one such experiment as a platform for discussing opportunities and potential
... [Show full abstract] pitfalls for conducting research on virtual work groups. For convenience, they divide the steps in creating and conducting an experiment into several stages: design of the experiment, pre-testing, and statistical power of the data it produces. Each stage in any experiment presents challenges and requires decisions on the part of the experimenters; experiments conducted with virtual groups are certainly no exception.