Three Traditions of Network Research: What the Public Management Research Agenda Can Learn from Other Research Communities |
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| Authors: | Frances S Berry Ralph S Brower Sang Ok Choi Wendy Xinfang Goa HeeSoun Jang Myungjung Kwon Jessica Word |
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| Institution: | Frances S. Berry;is a professor and director of the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. Her current research concerns policy change and networking, information technology use among nonprofits, and strategic management. E-mail: . Ralph S. Brower;is an associate professor and director of the MPA program at the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. His current research focuses on information technology among nonprofit organizations and the enactment of political and dissenting behaviors among public managers. E-mail: . Sang Ok Choi;is a program specialist in the program evaluation unit of Florida Department of Education. His research focuses on the study of interorganizational and network relationships, including network structure, governance, and effectiveness. E-mail: . Wendy Xinfang Gao;is an Askew Fellow at Florida State University. Her current research interests include strategic management, policy networks and policy implementation, gender issues in the workplace, and economic development policy. E-mail: . HeeSoun Jang;'s current research focuses on the fiscal and service-quality implications of contracting out local government services to nonprofit organizations. E-mail: . Myungjung Kwon;'s research interests are strategic management, policy innovation and diffusion, information technology, and economic development policy in local government. E-mail: . Jessica Word;is a research assistant with the Center for Information Training and Evaluation Services at Florida State University. Her current research focuses on nonprofit organizations' alliance-forming strategies and their implications for shaping public policies. E-mail: . |
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| Abstract: | This article identifies and describes the development of three parallel streams of literature about network theory and research: social network analysis, policy change and political science networks, and public management networks. Noting that these traditions have sometimes been inattentive to each other's work, the authors illustrate the similarities and differences in the underlying theoretical assumptions, types of research questions addressed, and research methods typically employed by the three traditions. The authors draw especially on the social network analysis (sociological) tradition to provide theoretical and research insights for those who focus primarily on public management networks. The article concludes with recommendations for advancing current scholarship on public management networks. |
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