Networks and Collaboration in the Public Sector: Essential research approaches, methodologies and analytic tools(Routledge Critical Studies in Public Management)

Networks and other collaborations are central to the public sector’s ability to respond to their diverse responsibilities, from international development and regional governance, to policy development and service provision. Great strides have been made toward understanding their formation, governance and management, but more opportunities to explore methodologies and measures is required to ensure they are properly understood. This volume showcases an array of selected research methods and analytics tools currently used by scholars and practitioners in network and collaboration research, as well as emerging styles of empirical investigation. Although it cannot attempt to capture all technical details for each one, this book provides a unique catalogue of compelling methods for researchers and practitioners, which are illustrated extensively with applications in the public and non-profit sector. By bringing together leading and upcoming scholars in network research, the book will be of enormous assistance in guiding students and scholars in public management to study collaboration and networks empirically by demonstrating the core research approaches and tools for investigating and evaluating these crucially important arrangements.

Table of Contents:
1. A methodological perspective on network and collaboration research 2. Researching networks through sequential explanatory design 3. The case study in researching networks and collaborative arrangements 4. Survey approach 5. Narrative inquiry in public network research 6. Q methodology 7. Researching inter-organizational collaboration using RO-AR 8. Process tracing 9. Social and dynamic network analysis 10. Qualitative comparative analysis in public network research 11. Using agent-based models to study network and collaborative governance 12. Practitioners: what do they want to know? 13. Network and collaboration research futures 14. Cross-cutting themes and opportunities for network and collaboration research

About the Author :
Joris Voets is an associate professor in the Department of Public Governance and Management at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium. Robyn Keast is a professor in the School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross University, Australia. Christopher Koliba is a professor in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at University of Vermont, USA, Co-Director of the Social Ecological Gaming and Simulation (SEGS) Lab and fellow at the Gund Institute on the Environment.

Review :
"Over the past three decades, scholarship of networks has grown substantially. However, scholars still need to address major challenges around conceptual, theoretical, and methodological concerns in network scholarship. This volume, edited by leading scholars, is a great contribution to methods and methodological issues in networks and network governance, which includes diverse methodological perspectives discussed by authors that have also applied them in their network research." — Naim Kapucu, Pegasus Professor and Director at the School of Public Administration, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA "The editors have brought together an invaluable collection of many of the methodological approaches to network and collaboration commonly used in public administration research. The chapters include descriptions of methods as diverse as case studies and narrative inquiry, surveys, social network analysis, and agent-based modelling. Combined with the integrative and forward-looking final chapters, this book provides an excellent resource for researchers and public managers alike." — Jenny M. Lewis, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and President of the International Research Society for Public Management "Despite the vast and growing literature on governance networks and collaboration, until now a text presenting a comprehensive overview of methods and methodology of network research was missing. This book fills the gap. It discusses the nuts and bolts of well-established as well as new contemporary methods and their potentials given current and future research contexts. An essential guidebook for everyone interested in network and collaboration research: students, practitioners, early career and established researchers." — Joop Koppenjan, Professor of Public Administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands