Mapping the relational ecology of multi-organizational coalitions and collaboratives: Considerations in the conceptualization and design of social network analysis studies

Coalitions and collaboratives are among the most common forms of community-level intervention across a wide variety of issues. Because they are fundamentally relational forms of community intervention, they have often been studied and evaluated using social network theory and analytic methods. Although social network analysis has produced useful insights for coalition theory and practice, the most common research designs tend to obscure much of the inherent complexity of coalitions and how they are interacting with their broader ecologies. This paper focuses on two specific dimensions of complexity that are often overlooked in social network studies of coalitions: their multilevel structure and their embeddedness in larger community networks. Coalitions are inherently multilevel structures which are composed of both interpersonal and interorganizational ties. Yet, they are most often studied at only one of these levels – interpersonal or interorganizational. Furthermore, the common study design of bounding the network according to people or organizations participating in the coalition or collaborative often ignores some of the most influential ties to individuals and organizations that are not formally participating. Our analysis draws insights from our experience working with 48 local (county-level) substance misuse prevention coalitions (SMPCs) in the U.S. state of Tennessee to illustrate these complexities and specific dilemmas they pose for social network research. We identify promising directions for future research, describing how contending with coalitions’ complexity enhances understanding. We also discuss the practical tradeoffs and impediments inherent in each potential design direction. • The multilevel structure of coalitions poses dilemmas to network studies. • Network studies of coalitions often focus on internal, interorganizational networks. • Studies of internal networks overlook influential external relationships. • Studies of interorganizational networks miss interpersonal dimensions. • Future designs embracing complexity can strengthen coalition network research.