A Different Kind of Snowball: Identifying Key Policymakers

Abstract

Studying policy networks raises challenges in three important areas: identifying members of the policy network, gaining access to the network, and reporting findings from the study while maintaining confidentiality. Using the tobacco control policy and health policy networks in Victoria, Australia as a case study, the article describes how to use a reputational snowball to identify a policy network. I argue that the reputational snowball not only presents a useful tool for identifying micro‐level network members, but also provides a means for assessing which members of the policy network are core, and which ones are on the periphery. Issues around reporting in studies of policy influentials are also discussed.