BMC Public Health 2006, 6:313 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/313 Health Region and University of Calgary, Faculty of Med- icine (ID#17873) and of the Capital Health Region and University of Alberta (#B-251005). Discussion The capacity of any organization to be prepared for a pub- lic health threat is influenced in part by the system in which the organization is located, just as the preparedness of the overall system can be influenced by the strengths and weaknesses of any single organization. The cross-case and intra-provincial comparative design allows our research to discriminate among different system elements and examine the independent influence of organizational attributes, institutional environments, and inter-organiza- tional networks on public health preparedness. In addi- tion, the mixed methods approach enables our research to analyse the role of both informal and formal relationships in the emergence of inter-organization networks and the development of prepared and responsive public health systems. As far as we are aware, our project is one of the first to assess public health preparedness at the systems- level while accounting for the critical role that inter-organ- izational relationships play in the emergence of a cohesive and responsive system. Moreover, in deciphering the independent influence of inter-organizational ties within the overall system, the research will provide measures that will help researchers and policy-makers evaluate the degree of coordination among organizational actors. Where are the gaps in system linkages? Which organiza- tions need to be made more central to preparedness activ- ities? These are just a few of the questions that our research is designed to answer. Competing interests The author(s) declare that they have no competing inter- ests. Authors' contributions All authors participated in the design of the study. DM coordinated the study and drafted the manuscript. All authors read drafts of the manuscript, made comments and suggestions, and approved the final version. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research for their support of this research. The research is being sup- ported through the AHFMR Health Research Fund. References 1. National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health: Learning from SARS: Renewal of Public Health in Canada 2003 [http://www.hc- sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/sars/learning/index.htm]. 2. National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health: Learning from SARS: Renewal of Public Health in Canada 2003 [http://www.hc- sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/sars/learning/index.htm]. 3. Provincial Government of Alberta, Municipal Affairs: Alberta Emer- gency Plan,: Disaster Services 2000 [http://www.municipalaf fairs.gov.ab.ca/ema_index.htm]. 4. Provincial Government of Alberta, Alberta Queen's Printer: Public Health Act [http://www.gov.ab.ca/qp]. 5. Provincial Government of Alberta. Emergency Management Alberta: Alberta Counter-Terrorism Crisis Management Plan 2003. 6. Yin R: Applications of Case Study Research London: Sage Publications; 2003. 7. Provan KG, Milward HB: Do Networks Really Work? A Frame- work for Evaluating Public-Sector Organizational Networks. Public Adm Rev 2001, 61:414-423. 8. Aldrich H: Resource Dependence and Interorganizational Relations Between Local Employment Service Offices and Social Services Sector Organizations. Adm Soc 1976, 7:419-454. 9. Neuendorf K: The Content Analysis Guidebook London: Sage Publica- tions; 2002. 10. Carley K: Coding Choices for Textual Analysis: A Comparison of Content and Map Analysis. Sociol Methodol 1993, 23:75-126. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/6/313/pre pub Publish with Bio Med Central and every scientist can read your work free of charge "BioMed Central will be the most significant development for disseminating the results of biomedical research in our lifetime." Sir Paul Nurse, Cancer Research UK Your research papers will be: available free of charge to the entire biomedical community peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance cited in PubMed and archived on PubMed Central yours — you keep the copyright Submit your manuscript here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishing_adv.asp BioMedcentral Page 5 of 5 (page number not for citation purposes)