The Level Paradox of E-Collaboration: Dangers and Solutions

Although e-collaboration phenomena are multilevel in nature, research to date has been conducted from an exclusively single-level focus. This has lead to the level paradox. The dangers of the level paradox are discussed, including the potential that apparent cumulative knowledge may actually be spurious. Solutions to the level paradox are proposed in the form of future opportunities of research from several mixed-level approaches, and the benefits and barriers to mixed-level research are discussed. The article ends with a discussion on the necessity of finding a balance between single-level and mixed-level research, as well as on the necessity of single-level studies explicitly specifying the levels of theory, measurement, and data in their research.