Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration, Second Edition (Public Administration and Public Policy)

Describing new techniques and novel applications, Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration, Second Edition demonstrates the use of tools designed to meet the increased complexity of problems in government and non-profit organizations with ever-more rigorous and systematic research. It presents detailed information on conceptualizing, planning, and implementing research projects involving a wide variety of available methodologies. Providing a reference of systematic research methods, this second edition explains how these techniques aid in understanding traditional issues, and reveals how they might be applied to answer emerging theoretical and practical questions. Following a linear, logical organization, this handbook meets systematic goals and objectives through eight groups of chapters. The first group explains the logic of inquiry and the practical problems of locating existing research. The second group deals with research design and the third examines pitfalls in measurement and data collection. The authors give practical, considered advice in the fourth section to anticipate and solve data management problems. They include numerous illustrations to supplement two separate sections devoted to basic and advanced quantitative analysis. The seventh section covers unique analytical techniques used to gain insight specific to the non-market sector’s knotty problems. The final section addresses the impact of research and describes how to overcome illusive, tricky, and sizeable barriers to influence other researchers, decision makers, foundations, and grant making institutions. With a comprehensive survey of research methods and an examination of their practical and theoretical application in the past, present, and future, Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration, Second Edition gives you the tools to make informed decisions. Booknews Written primarily for graduate students, this handbook illustrates the use of various quantitative methods and provides detailed information on conceptualizing, planning, and implementing research projects of many different types. Topics include ethics; the problems researchers face; measurement techniques; data collection and manipulation; threats to validity of research designs; alternatives to quantitative research; association and testing hypotheses; data sets collected from multiple points, including their uses and misuses; demographic techniques for cohort analysis and population trends; the manipulation and interpretation of situations involving multiple independent variables; modeling; and data clustering techniques. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. Theory-based Public administration inquiry The Logic of Inquiry in the Field of Public Administration, N.M. Riccucci Theory, H.T. Miller Dealing with Multiple Paradigms in Public Administration Research, K. Yang, Y. Zhang, and M. Holzer Where Do Research Questions Come From And How Are They Developed? S.J. Yeager Writing a Literature Review: The Art of Scientific Literature, D.A. Bearfield and W.S. Eller Research design Purpose and Significance of Research Design, J.B. Justice The Research Problem, Method, and Serendipity: One Investigator's Journey, J.S. Bowman Threats to Validity in Research Designs, N.A. Giannatasio The Responsible Conduct of Social Research, P. Coontz Qualitative Research Methods, V. Gabrielian, K. Yang, and S. Spice Comparative Research in Public Administration: A Historical-Institutionalist Perspective, R.S. Kravchuk Legal Research Methods, J. Beckett Measurement and data collection Describing and Measuring Phenomena in Public Administration, L.T. Hu & D. Olshfski Sampling and Data Collection, A. Northrop and S. Arsneault Using the Survey as an Instrument of Inquiry in Research, S.R. Majumdar Questionnaire Construction, D. Robbins Collecting Survey Data via Telephone: A Primer, R.W. Schwester Obtaining Archival and Other Existing Records, S.J. Piotrowski Data management General Issues in Data Management, R.K. Chavda Constructing Data Sets and Manipulating Data, C. Scavo Managing Large-Scale Electronic Data for Public Administration Research: An Information System Approach, Y.C. Chen Basic quantitative analysis Introduction to Data Analysis, K. Chavda Applying Matrix Algebra in Statistical Analysis, S.R. Majumdar Univariate Analysis, C. Mo Statistics for Nominal and Ordinal Data, M. Margolis Analysis of Variance, C. Cirincione Linear Correlation and Regression, L.R. Alm and S.G Explores how systematic research methods could aid in understanding traditional questions in public administration as well as theoretical and practical questions. This book offers encyclopedic treatment of research designs with case studies; surveys research designs used in public administration and relates these designs to analytical methods. This handbook explores how systematic research methods could aid in understanding traditional questions in public administration as well as emerging theoretical and practical questions. A supporting website provides datasets, unpublished research examples and actual published research articles