Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management

David E. McNabb

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351721479
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Politica e relazioni internazionali
• Subtopic: Affari pubblici e amministrazione

Now in a thoroughly revised and refreshed fourth edition, Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management is beloved by students and professors alike for its exceptional clarity and accessibility and plentiful illustrations. This new edition integrates quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, as well as specific up-to-date instruction in the use of statistical software programs such as Excel and SPSS. Changes to this edition include:

• A new section, featuring two new chapters, to explore mixed-methods approaches to research, including fundamentals, research design, data collection, and analyzing and interpreting findings
• A new, dedicated chapter on Big Data research
• Updated exhibits and examples throughout the book
• A new companion website to accompany the book containing PowerPoint slides for each chapter
• New exhibits, tables, figures, and exercises, as well as key terms and discussion questions at the end of each chapter

Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management, 4e is an ideal textbook for use in all research methods courses in undergraduate and graduate public administration, public affairs, and nonprofit management courses.

Part I

Research Fundamentals

1

Introduction to Research Methods

Knowing how to conduct research is an important skill required of all administrators and managers in public and nonprofit organizations. Research involves collecting, processing, analyzing, and interpreting data, then intelligently and cogently communicating the results of the analysis in a report that describes what has been discovered from the research. Knowing how to interpret and evaluate research that was conducted by academics, administrators, or contract research organizations is equally important. To learn the skills needed to conduct and evaluate research, students of public administration should participate in one or more courses in research methodology. Designing and conducting a research project is usually a requirement in those courses.

This book was written to help students and practicing public and nonprofit organization managers successfully complete research projects. It is organized around a discussion of both quantitative and qualitative research strategies, as well as some studies that combine elements of both approaches. There is no magic to the activity of research; at its most fundamental stage, all it takes is the ability to ask questions and record and interpret answers.

Five Reasons to Develop Research Skills

There are at least five very good reasons for developing or expanding the skills needed to use research methods and prepare written research reports. The first reason is that it will help develop and hone critical analysis and communication skills. Government and nonprofit organization employers have long identified these skills as the most important characteristics of successful leaders and managers. Employees who can gather relevant information, analyze and interpret data, and communicate their findings effectively to others are valuable assets in all types of organizations.

A second reason is that by engaging in the research process, the public administrator can become aware of what others in the career field are doing and saying about what may be common problems. Nearly every issue of relevant periodical literature contains one or more reports about research on topical issues and concerns in public and nonprofit organization administration. Reviewing this research literature—an important early step in all research projects—can help administrators and managers save time, money, and other resources when addressing similar problems.

A third reason for learning how to perform research has to do with credibility. Credibility is closely associated with the concepts of replicability and reliability—all three of which are ideas that are fundamental to the scientific method. To be considered credible, a theory that is developed according to the scientific method must be testable; that is, the research behind the theory must be able to be replicated by others. Only through the replication of results can the theory become credible. Furthermore, conclusions that are derived from such theories must be developed following methods that are repeatable, predictable, and supportable. Thus, for research to be considered “scientific,” anyone reading a report of the research must be able to achieve the same or similar results by following the same research design. If not, the findings may simply not be believed.

A fourth reason is the way new information is passed on to future generations. The findings of research studies are often published in scientific and professional journals. Research findings are also disseminated in papers presented at professional conferences and scholarly or professional meetings. Scientists and others with an interest in a field of inquiry often consider research unreliable or unfounded unless the findings are published—typically in peer-reviewed journals (Gubanich 1991). Following well-established guidelines for conducting research and writing research reports makes verification through publishing more likely to take place.

Since professional journals usually present the most current information available, editors try to publish information on the “cutting edge” of their discipline or profession. In this way, journals provide new information needed for success in a career field, and researchers come to know which publications in their field are the best resources for this information.

A fifth reason is that in this era of rapid change and uncertainty, public and nonprofit agency administrators must be able to make quick, intelligent decisions. The best decisions are almost always made after all the available information pertaining to the outcomes of the decisions is gathered, read, and weighed. This usually involves some research activity, whether it is formal or informal.

Research and writing are important skills required of all public administrators. Researching means gathering, processing, and interpreting data of some kind. Research results must be communicated in intelligent and well-written reports. Public administrators must also interpret and evaluate research reports that have been produced by academics, administrators, or contract research organizations. Producing clear, cogent reports is an important ingredient in producing effective research.

Box 1.1
What Happens When Research Findings Cannot Be Replicated?

Alzheimer’s disease is considered to be a result of degeneration of the neurological system. Testing of an experimental Alzheimer’s vaccine was halted in 2002 when researchers discovered that some patients experienced brain inflammation in reaction to the vaccine. The patients’ autoimmune system reacted with an attack.

However, other researchers working on neurological studies with laboratory mice reported achieving positive results—in ways not anticipated. Results of their early lab experiments showed promise for repairing nerve degeneration, which is also associated with such conditions as glaucoma and spinal injury.

On the basis of these findings, the researchers concluded that a mild autoimmune reaction might actually benefit the body. The medical community’s reactions to the results remained mixed, however, as other researchers have not been able to replicate their laboratory mice findings. As of 2006, the once-promising research results remained little more than an interesting theory.

Source: J. R. Minkel. 2006. “T Cells for Brain Cells.” Scientific American, 294(1), 21–22.

Research the Scientific Way

Conducting “good” research—that is, doing research the scientific way—means following a fundamental set of rules and approaches to problem solving that have shaped most of the advances in science, learning, and technology. That set of rules is the scientific method. The scientific method includes a set of procedures and a philosophy or mindset that shape the way people approach a research activity (Achinstein 1970). Rosenthal and Rosnow (1991) emphasized this mindset concept in their definitions of research and the scientific method. They considered the scientific method to be a distinct way of approaching problem resolution that can be used regardless of the problem addressed or approaches and methods employed.

Following the scientific method means approaching a research problem without any preconceived answers; it requires avoiding any hint of subjective bias. This does not mean leaping into a research problem blind. It means developing ideas about what might be happening—developing a testable hypothesis and, in some types of qualitative research, developing or testing a theory.

Performing research the scientific way can be applied to many different problems or questions. However, typically the goals of most scientific research fall into three categories: (1) research to describe some event, thing, or phenomenon or the procedures by which events and their relationships are defined, classified, catalogued or categorized, (2) research to predict future behavior or events based on observed changes in existing conditions, and (3) research to provide a greater understanding of phenomena, how variables are related, or of the underlying causes of the occurrence of a phenomenon (Shaughnessy and Zechmeister 1994). Key elements of research conducted for all these purposes include defining issues, terms, and concepts; forming hypotheses, theories, or both; and applying an appropriate quantitative or qualitative research method and data analysis technique. These topics will all be discussed in greater detail in the chapters that follow.

The Scientific Approach

Although there are other ways to go about conducting research, the scientific approach underlies them all. This approach emerged during the Enlightenment period, which was a period of explosion in scientific investigation and artistic creativity that began in Europe in the seventeenth century. Early scientific investigators proposed the scientific approach to research as a way of maintaining rigor in scientific investigation. Simply put, the method meant not coming to a conclusion on a basis of preformed beliefs alone but instead only on what can be observed or tested by the senses. Authority, custom, or tradition—the concepts of metaphysics—should not be the source of knowledge and understanding. Instead, these should come from the reality of the objects themselves (Richardson and Fowers 1998).

Bernard Phillips (1976) described how knowledge and understanding are achieved in the following terms:

[The scientific method is] an effort to achieve increasing understanding of phenomena by (1) defining problems so as to build on available knowledge, (2) obtaining information essential for dealing with these problems, (3) analyzing and interpreting these data in accordance with clearly defined rules, and (4) communicating the results of these efforts to others. (p. 4)

Out of the scientific outlook described by Phillips emerged the idea that the world and everything in it was a giant collection of objects that could be mapped and understood from empirical observation. From this belief, natural scientists developed a faith in a formal and objective method of observing the world and its parts. Richardson and Fowers (1998) have described faith as being “an almost boundless confidence” in the ability of science to explain the world. This belief came to be known as positivism or the positivist approach to science. The positivists saw this “faith in method” as the only path to true knowledge. That faith was eventually adopted by the social sciences, which also evolved in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Those early social scientists insisted on using the same correlational and experimental methods used in the natural sciences, regardless of the subject matter being investigated.

Triggering a Research Activity

Typically, the triggering activity in researching the scientific way is the recognition of a problem. Defining the research problem is an extremely important step, for it is this definition that will dictate the class of research taken to provide the information needed to resolve the problem. For example, an administrator or manager is assigned to the task of developing a plan to reorganize an agency. The administrator recognizes that many facts about the reorganization problem are not known or understood. For example, how might the reorganization affect the agency’s ability to carry out its mission? How might the reorganization affect staff morale? What outcomes will impact which agency stakeholders? The administrator needs information to devise the research plan. He or she believes that the unknown information is important enough that an effort should be undertaken to collect and interpret its meaning. Thus, a research proj...