Research Methods for Public Administration

This practical, lucid text with bound-in CD introduces students to the methodological tools public administrators and policy analysts use to conduct research in today's world.
This accessible text and CD offers an abundance of engaging examples and provides step-by-step instructions to illustrate common research methods and techniques, providing students and future administrators with a sound foundation in model building, research design, measurement, and sampling. The book's statistical section focuses on correct use and interpretation of commonly used statistics, including linear regression.
The book's overall aim is to develop effective, efficient research skills among future public administrators so that they will be better policy makers. It accomplishes this not only by providing a comprehensive survey of research techniques, but also by developing students' awareness of the ethical issues associated with conducting research and reporting findings.

Features:

Terms for review at the end of each chapter are clearly defined in an accessible and comprehensive glossary at the back of the book.
“Problems for Homework and Discussion” appear in each chapter, assessing students' comprehension of concepts and techniques discussed in the chapter.
“Disk Work” at the end of each chapter utilizes the data files on the CD that is bound into the back of the text.  Exercises allow students to become familiar with statistical software, which holds data in ASCII, spreadsheets, and SPSS formats.
Internet surveys are interspersed throughout the text, reflecting the growing influence of this medium on research methods and data sources.