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Effective Research Design in Public Administration: Methods and Analysis

Explore the fundamentals of research design in public administration, including types of research questions, variables, hypotheses, sampling methods, data collection, and analysis procedures in both quantitative and qualitative approaches.

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Effective Research Design in Public Administration: Methods and Analysis

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  1. PPA 415 – Statistical Methods in Public Administration Lecture 1c – Research Design Summary

  2. Research Questions • Research questions can be descriptive. • What is happening to a variable currently or what will happen in the future? • Research questions can be causal. • What factors are causing a variable to change? • What factors influence the key variables in the research question?

  3. Variables • Concepts, variables, indicators. • Causal direction. • Independent variables (causes). • Dependent variables (effects).

  4. Hypotheses • Hypotheses can be descriptive. • Are arrests for DUI increasing over time? • Hypotheses can also be causal. • Do increases in DUI arrests reduce deaths in motor vehicle accidents? • Does nearness to a presidential election increase the likelihood of granting a major disaster declaration?

  5. Sampling • Population (states, counties, IAEM members). • Random samples (simple, systematic, cluster, random digit dialing). • Snowball sampling • Purposive or haphazard sampling.

  6. Data Collection Procedures • Surveys. • Agency records and primary documents. • Direct observation. • Existing data sets (Census, BLS, ICPSR, etc.). www.fedstats.gov. • Participant observation. • Focus groups. • Literature review.

  7. Data Analysis Procedures – Quantitative (What, Where, When) • Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, standard deviation). • Inferential statistics. • T-tests, analyses of variance, chi-square, cross tabulation. • Measures of association. • Bivariate. • Regression-based analysis. • Multivariate analysis. • Multiple regression, analysis of covariance, logistic regression. • Data reduction (factor analysis, scaling).

  8. Data Analysis Procedures – Qualitative (Why, How). • Focus group summaries. • Interview summaries. • Historical analysis. • Content analysis. • Case studies. • Ethnography. • Participant observation.

  9. Interpretation, Conclusions • Looking for answers to research questions. • Quantitative research often asks what, where, and when. Focuses on common elements across subjects. Makes inferences to whole population. • Qualitative research asks why and how. Focuses on what is unique across subjects. Makes in-depth analysis of complexities of choice.

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