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.
Chapter 1 Beginning a Research Project: The Preliminary Steps
Chapter 2 Designs for Description
Chapter 3 Designs for Explanation
Chapter 4 Measuring Variables
Chapter 5 Sampling
Chapter 6 Contacting and Talking to Subjects
Chapter 7 Data Collection: Questions and Questionnaires
Chapter 8 Protection of Human Research Subjects and Other Ethical Issues
Chapter 9 Secondary Data Analysis: Finding and Analyzing Existing Data
Chapter 10 Combining Indicators: Index Construction
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