Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Management: An Introduction

208 Pages·2014·1.933 MB·English

by  Sandra van Thiel

‘This invaluable book provides a wealth of practical advice and methodological
insights.ItdrawsfromProfessorvanThiel’sextensiveexperienceasaleadingpublic
administrationscholar,andsomeonewhoisequallyathomeinundertakingresearch
for theory testing, issue exploration, or policy development. The book contains
numerous worked examples, case studies and a glossary, making it the ideal
companionforthepublicadministrationresearcheratwhateverstageintheircareer.’
Professor ChrisSkelcher, UniversityofBirmingham, UK
‘Writing methodology books in such a messy field as public administration is
difficult. Writing them for beginners is doubly difficult. Sandra van Thiel has over-
come these difficulties to give us a book that is concise, accessible and compre-
hensive. Shehasalsomanagedtotreatthemethodologywarswithinthefieldina
very even-handed way: even where I disagreed with her I found her account
balancedandfair.Highlyrecommended.’
Christopher Pollitt,Emeritus Professor,
PublicManagementInstitute, CatholicUniversityofLeuven,Belgium
‘This book is long overdue. Studying and doing research in Public Administra-
tion and Public Management has become ever more popular in recent years. In
doingthatweutilizeallmodernresearchmethodologiesofthesocialsciences,as
we should! But at the same time research in these areas poses unique problems
and challenges. At last we finally have our own textbook which explicates these
problems and demonstrates how to handle them, using inspiring examples of
“bestpractice”inpublicadministration research.’
Prof.Dr.WernerJann,ChairforPoliticalScience,AdministrationandOrganization,
Faculty forEconomicsandSocial Sciences,PotsdamUniversity, Germany
‘Sandra van Thiel has produced the solution for a problem faced by students
and supervisors of research in public administration: how to make a rigorous
exposition ofresearch methodsrelevant to the investigation ofproblems in public
policy and management. Embedded in the problems faced by public and related
organisations, Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Manage-
ment is a thorough, clear and focused exposition which will enable its readers to
choosetherightresearchstrategyandcarryoutrelevant andusefulresearch.’
NormanFlynn,CentreforFinancial andManagement Studies,
SOAS, UniversityofLondon,UK
‘Manyscholarswouldarguethatresearchinallthesocialsciencesisessentially
thesame.SandraVanThieldemonstratesratherconclusivelythattherearespecial
issues of research in public administration, and that our methods need to be
considered in light of those issues. This is an extremely useful text for students
embarkingoninvestigating theworkings ofthepublicsector.’
B.GuyPeters, UniversityofPittsburgh, USA
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Research Methods in Public
Administration and Public
Management
Research in public administration and public management has distinctive
featuresthatinfluencethechoicesandapplicationofresearchmethods.Periods
of change and upheaval in the public sector provide ample opportunities and
cases for research, but the standard methodologies for researching the social
sciences can be difficult to follow in the complex world of the public sector.
In a dynamic political environment, the focus lies on solving social problems
whilst also using methodological principles needed for doing scientifically
sound research.
This textbook represents a comprehensive guide to doing and using
research in public management and administration. It is impressively succinct
but covering a wide variety of research strategies including: action research,
hypotheses, sampling, case selection, questionnaires, interviewing, desk
research, prescription and research ethics. This textbook does not bog the
nascentresearcher downin the theorybutdoes provide numerousinternational
examples and practical exercises to illuminate the research journey. Sandra
van Thiel guides us through the theory, operationalization and research design
process, before explaining the tools required to carry out impactful research.
This concise textbook will be core reading for those studying research
methodsand/orcarryingoutresearchonpublicmanagementandadministration.
SandravanThielisaProfessorofPublicManagementatRadboudUniversity,
Nijmegen, The Netherlands. From 2006–12 she was Associate Professor Public
Administration, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, and she has been a guest
lecturer at Vaasa University, Finland and the Catholic University at Leuven,
Belgium. She has published, edited and lectured extensively on Public Man-
agement and Public Administration, both in her native The Netherlands and
internationally.
ROUTLEDGE MASTERS IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
EditedbyStephenP.Osborne,OwenHughes,WalterKickert
Routledge Masters in Public Management series is an integrated set of texts. It is
intendedtoformthebackbonefortheholisticstudyofthetheoryandpracticeofpublic
management,aspartof:
& ataughtMaster’s,MBAorMPAcourseatauniversityorcollege,
& aworkbased,in-serviceprogrammeofeducationandtraining,or
& aprogrammeofself-guidedstudy.
Each volume stands alone in its treatment of its topic, whether it be strategic manage-
ment,marketingorprocurement,andisco-authoredbyleadingspecialistsintheir field.
However, all volumes in the series share both a common pedagogy and a common
approachtothestructureofthetext.Keyfeaturesofallvolumesintheseriesinclude:
& a critical approach to combining theory with practice which educates its reader,
ratherthansolelyteachinghim/herasetofskills,
& clearlearningobjectivesforeachchapter,
& theuseoffigures,tablesandboxestohighlightkeyideas,conceptsandskills,
& anannotatedbibliography,guidingstudentsintheirfurtherreading,and
& adedicatedcasestudyinthetopicofeachvolume,toserveasafocusfordiscussion
and learning.
ManagingChangeandInnovationin ManagingLocalGovernments
PublicServiceOrganizations Designingmanagementcontrolsystems
StephenP.Osborneand thatdelivervalue
KerryBrown EmanuelePadovaniand
DavidW.Young
RiskandCrisisManagementinthe
PublicSector MarketingManagementand
CommunicationsinthePublicSector
LynnT.DrennanandAllanMcConnell
MartialPasquierand
ContractingforPublicServices Jean-PatrickVilleneuve
CarstenGreve
EthicsandManagementinthePublic
PerformanceManagementinthe Sector
PublicSector AlanLawton,KarinLasthuizenand
WoutervanDooren,GeertBouckaert JulieRayner
andJohnHalligan
MakingandManagingPublicPolicy
KarenJohnstonMillerand
FinancialManagementand
DuncanMcTavish
AccountinginthePublicSector
GaryBandy
ResearchMethodsinPublic
AdministrationandPublic
StrategicLeadershipinthePublic
Management
Sector
Anintroduction
PaulJoyce
SandravanThiel
Research Methods in
Public Administration
and Public
Management
An introduction
Sandra van Thiel
Firstpublished2007
byCoutinhoPublisherinDutch
byRoutledge2014inEnglish
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2014SandravanThiel
TherightofSandravanThiel,representedbyUitgeverijCoutinhoBV,tobe
identifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedbyherinaccordancewith
sections77and78oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
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knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered
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infringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Thiel,Sandravan.
Researchinpublicadministrationandpublicmanagement:anintroduction/
SandraVanThiel.
pagescm.–(Routledgemastersinpublicmanagement;11)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Publicadministration–Research.I.Title.
JF1338.A2T4772014
351.072–dc23
2013027804
ISBN:978-0-415-65581-1(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-65582-8(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-203-07852-5(ebk)
TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Research in public administration 1
1.1 The unique features of research in Public
Administration 1
1.2 Research in Public Administration and policy 5
1.3 Aim and outline of the rest of the book 10
2 The research problem 12
2.1 Choosing and formulating a research problem 12
2.2 The research aim 15
2.3 The research question 17
3 Theoretical framework 24
3.1 The empirical cycle 24
3.2 What is theory? 28
3.3 Philosophies of science 31
3.4 The role of theory in Public Administration research 36
4 Operationalization 43
4.1 Operationalization in three steps 43
4.2 Sampling 45
4.3 Reliability and validity 48
4.4 Validity and reliability: sources of interference 51
5 Research design 54
5.1 The different elements of the research design 54
5.2 Choosing a research strategy, method and technique 57
6 The experiment 61
6.1 The classic experiment 61
6.2 Simulations and gaming 64
CONTENTS
6.3 The field experiment 67
6.4 Reliability and validity in experiments 68
6.5 Observation 70
7 The survey 74
7.1 The survey: characteristics and types 74
7.2 The written questionnaire 75
7.3 The reliability and validity of questionnaires 82
8 The case study 86
8.1 Case study research 86
8.2 The selection of cases 89
8.3 The reliability and validity of case studies 92
8.4 The interview 93
9 Desk research 102
9.1 Using or re-using existing data 102
9.2 Three methods for gathering and analysing
existing data 107
10 Analysing quantitative data 118
10.1 Quantitative data 118
10.2 Collecting and ordering the data 119
10.3 Analysis 126
10.4 Descriptive statistics 127
10.5 Inferential statistics 128
10.6 Reliability and validity when analysing
quantitative data 135
11 Analysing qualitative data 138
11.1 Qualitative data 138
11.2 Collecting and ordering the data 142
11.3 Analysing the data 143
11.4 The reliability and validity of qualitative
data analysis 150
12 Reporting results 153
12.1 Forums 153
12.2 Reporting formats 155
12.3 The purpose of reporting research results 158
12.4 Writing down the results 159
12.5 Prescription 164
Bibliography 169
Glossary 175
Index 190
(cid:1)
viii
Illustrations
FIGURES
3.1 Schematic outline of the empirical cycle 25
6.1 Schematic outline of the classic experiment 62
10.1 Normal distribution 124
10.2 Example of a scattergram 131
11.1 Example of a taxonomic scheme of codes 148
TABLES
2.1 Research aims 15
2.2 Research questions 18
3.1 Philosophies of science in Public Administration
research 36
4.1 Sampling 46
5.1 Characteristics of the four main research strategies 58
5.2 Characteristics of diverse research methods 59
10.1 Example of a code book 121
10.2 Example of a data matrix 122
10.3 Example of a cross-tabulation 127
BOXES
1.1 Examples of prevalent topics in Public Administration
and Public Management research 2
1.2 Reconstruction of programme theories 6
1.3 Evaluation and evidence-based policymaking 8
2.1 Action research 16
2.2 Example: formulating sub-questions 20
2.3 Hypotheses 22
3.1 Falsification and verification 26
3.2 The regulative cycle 28