1. Research Methods in Public Administration Journals: A Systematic Review
Adel AlAdlani*, Daniela C. Schroeter, Ruth M. Bates-Hill, Hussein Chalabi, Gregory D. Greenman II, Mike Mendenhall, and Diane Thompson
Population and Sample
Purposeful selection of primary journals of four public administration membership associations, including: the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) Public Administration Review (PAR), the Association for Public Policy and Management’s (APPAM) Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM), the Public Management Research Association’s (PMRA) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART), the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action’s (ARNOVA) Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ).
Findings
Findings, continued
Conclusions
Overall, 79% of articles published in the public administration journals studied have clear method section. The 21% of articles with no method explained are identified as general articles describing specific theories in the field or commentaries providing instructions about certain themes.
45% of the articles published do not have question stated clearly. This does not mean that articles do not have questions at all; it means articles do not tend to mention the questions identified with a question mark (?).
Most of the published research articles studied use a nonprobability sampling technique. This may be correlated with the type of data used, as 53% of articles use secondary data for certain purposes relevant to the study or easy access to data.
There is a high frequency in the use of quantitative methods in public administration (80%). Small percentages of articles use qualitative and mixed methods in all the four journals except JPAM, which published no articles using qualitative or mixed methods in 2015 or 2016.
Next Steps
Complete coding of years 2007 to 2014
Refine analytical procedures
Analyze complete dataset and formulate conclusions and implications
Draft and submit manuscript
Contacts
*Adel AlAdlani, Doctoral Student, Western Michigan University Dept. of Public Affairs and Administration,
Acknowledgements
Faculty mentor Dr. Daniela C. Schroeter, Assistant Professor of Public Administration, School of Public Affairs and Administration; for her efforts in providing a high-value learning experience. Gregory Greenman, II, Doctoral Research Assistant, for developing the Qualtrics database, expert management of data cleaning efforts, and providing final data for analysis.
Abstract
This poster includes findings from a systematic review conducted during a doctoral methods course at Western Michigan University. The systematic mixed methods review covered key public administration membership association journals. The review indicated differences in the research methods and types used with a strong preference for using quantitative research.
Problem Statement
Research methods are widely taught in social science graduate programs. Knowing the research designs that are employed or underutilized by researchers provides information for curriculum development in public administration.
Research Questions
What proportion of articles published in public administration journals have clearly identifiable method sections, stated questions, sampling approach, data type, and method?
How does research published in these journals differ?
Research Design
A systematic mixed methods review was conducted to examine the research questions.
Methods
A total of 425 articles were randomly assigned to 21 coder pairs for review. Data elements were entered into a Qualtrics database. Interrater agreement was assessed and discrepancies corrected during several agreement workshops. Data from Qualtrics were provided to students in an MS Excel spreadsheet. Students devised their own analytical plans, which were approved by the instructor, and carried out individual analyses. Data were examined via descriptive statistics.