This article addresses the strategies and tools that public administration scholars use to understand phenomena of interest. The range of qualitative methods used has been limited, and the kind of rigor generally associated with quantitative methods has largely been absent in the application of their qualitative counterparts. Two conclusions are drawn from an analysis of articles published in two respected journals: Training on research methods in Ph.D. and M.P.A. programs should be expanded to include a broader range of strategies and tools, and the rigorous use of a broader range of research tools promises to better position the field of public administration to identify, examine, and answer the many big questions that it now faces.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, G. B.,& White, J. D. (1994). Dissertation research in public administration and cognate fields: An assessment of methods and quality. Public Administration Review, 54(6), 565-576.
2.
Adler, P., & Alder, P. (1998). Observational techniques. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 79-109). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Altheide, D. L.,& Johnson, J. M. (1998). Criteria for assessing interpretive validity in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin& Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 283-312). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Apel, K. (1992). Perspectives for a general hermeneutic theory. InK. Mueller-Vollmer (Ed.), The hermeneutics reader: Texts of the German tradition from the Enlightenment to the present (pp. 320-345). New York: Continuum.
5.
Ashcraft, K. (1999). Managing maternity leave: A qualitative analysis of temporary executive succession. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 240-281.
6.
Atkinson, R. (1988). The life story interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
7.
Bailey, M. T. (1994). Do physicists use case studies? Thoughts on public administration. In J. D. White& G. B. Adams (Eds.), Research in public administration: Reflections on theory and practice (pp. 183-196). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8.
Balfour, D. L.,& Mesaros, W. (1994). Connecting local narratives: Public administration as a hermeneutic science. Public Administration Review, 54(6), 559-564.
9.
Barber, B. (1984). Strong democracy: Participatory politics for a newage. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
10.
Behn, R. D. (1995). The big questions of public administration. Public Administration Review, 55(4), 313-324.
11.
Bernstein, R. J. (1983). Beyond objectivism and relativism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
12.
Bultmann, R. (1992). Hermeneutics and theology. In K. Mueller-Vollmer (Ed.), The hermeneutics reader: Texts of the German tradition from the Enlightenment to the present (pp. 241-255). New York: Continuum.
13.
Buntz, C. G. (1991). The public manager as dispute resolver: A cluster review. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1, 104-110.
14.
Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1966). Experimental and quasi-experimental design for research. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
15.
Churchman, C. W. (1971). The design of inquiring systems: Basic concepts of systems and organization. New York: Basic Books.
16.
Cimitile, C. J., Kennedy, V. S., Lambright, W. H., O’Leary, R.,& Weiland, P. (1997).Balancing risk and finance: The challenge of implementing unfunded environmental mandates. Public Administration Review, 57(1), 63-74.
17.
Cleary, R. E. (2000). The public administration doctoral dissertation reexamined: An evaluation of the dissertations of 1998. Public Administration Review, 60(5), 446-455.
18.
Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
19.
Covaleski, M. A., Dirsmith, M. W., Heian, J. B.,& Samuel, S. (1998). The calculated and the avowed: Techniques of discipline and struggles over identity in big six public accounting firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 293-328.
20.
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
21.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
22.
Denzin, N. K. (1989). Interpretive biography. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
23.
Denzin, N. K. (1998). The art and politics of interpretation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 313-344). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Denzin, N. K.,& Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (1998). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 1-34), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
Diesing, P. (1991). How does social science work? Reflections on practice. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
26.
Evans, K. G. (2000). Reclaiming John Dewey: Democracy, inquiry, pragmatism, and public management. Administration & Society, 32(3), 308-328.
27.
Ezzamel, M., & Willmott, H. (1998). Accounting for teamwork: A critical study of groupbased systems of organizational control. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 358-397.
28.
Fitzpatrick, J. (2000). What are our goals in teaching research methods to public administrators? Journal of Public Administration Education, 6(3), 173-181.
29.
Forester, J. (1993). Critical theory, public policy, and planning practice. Albany: State University of New York Press.
30.
Fox-Wolfgramm, S., Boal, K., & Hunt, J. G. (1998). Organizational adaptation to institutional change: A comparative study of first-order change in prospector and defender banks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1), 87-127.
31.
Gadamer, H-G. (1997). Truth and method. New York: Continuum.
32.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
33.
Gormley, W. T., Jr. (1997). Regulatory enforcement: Accommodation and conflict in four states. Public Administration Review, 57(4), 285-293.
34.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1998). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K.Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 195-220). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action. Boston: Beacon.
36.
Hodder, I. (1998). The interpretation of documents and material culture. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 110-129). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
37.
Houston, D. J., & Delevan, S. M. (1994). Public administration research: An assessment of journal publications. In J. D. White & G. B. Adams (Eds.), Research in public administration: Reflections on theory and practice (pp. 124-138). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
38.
Huberman, A. M.,& Miles, M. B. (1998). Data management and analysis methods. In N. K.Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 179-210). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
Johnston, J. M., & Romzek, B. S. (1999). Contracting and accountability in state Medicaid reform: Rhetoric, theories, and reality. Public Administration Review, 59(5), 383-395.
40.
Kaplan, A. (1964). The conduct of inquiry: Methodology for behavioral science. San Francisco: Chandler.
41.
Kincheloe, J. L., & McLaren, P. L. (1998). Rethinking critical theory and qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin& Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 260-299). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
42.
Kirk, J., & Miller, M. L. (1986). Reliability and validity in qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Kirlin, J. J. (1996). The big questions of public administration in a democracy. Public Administration Review, 56(5), 416-423.
44.
Klingner, D. E. (1996). Public personnel management and democratization: A view from three Central American republics. Public Administration Review, 56(3), 390-399.
45.
Kuhn, T. S. (1996). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
46.
Lan, Z. (1997). A conflict resolution approach to public administration. Public Administration Review, 57(1), 27-35.
47.
Lee, R. D., Jr. (1996). Federal employees, torts, and the Westfall Act of 1988. Public Administration Review, 56(4), 334-340.
48.
Lin, A. C. (1998). Bridging positivist and interpretivist approaches to qualitative methods.Policy Studies Journal, 26, 162-180.
49.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Denzin, N. K. (1998). The fifth moment. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 407-429). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
50.
Martin, J., Knopoff, K.,& Beckman, C. (1998). An alternative to bureaucratic impersonality and emotional labor: Bounded emotionality at the body shop. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 429-470.
51.
McSwite, O. C. (1997). Legitimacy in public administration: A discourse analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
52.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
53.
Nalbandian, J. (1999). Facilitating community, enabling democracy: New roles for local government managers. Public Administration Review, 59(3), 187-197.
54.
Nedovic-Budic, Z., & Godschalk, D. R. (1996). Human factors in adoption of geographic information systems: A local government case study. Public Administration Review, 56, 554-567.
55.
Neumann, F. X., Jr. (1996). What makes public administration a science? Or, are its “big questions” really big? Public Administration Review, 56(5), 409-415.
56.
Oakes, L., Townley, B., & Cooper, D. J. (1998). Business planning as pedagogy: Language and control in a changing institutional field. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 257-293.
57.
Perlow, L. (1998). Boundary control: The social ordering of work and family time in a hightech corporation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 328-358.
58.
Perlow, L. (1999). The time famine: Toward a sociology of work time. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(1), 57-83.
59.
Perry, J. L.,& Kraemer, K. L. (1994). Research methodology in public administration review, 1975-1984. In J. D. White & G. B. Adams (Eds.), Research in public administration: Reflections on theory and practice (pp. 93-109). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
60.
Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the mirror of nature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
61.
Schwandt, T. A. (1998). Constructivist, interpretivist approaches to human inquiry. In N. K.Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 221-259). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
62.
Shields, P. M. (1996). Pragmatism: Exploring public administration’s policy imprint.Administration & Society, 28(3), 390-411.
63.
Snider, K. F. (2000). Expertise or experimenting: Pragmatism and American public administration, 1920-1950. Administration & Society, 32(3), 329-354.
64.
Stanfield, J. H., II. (1998). Ethnic modeling in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S.Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 333-358). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
Stever, J. A. (1993). Technology, organization, freedom: The organizational theory of John Dewey. Administration & Society, 24(4), 419-443.
66.
Stivers, C. (1994). The listening bureaucrat: Responsiveness in public administration. Public Administration Review, 54(4), 398-399.
67.
Terry, L. D. (1997). Public administration and the theater metaphor: The public administrator as villain, hero, and innocent victim. Public Administration Review, 57(1), 53-62.
68.
Thompson, J. R. (1999). Devising administrative reform that works: The example of the reinvention lab program. Public Administration Review, 59(4), 283-292.
69.
Thompson, J. R., & Ingraham, P. W. (1996). The reinvention game. Public Administration Review, 56(3), 291-298.
70.
Tillich, P. (1980). The courage to be. New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press.
71.
Vidich, A. J., & Lyman, S. (1998). Qualitative methods: Their history in sociology and anthropology. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and issues (pp. 41-110). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
72.
Walters, L. C., Aydelotte, J.,& Miller, J. (2000). Putting more public in policy analysis.Public Administration Review, 60(4), 349-359.
73.
Wamsley, G. L. (1996). A public philosophy and ontological disclosure as the basis for normatively grounded theorizing in public administration. In G. Wamsley & J. F. Wolf (Eds.), Refounding democratic public administration: Modern paradoxes, postmodern challenges (pp. 351-401). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
74.
Warhurst, C. (1998). Recognizing the possible: The organization and control of a socialist labor process. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 470-498.
75.
White, J. D., Adams, G. B., & Forrester, J. P. (1996). Knowledge and theory development in public administration. Public Administration Review, 56(5), 441-452.
76.
Wilson, E. O. (1998, March). Back from chaos. Atlantic Monthly, 281, 41-62.
77.
Yin, R. K. (1993). Applications of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
78.
Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
79.
Zbaracki, M. (1998). The rhetoric and reality of total quality management. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(3), 602-637.
