This article examines the nature of empirical research in two public personnel journals by focusing on the purpose of published research, as well as the research designs and statistical techniques that are employed. The analysis indicates that public personnel scholars are actively engaged in the testing of empirical theory and the development of a cumulative knowledge base, although the methodological rigor of this research is at time lacking. Thus the current state of public personnel research deviates from the atheoretical and noncumulative nature characteristics of public administration research generally.
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