Table of Contents

PART I: RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
1. When a Practitioner Becomes a Researcher
2. Research Alignment
3. Identifying the Focus of the Research: Research Objective and Research Question
4. Research Design
5. Sample Selection
6. Data Collection
PART II. DATA ANALYSIS
7. Quantitative Data Preparation and Descriptive Statistics
8. Hypothesis Testing and Statistical Significance: Logic of Inferential Statistics
9. Comparing Means Between Two Groups
10. Comparing Means of More Than Two Groups: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
11. Bivariate Correlation
12. Chi-Square Analysis
13. Regression Analysis
14. Qualitative Data Analysis
PART III. SUMMING UP: PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
15. Writing Reports
16. Using Research Methods for Continuous Improvement: Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement
Appendix A: Additional SPSS and Excel Instructions
Appendix B: Emily’s Survey Form

About the Author

Masami Nishishiba (Ph.D, Portland State University) is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration and the Associate Director of the Center for Public Service, at Mark O. Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University. Her academic expertise encompasses research methods, cultural competence in the public sector, local government performance management, and civic engagement. She has served as a principal investigator and a consultant for numbers of local government focused projects both in U.S. and overseas. Dr. Nishishiba’s publications have appeared in State and Local Government Review, Journal of College and Character, Journal of Public Affairs Education, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Public Affairs and others. She is also a lead author of a Japanese/English bilingual book Project Management Toolkit: A Strategic Approach to New Local Governance. Dr. Nishishiba has a B.A. in Linguistics from Osaka University, Japan, M.S. in Communication and Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Portland State University.

Matthew Jones (Ph.D, Portland State University) has a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Norwich University and an MPA and Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Portland State University. Dr Jones’ interests and research focus on the application of quantitative methods to public performance and evaluation, computer simulation modeling, leadership development, and the use of information technology in the public sector. He has served as a consultant for public organizations in Oregon, Washington, and New York, as well as consulting on national grant funded projects. His publications have appeared in Police Quarterly, Public Administration Review, Law Enforcement Executive Forum, Public Administration Quarterly, The International Journal of Electronic Government Research and Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management. He also has co-produced an edited book on strategic website development for public organizations and Web 2.0 technologies for public service.




Mariah Kraner, MA, (Doctoral candidate, ABD, Portland State University) is currently completing her doctorate in Public Affairs and Policy at Portland State University. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Willamette University and a M.A. in Adult Education & Political Science from Oregon State University. In addition to her studies, Ms.Kraner has over 10 years experience as a project manager, working on both nonprofit and government grants. Ms.Kraner currently serves as a Research Associate at Portland State, where she manages a federal grant-funded randomized control trial to enhance employee health and performance. Ms. Kraner’s research interests include political participation, social network analysis, employee engagement, and international NGOs.

Reviews

"The case approach used in the text presents a very exciting way for students to apply research methods/statistics to cases, rather than applying it to short problems at the end of most textbooks."
*James S. Guseh*