A traditional view of scholarly quality defines rigor as the application of method and assumes an implicit connection with relevance. But as an applied field, public administration requires explicit attention to both rigor and relevance. Interpretive scholars' notions of rigor demand an explicit inclusion of relevance as an integral aspect of quality. As one form of interpretive research, narrative inquiry illuminates how this can be done. Appreciating this contribution requires a deeper knowledge of the logic of narrative inquiry, an acknowledgement of the diversity of narrative approaches, and attention to the implications for judging its quality. We use our story about community-based leadership research to develop and illustrate this argument.The "narrative turn," already influential in the social sciences, is now making its mark in applied fields such as public administration and public policy (Ospina and Dodge 2005; White 1999). This turn has opened up new pathways for research that focus on interpreting social events and understanding the intentions and meanings of social actors, rather than just explaining and predicting their behavior. In public administration, this research often focuses on the stories that people in public institutions tell about their work, illuminating diverse dimensions of public institutions and their administrative and policy problems.In an earlier article (Ospina and Dodge 2005), we argued that narrative inquiry, as an interpretive approach, can strengthen research in public administration by simultaneously attending to high standards of quality and culti- JenniferIn recent years, scholars of public administration, public policy, planning, and related fields have turned to narrative inquiry to enhance our understanding of complex social phenomena. Because of an increased interest in this subject, the editors asked Sonia M. Ospina and her colleagues at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, to write a series of articles explaining narrative inquiry and its contributions to theoretical and methodological developments in the field. The following article by Jennifer Dodge, Sonia M. Ospina, and Erica Gabrielle Foldy is the second in a three-part series; the last installment will be published in the July/August issue of PAR. Consistent with PAR publication policy, these articles were evaluated by external reviewers. -LDT

As a form of interpretive research, narrative inquiry contributes to the pursuit of high‐quality public administration scholarship, along with other forms of explanatory research that have dominated the field. In this article we discuss the unique features of narrative inquiry, review how this research orientation has been used in public administration, and use our experience with a national, multimodal, multiyear research project on social‐change leadership in the United States to identify and illustrate the contributions of narrative inquiry to address two key issues in the field: the concern with good research and the aspiration to cultivate a meaningful connection between researchers and practitioners in the field.

This article presents a “Call to Action” Social Equity Manifesto developed at the Minnowbrook at 50 conference. The Social Equity Manifesto identifies several critical areas of emphasis that can help move toward the achievement of social equity in the research, teaching, and practice of public administration. Regarding research, we discuss the presence of social equity manuscripts in PAR, JPART, and ATP. Interestingly, the coverage of class inequality is low across all three journals. However, a clear research strength is the plurality of methodological and theoretical approaches. In terms of teaching, all of the NASPAA social equity award winning public affairs programs in the United States offer multiple courses that provide intentional coverage of social equity. With respect to practice in the United States, inequities exist across multiple policy areas. Programs and policies ranging from nondiscrimination to diversity management are discussed. In essence, exposing students to social equity perspectives within the context of public administration curricula can make PA graduates more responsive to the needs of all people.

Narrative Inquiry and the Search for Connectedness: Practitioners and Academics Developing Public Administration ScholarshipMaintaining a vibrant field of public administration requires ongoing efforts to link the worlds of academic researchers and practitioners. We suggest that research itself, traditionally pursued by academics, is a promising mechanism for making this connection. In particular, researchers and practitioners in public administration can do research together in a way that enhances mutual learning, draws on the strengths of each to create useful knowledge of high quality, appreciates and tolerates of each others' worlds, styles, and contributions. Using research to promote connectedness means rethinking the roles that practitioners and academics play in generating knowledge in the field. In our project, insights from the assumptions and practices of narrative inquiry helped us to identify three research roles for practitioners: as sources of knowledge, as producers of knowledge, and as active consumers who inform the research process.

This review examines scholarship in key nonprofit journals over four decades. Its purpose is to (a) analyze the extent, nature, and contribution of critical nonprofit scholarship and its trajectory over time and (b) call on scholars, research institutions, and journals in the field to engage the kinds of insights these increasingly marginalized approaches bring, providing space for them to join, challenge, and shape the research conversation. Findings show only 4% of articles published within the period examined adopt critical approaches, with great variability in the ways articles exemplify core tenets of critical scholarship, and a general dampening of critical work over time. This conservatism may result from the rejection of less understood philosophies and methodologies of critical inquiry in favor of more mainstream (positivistic) models of social science. Our primary contribution is to advance a typology explicating the pluralism inherent in critical approaches to nonprofit studies, and their strengths and limitations.