Doctoral Programs in Public Administration: An Outsider's Perspective

Stallings, Robert A.

doi:10.2307/3110438

Cited by 44 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Furthermore, because theorists do not perfectly understand the world in which they live, it is not uncommon for them to craft a theory based on the slogan, "You've got to fake it until you get it right". No wonder Mintzberg said: "so-called theories of management rest upon a false picture of what managers actually do" (Stallings, 1986). In concurrence with Mintzberg, the question is: How can a theorist who has never been a manager or even visited an organization such as Walmart know what managers actually do or the problems facing them?…”

Section: The Theory-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Viewed from this perspective, practice tells us what is happening in the real world and theory helps us to understand why it is happening. As Stallings (1986) put it, "...theories are merely clusters of statements that explain something. Before there is a need for theories...it is first necessary to establish what needs to be explained.…”

Section: The Theory-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To illustrate, Meier feels that "many of the concerns of (PA) practitioners are just not very interesting" (Shields, 2006). Like Meier, Stallings (1986) defended PA researchers for not doing problem-driven research that is tailored to the needs of PA practitioners. As he put it, There is a more general reason why the problems of practitioners should not automatically be taken as the core problems of the field.…”

Section: The Research-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Rocky Marriage Between Public Administration Academics and Practitioners

Odezah¹

2016

UCPA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It has long been recognized that public administration (PA) is a "prophet without a prophecy", a situation in which PA theories and research cannot predict, tell, explain, or solve the problems facing PA practitioners. Consequently, this problem has resulted in a lack of congruence, gap, disconnect, division, or gulf between PA academics and practitioners. Although volumes have been written about the problem, much of this work is based strictly on the "scientific" research method which has little or no potential relevance to the problems facing PA practitioners. In contrast, this paper uses both the scientific and the "case study" research methods to provide a more balanced view of the problem. To illustrate, after discussing the nature of the causes of the disconnect between PA academics and practitioners from a theoretical point of view, the discussion then applied a case study research method to show how the "theory-practice" and "research-practice" gaps might have contributed, directly or indirectly and in whole or in part, to the failure of the American anti-poverty programs, popularly known as the "American war on poverty". The paper concludes with some results-oriented and productive recommendations to bridge the theory-practice and the research-practice gaps in public administration, the disconnect between PA academics and practitioners, and to move the public administration profession in the right direction.

show abstract

Section: The Theory-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: The Theory-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Research-practice Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Rocky Marriage Between Public Administration Academics and Practitioners

Odezah¹

2016

UCPA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As Robert Stallings has argued, this exposure may lead doctoral students to consider writing their dissertation on a topic other than the ordinary, standard research topics. [8] I graduated with my masters in 1990 and my doctorate in 1995, with the two degrees coming from two different universities located in two 514 Johnson ORDER REPRINTS different parts of the country. At no time during these two programs was I exposed to courses or research that directly addressed social class issues.…”

Section: Integrated Course Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Has Public Administration Grown Up? A Case for Class-Related Education and Research

Johnson

2004

International Journal of Public Administration

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article contends that public administration has not grown up because the discipline has yet to address adequately the issue of social class. To this end, public administration education programs and research programs must be refocused. A number of concrete proposals are made along these lines. It is pointed out that affirmative action was never intended to address discrimination and injustice associated with social class, and now the field has an opportunity to lay the basis for filling this void.

show abstract

“…A number of US studies have assessed the state of the research conducted at the doctorate level. This includes the work by Adams and White (1994), McCurdy and Cleary (1984), White (1986), Cleary (1994 and Stallings (1994). The general conclusion of these studies was that doctoral research was of a poor quality.…”

Section: Doctoral Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The State of Public Administration as an Academic Field in South Africa

Cameron

2013

Politikon

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Doctoral Programs in Public Administration: An Outsider's Perspective

Cited by 44 publications

References 7 publications

The Rocky Marriage Between Public Administration Academics and Practitioners

The Rocky Marriage Between Public Administration Academics and Practitioners

Has Public Administration Grown Up? A Case for Class-Related Education and Research

The State of Public Administration as an Academic Field in South Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About