Evaluating the Initial Impact of a Public Management Reform: A Multiphase Mixed Methods Investigation Using Q Methodology

Abstract

While mixed methods researchers have witnessed growing interest in Q methodology, approaches for integration into a multiphase mixed methods investigation are needed. To provide an illustrative example, I present a theoretically guided multiphase mixed methods evaluation of the impact of public management reform. The evaluation focuses on the introduction of happiness indices into Chinese local government. This study is novel because it combines a broad array of methods to investigate how the ambitious idea of happiness indices has influenced local practice. A unique contribution of this article lies in its integration of Q methodology into multiphase mixed methods design for evaluating the reform’s impact.

In This Issue: Mixed Methods Case Study, Fractal Heuristics and Integration, Methodological Rigor and Quality, Q Methodology, and Game Heuristics in Mixed Methods Research

“…In the fourth article, Li (2020), with an affiliation in public administration, has provided an illustration of how Q methodology, as a mixed methods design, was integrated in a multiphase mixed methods investigation that evaluated the impact of public management reform in China. The mixed methods design used in this article involved an iteration of connected quantitative and qualitative studies that were sequentially aligned.…”