Preparing Public Administration Scholars for Qualitative Inquiry: A Status Report

Abstract

This paper reiterates in succinct form the discipline's discussion of how qualitative inquiry stands to contribute substantively to public affairs knowledge and why it is therefore a necessary skill to develop as scholars in the field and its cognates; public administration, public policy, and political science. It then presents empirical data on doctoral research methods requirements collected in 2004-2005 and 2011-2012 to demonstrate that while preparation in qualitative inquiry is improving, at least one-third of the doctoral programs associated with NASPAA-accredited Master of Public Administration degree programs still fail to prepare candidates in qualitative inquiry. Therefore, the discussion is still relevant and doctoral programs are encouraged to continue curricular reform and enhancement. Furthermore, scholars are encouraged to continue research on research in public administration.

Assessing Qualitative Studies in Public Administration Research

“…Equating rigor with the complex numerical operations associated with postpositivism (Nesbit et al ) narrows the definition of what is legitimate empirical research in a field. “Research methods” requirements in PA doctoral programs teach postpositivist methodologies; interpretivist methodologies tend to be relegated to electives (Stout ). The consequences for the field are real.…”

“…These trends reflect a rich and robust tradition of empirical research in public administration (PA). In this context, qualitative research can be viewed as a well‐established methodology capable of answering “big questions” in PA and helpful to strengthen the field's links to practice (Stout ). Over time, conversations have shifted from questions about legitimacy to more productive exchanges around frameworks and approaches (Riccucci ; Stout ), criteria to improve rigor (Brower, Abolafia, and Carr ; Dodge, Ospina, and Foldy ; Lowery and Evans ; Miller ; Stout ), and sound research design (Cappellaro ; Schwartz‐Shea and Yanow ).…”

The Science of Public Administration: Problems, Presumptions, Progress, and Possibilities

“…As a result of these efforts, there is evidence of increasing rigor in both the qualitative (Stout ) and quantitative (Cleary ; Moynihan ) research conducted in the field. In particular, there is strong evidence that public administration has become much more scientific in the nearly 70 years since Dahl's critique.…”

Concerning the Research and Science

“…Public policy and administration issues are diverse so would be the research methods. Stout (2013) argued that quantitative and qualitative research methods are necessary to "make the best fit to the question at hand"…though a public policy and administration researchers prefer qualitative research design and method" (p.21). Consequently, and based on the above, quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods are available for a "true" fit to social sciences.…”

“…Therefore, the research questions to be dealt in the qualitative method would be (i) more advanced, (ii) more insulate or discriminate (iii) less numeric nor statistics (iv) artificial than randomness. We may have some ideas about the qualitative study with the aid of two illustrations (i) remote sensing of earth object about one meter readability from the satellite or (ii) any most unusual context of cruel murderers under some esoteric circumstances to be remanded for the final review of empress in the British , 2013;Groff, R., 2007). While the quantitative method can be implied with the political or economic attribute, this does not mean that the quantitative methods allow them to earn more research income.…”