Research and Analytic Methods

PAD 5003

Instructor: Marci Eads, Ph.D.

E-mail:

Course Description:

This course is designed to provide you with an introduction to the fundamentals of social science and public administration research methods, including an introduction to both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Additionally, it is designed to introduce you to statistics and the use of statistics in analyzing and understanding social phenomena and data that may be useful to you as a public administrator.

In particular, this course is designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge you need to understand the process of conducting solid research and to better understand and critique research findings you come across, both as a graduate student and as a professional.

By the end of the course, you will have an understanding of the concepts underlying research methods and the use of statistics, the ability to critique and question research and statistics you come across in your work, and a basic understanding of SPSS. It will also provide a foundation for learning additional skills to conduct your own research.

There are three primary aspects to this course. First, we will read about, discuss and apply the fundamental principles of social science research. Second, we will spend some time learning about how to design research projects that are appropriate, feasible and useful and how to gather data that answer our research questions. Third, we will spend time (particularly in the last half of the semester) learning about and using several statistical techniques that you will encounter in public administration research.

Be prepared to: 1) “discuss” readings with the other members of your group (you will be assigned to a small group during the first week of the course); 2) work through conceptual questions; 3) run and interpret statistics using SPSS; 4) talk and think about the use of research methods and statistical techniques in your professional work.

Each unit will become available two weeks before it begins, to give you more details about what is coming up and so that you can work ahead if you need to. I do not recommend that you work ahead too much, as you will need to stay focused on the current material to be able to interact with your discussion group.

However, because some of this material can be difficult to understand, I strongly recommend that you not get behind. I recommend that you begin to work on assignments as soon as they are assigned, so that you do not find that you are struggling with it the night before it is due. Additionally, if you anticipate that you may struggle with the statistics sections of the course or the use of SPSS, I recommend that you investigate possibilities for short-term in-person tutoring with someone who has a solid statistics background and/or someone who uses SPSS regularly.

To do well in this course, you will probably need to spend eight or more hours each week on it. This includes doing the readings, participating in the group discussions, working through the assignments, the paper, and the final exam. Some students find that they need substantially more time each when we work on inferential statistics.

Assignments:

There will be four short individual SPSS assignments throughout the semester, plus one research design assignment. Late assignments will be reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade for each day they are late. A complete list of assignments is attached. Please note that this list is tentative and may change during the course of the semester. It is your responsibility to take note of changes in assignments and due dates. All assignments will be due on a Monday, unless otherwise noted.

Group Discussions and Group Work:

Most weeks, you will also be required to comment on some aspect of the readings with the other members of your group, or work together on short group tasks. Your contributions to these discussions and these tasks will be part of your overall grade.

Mid-Term Paper:

There will be a paper due near the middle of the semester. This assignment will require that you articulate a set of research questions of your choosing; select, describe and defend an appropriate research design and appropriate research methods; and identify and propose solutions for potential ethical issues. More details about this assignment will be provided a few weeks before the paper is due.

Final Exam:

There will be a final exam. You will be provided a review sheet that will help you prepare for the final exam. While the exam will focus primarily on quantitative data and analysis, it will also build upon, and ask about, material from the first part of the semester.

Participation:

You should expect to participate actively throughout the semester, as we will be covering a great deal of material in a short time, and this material can be difficult to understand. It is expected that students will participate actively. This means being prepared to discuss the readings, ask questions, and engage in conversation and activities around the material. In this class, there is no such thing as a stupid question. If you do not understand something, there is a good chance other students are having trouble with the same concept. Please always feel free to ask questions. Active and productive participation in class will be taken into account when determining final course grades.

What you can expect of me:

I teach research methods and statistics because I love to teach and because I believe that research skills and the ability to be informed and critical users of research and statistics is vital. I put time, energy and thought into every class I teach, because I want it to be a valuable experience. My goals are to help construct an environment in which ideas can be discussed and thoughts shared in a respectful way; to help students become more critical participants in the world; and to help facilitate the creation of a sense of community centered around learning. To achieve these goals, I ask that students challenge themselves, each other and me, and that we all treat each other with respect.

I am open to suggestions, and I encourage your active participation. I will work hard to help make this a valuable learning experience for you.

I will attempt to answer all e-mails within 24 hours, and will attempt to let everyone know if there are days during the semester that this will not be possible. I am available to offer extra help by e-mail; I am also happy to set up telephone appointments for more in-depth discussions when needed.

Grading:

Grading standards for this course are based on a norm of expectations for graduate student performance. A grade of “B” means the student has met general expectations for graduate student performance and demonstrates competence in the subject matter studied. A grade of “A” means that the student has exceeded expectations and demonstrated superior competencies. A grade of “C” indicates the student needs more work to achieve competence in the study area.

The course grades will be determined as follows:

25%: Individual Assignments;

25%: Contributions to group discussions and tasks;

25%: Mid-term paper;

25%: Final exam

Required readings:

Babbie, Earl. 2004. The Practice of Social Research, 10th Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

(Referred to as “Practice” in the list of readings.)

Babbie, Earl, Fred Halley, and Jeanne Zaino. 2003. Adventures in Social Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Referred to as “Adventures” in the list of readings.)

Schedule of Topics, Readings and Assignments (Subject to Change):

Note that, with the exception of Unit 1 readings, readings should be COMPLETED by the first day of the unit. For example, Chapters 1, 3, and 4 should be completed by January 22.

Unit 1

Week of January 16 – January 22

Topics

  • Introduction to each other and the course
  • Introduction to social science research and its uses in public administration
  • Academic integrity and citing sources

Readings for this week: Babbie on plagiarism; sample citation formats; Fitzpatrick: “What Are Our Goals…”

Unit 2

Week of January 23 – January 29

Topics

  • Research ethics
  • Beginning a research project: developing research questions and a research plan

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapters 1, 3 and 4

Unit 3

Week of January 30 – February 5

Topics

  • Designing useful research and using research to explain; types of research designs and overview of types of research methods
  • Evaluation research and the use of logic models

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapter 12

Assignment 1: Evaluation Assignment; due February 19

Unit 4

Week of February 6 – February 12

Topics

  • Measurement
  • Reliability and validity

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapter 5; Adventures, Chapter 3; Section on Reliability and Validity from O’Sullivan

Unit 5

Week of February 13 – February 19

Topics

  • Sampling

Readings for today: Practice, Chapter 7

Unit 6

Week of February 20 – February 26

Topics

  • Survey research

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapter 9

Unit 7

Week of February 27 – March 5

Topics

  • Literature reviews
  • Experimental, quasi-experimental and non-experimental design; internal and external validity

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapters 8 and 17; reading from O’Sullivan on design

Unit 8

Week of March 6 – March 12

Topics

  • Qualitative research methods and qualitative analysis
  • Content analyses and secondary analyses

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapters 10, 11 and 13

Unit 9

Week of March 13 – March 19

Mid-term Paper due on March 19; spend the week working through research issues for your paper with your groups and with me

Unit 10

Week of March 20 – March 26

Spring Break

Unit 11

Week of March 27 – April 2

Topics

  • Introduction to descriptive statistics
  • Introduction to SPSS

Readings for this week: Practice, Chapter 14; Adventures, Chapters 4 and 5, Also, review Appendix A to become familiar with the variables in the “Demo” and “Exer” data flies

Assignment 2: Descriptive Statistics; due April 9

Unit 12

Week of April 3 – April 9

  • More on descriptive statistics
  • Introduction to inferential statistics
  • Hypothesis testing
  • Introduction to t-tests
  • Continue with SPSS

Readings for this week: Adventures, Chapter 8; Also, review Appendix A to become familiar with the variables in the “Demo” and “Exer” data flies

Unit 13

Week of April 10 – April 16

Topics

  • T-tests continued
  • Introduction to ANOVA
  • Continue with SPSS

Readings for this week: Adventures, Chapter 15; additional reading TBA

Assignment 3: T-tests; due April 16

Unit 14

Week of April 17 – April 23

Topics

  • T-tests continued
  • ANOVA continued
  • Introduction to chi-square
  • Continue with SPSS

Readings for this week: TBA

Assignment 4: Chi-Square and Correlations; due April 23

Unit 15
Week of April 24 – April 30

Topics

  • ANOVA and Chi-Square continued
  • Correlations and Regression
  • Continue with SPSS

Readings for this week: TBA

Assignment 5: ANOVA; due in April 30

Unit 16
Week of May 1 – May 7
  • Review T-tests, ANOVA, Chi-Square, Correlations and Regression
  • Review and prepare for final exam