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Research & Library Skills for Public Administration

Online MPA ResidencyJanuary 11, 2014

Bill Leach, PhD(with pieces borrowed from Chris Weare )

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Learning Objectives

• Philosophical– Role of Research in Public Administration

• Hands-on– Interview skills– Reading skills

▪ Small group exercise– Library skills

▪ Small group exercise

“Do not define yourself by what you know. Define yourself by what you can find out.”

~ Robert Biller, former dean Price School of Public Policy

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Pep Talk

Research permeates all decisions by public and non-profit organizations

• Budgets• Political strategies• Grant proposals• New or revised policies• New or revised programs• New or revised organizations

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Purposes of Research in PAI. Administrative

– Chart a course within an organization

II. Political– Rally the base– Sway or dissuade fence-sitters

III. Collaborative– Build consensus among stakeholders – Support collective action

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An Ethos for Research

in Public Administration• Neutral point of view• Verifiable and credible sources• Evidence-based, data-driven, scientific• Uncertainty is highlighted• Methods are public & transparent• Different impacts on different groups highlighted• Research/evaluation is built into PA practice

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Neutrality• Neutrality means

– Keep an open mind.– Highlight different points of view.– Try to learn something (especially something you

didn’t already know).– Share what you learned and how you learned it.– Highlight uncertainty.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view

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Verifiable• Verifiability means that readers can check that

the information comes from a credible source.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability

• Cite your sources – Author-date or footnotes– Full citation (APA, MLA, or whatever)– Do not plagiarize words, data, or ideashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:INTEXT#In-text_attribution

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Relevance: – Does the information contribute to understanding

or support a point?

Validity: – Does a source accurately measure phenomena or

relationships? (“Internal validity”)– Can the evidence be generalized beyond the study

to be applied in other settings? (“External validity”)

Credible

Credibility Heuristics

Literature Reviews & Meta-analyses

Peer-reviewed primary research

Non-peer reviewed primary research> Source matters

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Higher

Lower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources

Credibility Heuristics – By Source• Prestigious scientific review bodies – IOM, NRC, • Prestigious peer-reviewed journals• Less prestigious peer-reviewed journals• Books by prestigious academic presses• Reports by centrist, or bipartisan think tanks• Reports by government agencies (grey literature) • Books by less-prestigious academic presses• Partisan think tanks or advocacy organizations

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Higher

Lower

All Sources Have a Point of View• Fox News vs. MSNBC• Wall Street Journal vs. New York Times• Heritage Foundation vs. Center for American

Progress• Bureau of Reclamation vs. Fish and Wildlife

Service• School of Public Policy vs. School of BusinessTake away: Acknowledge different points of view

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Plagiarism – Two Examples• "The submission of material authored by another

person but represented as the student's own work, whether that material is paraphrased or copied in verbatim or near verbatim form;“

• "Improper acknowledgment of sources in essays or papers."

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Plagiarism – Policies and Guidance• Graduated sanctions, from “F” to expulsion• “SCampus” official policy:

http://web-app.usc.edu/scampus/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions

• “Avoiding Plagiarism” by USC Student Affairs:http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/student-conduct/ug_plag.htm

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Hands-on Research Skills

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Semi-structured Interviews

• For preliminary scoping (getting up to speed fast) or formal analysis

• For qualitative understanding of complex phenomena

• For information not available elsewhere– Organizational processes, politics, de facto rules – New and developing fields– Hypotheses to be tested

• A critical career skill!

Basic Technique for Semi-Structured Interviews

• Develop general questions to guide the discussion• Be prepared to prompt for follow-up questions

(e.g. examples, sequencing).• Do not be overly directive.• Be nimble; think on your feet.• Read Hammer and Wildavsky (“The Open-Ended, Semi-

structured Interview: An (Almost) Operational Guide.” In Wildavsky, ed., Craftways, 1993).

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do:– Your homework. Research the interviewee and the subject, first. – Provide and respect confidentiality.– Be neutral or sympathetic.– Be transparent about your purpose. – Be alert to revealing statements and “quotable” quotes.– Write up notes immediately following.– Schedule the most important interviews later.– Ask your professor about “Human Subjects” exemptions.

• Don’t:– Misrepresent yourself or your purposes; don’t feign general interest– Interrogate– Ask leading questions– Affirm or contradict statements by interviewee

Skimming a Book (aka gutting a book)

• Quickly ascertain:– The main thesis of the book– The main line of argument– Strength of the argument (Do you like it, and why?)

• Focus on:– Table of contents, introduction, conclusion– Chapter and section introductions– Tables and graphs– Book reviews

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Reading Abstracts of Journal Articles

• Research Question (puzzle to be solved)• Methods

- empirical setting- hypothesis

• Results (data analysis and findings)• Conclusions and implications

Primary and secondary sources of research

• Primary sources present original research.– Skills are taught in 502x, 541, 540, 542

• Secondary sources summarize or reinterpret primary sources. – These skill permeate the MPA program and are

fully integrated in Capstone

Descriptive Research

• Documenting facts about current states or past trends

• For defining problems or setting agendas

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Explanatory Research• Testing theories about cause-and-effect• Did (or will) X cause Y?• Forecasting future trends • Explaining past successes and failures• Useful for:

– Policy analysis (prospective or retrospective)– Program evaluation or organizational design– Developing best practices or procedures

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Concepts vs. Measures

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Measure

Concept

Multiple Measures

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Measure 2

Concept

Measure 1

Measure 3

Diagramming a Hypothesis

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Independent Variable

(Operationalized)

Independent Variable

(Conceptualized)

Dependent Variable

(Operationalized)

Dependent Variable

(Conceptualized)

Why is this article so hard to read?• Field-specific jargon and theory

– PA is interdisciplinary• Poorly written• Written by a European• Written by an academic

– Please don’t write like an academic– Be clear, concise, direct, authentic

Take away: You belong here.27

USC Library Resources

Distance Learning Resources

Instructional Videos

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Library Overview Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZKPIVH_WTus

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Google Scholar Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rsFdeyvgMSY

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Do not fear the Internet

• Embrace search engines• Wikipedia is a good place to start• Google Scholar for academic sources

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Jumping in . . .

Research is a craft best learned through experience.

Links and References Available at:

http://usc-mpa-spring2014.wikispaces.com/page1

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Small Group Exercise #1

• Reading Abstracts• Diagramming hypotheses

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Small Group Exercise #2• Step 1. Read passage. Mark all phrases that would

be stronger with specific data or citation.

• Step 2. Go find the data and/or citations using Google Search, Google Scholar, etc.

• Step 3. Rewrite and cite as needed to make the passage more specific (interesting) and verifiable.