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Advanced Research Methods (MAN-MPL034) Summary of all obligatory literature
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Summary literature Advanced Research MethodsContents
Van Thiel chapter 1................................................................................................................................2
Chapter 1: Research in public administration....................................................................................2
1.1 The unique features of research in public administration.......................................................2
1.2 Research in public administration and policy...........................................................................3
Van Thiel chapter 2................................................................................................................................4
Chapter 2: The research problem......................................................................................................4
2.1 Choosing and formulating a research problem........................................................................4
2.2 The research aim & 2.3 The research question........................................................................5
Van Thiel chapter 3..............................................................................................................................10
Chapter 3: theoretical framework...................................................................................................10
3.1 the empirical cycle.................................................................................................................10
3.2 what is theory?......................................................................................................................12
3.3 philosophies of science..........................................................................................................13
3.4 the role of theory in public administration research..............................................................15
Van Thiel chapter 4..............................................................................................................................18
chapter 4: Operationalization..........................................................................................................18
4.1 operationalization in three steps...........................................................................................18
4.2 sampling.................................................................................................................................18
4.3 reliability and validity.............................................................................................................19
4.4 validity and reliability: sources of interference......................................................................20
Van Thiel chapter 5..............................................................................................................................22
chapter 5: research design...............................................................................................................22
5.1 the different elements of the research design.......................................................................22
5.2 choosing a research strategy, method and technique...........................................................23
Guba & Lincoln (1994).........................................................................................................................25
Moses & Knutsen (2012)......................................................................................................................34
Miles et al. (2017)................................................................................................................................40
Breen 2006..........................................................................................................................................49
1
,Van Thiel chapter 1
Chapter 1: Research in public administration
Public Administration is the study of the management, operation, and functioning of
government bodies and organizations in the public sector. Public Administration (PA) by analyzing
the public sector from several angels in an integrated manner. In other words, it is interdisciplinary
in character, employing knowledge from various disciplines in an integrated manner – or at least it is
a multidisciplinary form of research, which applies the insights from different disciplines to one and
the same subject.
- Four parent disciplines
o Law
o Economics
o Political science
o Sociology
1.1 The unique features of research in public administration
Apart from the interdisciplinary approach, PA research had three other distinctive features.
- The first distinctive feature has to do with the central object of research in PA, which is the
public sector. Indeed, the public sector has evolved into much more than just ‘the
government’ in a narrow sense, such as politicians and civil servants. Citizens, interest
groups, civil societies and companies are ever more actively involved in policy development
and decision making. On the one hand, this will make research easier; it is clear which
organizations or respondents have to be included in a study. On the other hand, drawing
firm conclusions will be difficult, as material for comparison is not available, which may
hamper the generalization of research results to other situations or translating them into
theory. Usually several different actors are involved in the decision-making process, such as
politicians, civil servants, interest groups, companies and international organizations. Each of
these parties will have their own interests and beliefs, which all have to be incorporated into
the decision finally made. Indeed, research on decision making often comprises a large
amount of information on numerous actors, who interact with each other for a prolonged
period of time, in order to reach a shared decision in the end.
- The second unique feature of research in PA has to do with its applied nature. Research
typically concentrates on finding solutions to topical issues in the public sector, rather they
tend to concern themselves with problems situated in everyday reality. When researchers
convert the knowledge, they have acquired into recommendations or suggested solutions,
they move from an empirical method to a more normative one.
- Third important characteristic of PA – namely, its limited body of knowledge. This lack of an
own body of theory can partly be explained by PA being such a young discipline. PA focuses
more on finding solutions to everyday problems rather than developing new or big theories.
Research tends to follow the changes and developments taking place in the public sector:
such trends often set the research agenda. Political and social problems can prompt new
subjects of study, too. Public Administration focuses more on finding solutions to everyday
problems rather than developing new or big theories. Taken together, the distinctive
features of Public Administration lead to a predominant use of methods which are suitable
2
, for studying a small number of cases, and which allow for a direct application of results to
everyday practice.
1.2 Research in public administration and policy
Research in PA aims to study and find solutions to topical issues and problems in the public
sector. PA conducts both research into policy and for policy, and it studies all aspects of the policy
cycle, form the very beginning of setting the policy agenda to the possible termination of a policy.
Roughly speaking we can distinguish between:
- Research in which public policy is the subject of study
- Research that has a certain policy as its outcome
- Research that feeds into the policymaking process
Policy as a subject of research
In research where public policy forms the subject of study, policies are usually regarded as
instruments or methods to achieve certain goals. Research in PA that concentrates on the subject of
public policy aims to contribute to a better insight into and a more efficient use of policies: the
intention is to improve policy in an instrumental sense. The policy content is less relevant in this
case. Different types of policy spring to mind here: laws and regulations, subsidies, contracts, but
also matters such as the best way of structurally designing a public-private partnership, or even the
application of management techniques by organizations in order to reach a certain policy objective.
Research that feeds into policy
Research results are meant to be used for the development of new policies; such substantive
features become of paramount importance. After all, the study to be carried out is meant to make a
contribution in this respect, and give an outline of what the new policy will have to comprise. Typical
examples of such policy-supporting research are the following:
- Research on trends
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Evaluation reserach
Policy as the outcome of research
Policymakers regularly call in the aid of researchers to try to find a solution to a certain policy
problem. If the aim of such research is that of developing new policy instrument (laws, subsidies) or
management techniques (finance, ICT, personnel), or to decide on which procedure to follow
(operating, through networks, decentralization or free market processes), policy is, in effect, the
outcome of research.
3
, Van Thiel chapter 2
Chapter 2: The research problem
The research problem describes
- The main subject or central question of study
- What kind of answer or conclusion is sought
Research van serve different purposes, it can aim to arrive at a(n) … to a certain problem
- Description
- Explanation
- Solution
The research problem therefore not only outlines the subject of study (the research question),
but also what purpose the study intended to serve (the research aim). In the research design, the
researcher describes the way in which the study will actually be carried out.
2.1 Choosing and formulating a research problem
The research problem lays the foundations for the rest of the research; it brings into focus
what exactly will be studied and how. These initial choices influence all subsequent steps, such as
the decisions of which theoretical framework to apply, what methods and techniques to use for
gathering and analyzing the data, and what kind of conclusions can be drawn from the study.
“knowledge problem”
As the research is being carried out, it may turn out that the problem as originally formulated has to
be revised in some way or other – for example, because the intended study is practically unfeasible.
The process of arriving at a clearly delineated research problem is sometimes called
‘problematizing’.
Problematizing requires preparatory research being done first. By gathering information on a
particular subject, the researcher can determine which aspects or dimensions will be suitable for
study, and how relevant the research will be.
In preparatory research stage, the researcher tries to ascertain what the central problem is,
what sub-problems it consists of, what is already known on the subject, and what contribution the
study could or should make. It is important to choose just one research question and one research
aim.
Which particular research question and research aim are ultimately chosen depends on the
following:
- The researcher’s interests and background knowledge
- The existing body of scientific knowledge
- The sponsor’s preferences. If a study is commissioned and subsidized by a sponsor, the
researcher has to ensure that the research problem forms a satisfactory (and scientifically
sound) translation of the sponsor’s wishes and aims.
4
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