Posted: August 10th, 2015

Public Administration Research Problem

Public Administration Research Problem

Order Description

Please answer the following questions cite a reference(s) for each.

Research Problem: How to deter juvenile delinquency in youth programs on military installations.

1. Explanatory Research Designs
While the first phase in examining some public sector problems might require quantitative design to help you further define your problem, you may also need to employ quantitative design to examine the relationships between variables. Using your refined research problem, describe how some aspect of this issue could be addressed using explanatory research designs. Choose one of the following three design methods to respond to this discussion:
• An experimental design.
• A quasi-experimental design.
• A nonexperimental design.
Remember to identify variables, causality, and external factors that may muddy the results.

2. Validity
Validity is a concept that must be considered in research designs. Ignoring validity concerns can result in findings that are open to question. Define the term validity as it refers to research in the field of public administration. Analyze how this could impact your research problem both positively and negatively. Using your research problem as an example, describe internal and external sources of invalidity in research strategies. Suggest ways to control for these threats to validity.

3. Measurement
One way to understand and critique your own use of measures and scales is to examine the scales applied in existing studies. Using the two articles that you located in the study activity for this unit, analyze the appropriateness of the measurements and measurement scales used, as well as their reliability, operational validity, and sensitivity. For each study, either support the use of measurement tools or provide suggestions for alternative measures.
This should be a very robust discussion. As this is the only discussion this week, you will be expected to go into significant depth.

4. Research Question Writing Practice
The ability to write a good research question is a skill you acquire through practice. Practice now will serve you well as you refine your dissertation ideas over the next few quarters. Using the quantitative portion of a mixed-methods methodology for the research issue you are interested in, write a research question and associated hypotheses that you would test in a study of this subject. Explain how this quantitative research question supports the research study design and gets you to what you want to know.

5. Quantitative Sampling Plan
Practice designing sampling procedures is also important to your success in your dissertation work. Using a quantitative methodology for the research problem you are interested in, apply the sampling terminology listed below. Specifically, note the population, sampling frame, sampling design, sample, unit of analysis, statistic, and parameter. Analyze any significant challenges that you as a researcher would face in using this sampling technique.
Sampling Terminology:
Population:
Sampling Frame:
Sampling Design:
Sample:
Unit of Analysis:
Statistic Average distance:
Parameter:

6. Collecting Data
• Identify two articles from the journals Public Administration Review or Administrative Science Quarterly that document in detail qualitative research projects in the public administration field.
Assessing how others have addressed qualitative sampling dilemmas will help you to design your own sampling plan and contingency procedures in case things do not go smoothly. Using the articles you identified in the study activities, note the following for each article:
• Who was the research population?
• How were the participants contacted?
• What was the response rate?
• How did the researchers handle participants who did not respond on first contact?
• What other follow-up processes did they use?
Analyze and compare the population sampling plans. Provide suggestions on areas that could have been approached differently. Note things that worked particularly well. Identify lessons that you have learned from this for later application in your own study sampling.