Part 1

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Library Research Assignment

find a peer-reviewed article on a topic that deals with some aspect of public administration or public policy. Select the article from the e-Resources, ABI-Inform Complete (ProQuest). Discuss the following questions:

• Is the problem statement open-ended and non-biasing? Why or Why not?
• Does the research answer the question asked? Why or Why not?
• Is the research qualitative, quantitative, or mixed?
• Would you have chosen a different method? Why or Why not?
• Are you too optimistic about the accuracy of this research? Why or Why not?
• What do you already know about the topic?
• Do you see any shortcomings that lead you to condemn all aspects of research?

Part 2

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

The Food Stamp Program was enacted in the 1960s as part of the War on Poverty. You have been asked to design a research study that evaluates the impacts on this program. Focus your discussion on the following:

• What 5 possible impacts would you choose?
• What criterion makes each impact important? Why?
• What choice of language; descriptive, normative, and cause-and-effect would work best when framing your research questions? Why?

Part 3

Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Research and examine the Redistribution of Income and Wealth Theory. Discuss the following questions:

• Is the theory clear and unambiguous? What clarity would you include to increase understanding?
• Does the research on the theory support or fail to support the expectations? Explain your opinion.
• How can others use the theory to explain events and test hypotheses derived from it?
• How can you deduce predictions from it that can be tested in different circumstances?
• How can you derive explicit expectations about real-world events from it? Is it related to the world in systematic ways?

Part 4

Your first task is to post your own Key Assignment Outline to the discussion area so that other students are able to review your plan. Attach your document to the main discussion post, and include any notes you feel are appropriate. The purpose of this assignment is to help improve the quality of the Key Assignment Draft you will complete next week.

Part 5

Review and reflect on the knowledge you have gained from this course. Based on your review and reflection, write at least 400–600 words on the following:

• What were the most compelling topics learned in this course?
• How did participating in discussions help your understanding of the subject matter? Is anything still unclear that could be clarified?
• What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information?
• The main post should include at least 1 reference to research sources, and all sources should be cited using APA format.

Part 6

2-3 pages

Read a quantitative article in a peer-reviewed journal in the area of public administration or public policy that uses data collection to test some hypothesis. Organize your paper with each of the following sections clearly numbered:

1. Give the bibliographic citation for the article.
2. Succinctly state the hypothesis or hypotheses being tested.
3. List and briefly describe the dependent and independent variables.
4. What theoretical basis or conceptual framework does the author utilize in framing an understanding of the problem or issue? Explain your answer.
5. Briefly describe the data collection and analysis procedures.
6. What are the inherent, pre-existent biases in the author’s approach?
7. What is your overall evaluation of the study? What are the weak areas? What are the strong areas?

Part 7

3-5 pages

Read an article in a peer-reviewed journal in the field of public administration or public policy that utilizes a qualitative research methodology. Organize your paper with each of the following sections clearly numbered:

1. Give the bibliographic citation for the article.
2. Provide a brief summary of the research question (i.e., purpose of the study).
3. Describe the author’s rationale for using qualitative methods in the study.
4. Describe the data collection and analysis procedures.
5. Did the qualitative researcher also use any quantitative methods, including unobtrusive (measurements of which the subject is unaware) ones? Explain your answer.
6. Was the research purpose of the study achieved? That is, the author had a research perspective in mind. Please refer only to that and not the project’s conclusions. Explain your answer.
7. Can you identify any assumptions (biases) in the author’s approach or conclusions?
8. Do you think that another type of qualitative or quantitative method could have worked better in addressing the research question? Explain your answer.
9. In your opinion, what is your overall evaluation of the study? What are the weak areas? What are the strong areas?

Part 8

2-3 pages

Choose a current political issue in the news that relates to some aspect of government activity (a court decision, an election, a bill, an international conflict, etc.) and write a paper on the following:

• State the main characteristic of the issue in one sentence.
• Find one example of each of the following types of data about the issue:
  • Qualitative (interview, transcript, editorials, blog posting, etc.)
  • Quantitative (proportion of justices supporting decision, numbers who voted on one side of issue or polling percentages, vote in legislature, numbers in international community on one side of the issue, etc.)
• Compare and contrast what the two types of data tell you:
  • How are they complementary?
  • How do their findings conflict or speak to cross-purposes?

Part 9

5-7 pages

Please select a research topic of your choice in the field of public administration/public policy for your Key Assignment.

The Key Assignment will include 2 parts. Part 1 (Week 4 IP) will include the planning and preparation of your research topic. Part 2 (Week 5 IP) will include reporting on the results of your research.

Part 1: Tasks Week 4 IP

Planning

Prepare a document on a research topic of your choice that will include the following topics:

• Determine the issues
• Build on the work of others
  • Use models to clarify the issue within its context or environment
  • Assess stakeholders’ needs
• Determine the research questions
• Select measures
• Select an appropriate design
• Develop data collection strategy and instruments
• Develop a sampling approach
• Develop data analysis strategy
• Review and test the methodology
• Prepare a work plan with resource and time requirements

Doing

• Gather the data
• Analyze the data
• Verify the accuracy of the data and analysis
• Formulate the findings

Part 10

3-5 new pages a total of 8-12 pages

Please select a research topic of your choice in the field of public administration or public policy for your Key Assignment.

The Key Assignment will include 2 parts. Part 1 (Week 4 IP) will include the planning and preparation of your research topic. Part 2 (Week 5 IP) will include reporting on the results of your research.

Part 1: Tasks Week 4 IP

Update this section of your document based on feedback from the peer review and instructor.

Part 2: Tasks Week 5 IP (New Material)

Reporting

Report on the results of your research. The new section of your document will include the following:

• Report the major findings. Data analysis will include demographics, descriptive statistics, and statistical analysis.
• Restatement of research purpose, cases, and time periods.
• Suggest clear, specific proposals for action: who should do what by when.
• Use charts and tables to communicate the results: reports, briefings, and executive summary.
• Summarize all the graphic presentations, charts, and tables.
• Assessment of correspondence between predictions based on theory and actual observations.
• Present evidence to support recommendations.
• Summarize the implications of the research.