PAD 715

Research
Methods
Spring 2016
Section 715.04: Wednesday, 4:05 6:05 pm, North Hall 3417
This syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.
Professor:
Dr. Elizabeth
Nisbet Ofice:
Room 3516,
North Hall
Phone:
646.557.4523
Email:
enisbet@jjay.cuny.edu
Ofice Hours:Wednesday 1:30-3:30 and by appointment
COURSE OVERVIEW/LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The overall goal of this course is to provide students with a social science
research vocabulary, an understanding of social science research methods
and their application to public policy and management issues, and some
basic skills in social science research. At the end of the semester, each
student should be able to formulate a research design for a public
administration or public policy issue. Students should also be able to
critically analyze the contents of research-based articles in public
administration and public policy journals and to interpret most analytic
methods used in these articles. This course is structured around a final
project: a proposal for a research design. We will start our journey towards
this project by practicing and applying concrete research skills. You will also
gather in groups to read and analyze literature and brainstorm about
research topics related to subjects that interest you. Then each person will
pursue a research project on his or her own. Most of the class focuses on
research that uses a quantitative approach and tests a hypothesis. However,
we will also seek to understand what qualitative research is.
The specific objectives of the course are for students to:
Plan a research project that makes appropriate use of empirical
research tools such as data collection, sampling, and statistical
analysis.
Understand qualitative and quantitative research designs as they are
applied in public policy and administration.
Understand and critically interpret the use of various components of a
research design
including hypothesis formulation, measurement, sampling, and data
collection/analysis.
Recognize ethical implications of research including the protection of
human subjects.
Understand how the application of valid and reliable research findings
can promote diversity, equity, integrity, efficiency, efectiveness and
professionalism.
Analyze and interpret data using statistical tools and resources.
1

READINGS
Research articles: To learn what social science research is all about, you
have to read some examples! You will find one or two of your own, and you
will be assigned several articles to read and analyze, in some cases with
homework assignments. Most articles I assign will be accessible online
through the John Jay library website or on Blackboard.
Required text: Singleton, Royce A. Jr. and Straits, Bruce. Approaches to Social
Research, 5th ed.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2010 (referred to as Singleton for
assignments). You may obtain a copy of the textbook from the Department of
Public Management for use during the entire semester. The text is provided
through Differential Tuition for MPA students. You can go to

the MPA services offices on the 3rd floor of North Hall to get the textbook
only during certain hours - see: http://mpa.jjconline.net/ for details
(Schedule for Textbook/Tablet Loans).
People find this textbook dificult. We will also supplement with a few other
readings, provided on blackboard, so you can have a few more
approachable explanations of some topics.
GRADING
Research Project 30%
Assignments: 55%
Presentation: 5%
Participation/Attendance: 10% (1 unexcused absence allowed without a grade
deduction. Provide a written excuse otherwise; talk to me if there is an issue
with this).
Grading Scale:
93-100 (A)
90-92 (A-)
87-89 (B+)
83-86 (B)
80-82 (B-)
77-79 (C+)
73-76 (C)
72 or below (C-)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
READINGS
Complete weekly readings prior to class. Class discussion and in-class work
depend on this.
WRITTEN HOMEWORK AND PRESENTATION
Many written assignments are intended to help you finish the final
proposal. Others will help you digest material covered in class.
Deadlines are in the table below. Consult blackboard for detailed
descriptions of assignments!
There will be one very brief presentation of a draft of your proposal
design about two-thirds of the way through class. Its purpose is to
have a discussion with others in the class about your design in order
to improve it.
OTHER THAN THE PRESENTATION, WHICH MUST BE EMAILED TO ME,
ASSIGNMENTS MUST ALL BE UPLOADED TO TURNITIN and are DUE AT
MIDNIGHT THE MONDAY BEFORE CLASS.
Turnitin login information is on blackboard.
Please note that I cannot provide substantive comments on work that is
submitted late by the next class meeting. You must meet the deadline
if you expect feedback in class.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: For the final project, each student will assume the role of
a researcher who is writing up a description of a study you are
hypothetically planning to conduct. Imagine that you need to solicit funding
in order to conduct a study or that you work for a public agency or nonprofit
and seek support from a decisionmaker in the organization to conduct a
study that will advance the organizations work. Your research proposal will
explain why and how this hypothetical study would be conducted.

Details of the proposal are on blackboard, but the sections of the proposal are:
o Problem Statement
Literature Review: Use at least 6 scholarly articles (3-4 at least should be
empirical; the others
may be theoretical).
o Research Question(s)
o Research Design and Methods
Data collection method (e.g., survey, experiment, observation,
qualitative interviews, use
of existing data). (See CHECKLIST in Guidance for Assignments
folder on blackboard for details on items that must be explained for
each of these methods).
Sampling (see CHECKLIST in Guidance for Assignments folder on
blackboard for details):
For all methods of data collection: unit of analysis, target
population, sampling frame, sampling design, recruitment of
participants
For experiments: how you will select cases or assign treatment
For analysis of existing data, explain how the data were
collected by the original researcher as well as how you will
sample from the full data if relevant
Measurement:
independent, dependent, and control variables
conceptual and operational definition of each variable. (e.g.,
for existing data describe questions or other measurement
that captures your variable; for a new survey write questions
or other measures capturing your variable)
Data Analysis (see CHECKLIST in Guidance for Assignments folder
on blackboard):
For quantitative research, what statistical tests will you use for
univariate analysis (e.g., to summarize or tell the reader about
the individual variables)?
For quantitative research, what statistical tests will you use
for bivariate analysis (e.g., to test a relationship between two
variables)?
For quantitative research, what statistical tests will you use for
multivariate analysis
(e.g., to consider the effect of additional variables on the
relationship between the first two, or test relationships among
more than two variables)?
Expected findings, problems or limitations, potential implications
o

References (use APA style)

Appendix (if needed)

Roughly 12-17 pages in length, aside from references

and appendix Double-spaced with one-inch margins
and 12-point font

Include: title page, page numbers, section

headings Points off for grammatical and
spelling errors.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Students are expected to attend and participate in all classes. It is expected
that students will attend class in its entirety and it is recommended that
students take detailed notes on the readings and their impressions of the
materials. Please inform me if you are going to miss class for a legitimate
reason (e.g., medical emergency, conference presentation) and be prepared
to provide documentation where possible. Students are responsible for all
materials, even if they are not in class. Exchanging contact information with
another student on the first day of class will help you keep up with content
that is missed.

COURSE POLICIES
GRADING POLICIES AND REMINDERS
1. Grades are earned, not given. Simply completing the course
requirements does not entitl
e a student to a grade of A or B. "A"
grades are earned only for exceptional work.
2. I take points off for poor grammar, sentence structure, spelling,
incorrect vocabulary, and incorrect in-text citations or references
(APA style). Familiarize yourself with the folder
in blackboard
called Information on writing, editing, citation, and crediting
sources!
3. I will not grade homework with a high originality score or with
excessive grammatical errors. You will be asked to redo these.
4. Points off each day for late work 5 per day. Assignments due Monday
before class on
TURNITIN 3 points per assignment turned in through other
means, except for the presentation.
PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another persons ideas, research or
writings as your own. The following are some examples of plagiarism, but
by no means is it an exhaustive list:
Copying another persons actual words without the use of
quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their
source
Presenting another persons ideas or theories in your own words
without acknowledging the source
Using information that is not common knowledge without acknowledging
the source
Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory
assignments Internet plagiarism includes submitting downloaded term
papers or part of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information
from the Internet without citing the source, and cutting and pasting
from various sources without proper attribution. (From the John Jay
College of Criminal Justice Graduate Bulletin, p. 89) Students who are
unsure how and when to provide documentation are advised to consult
with their instructors. The Library has free guides designed to help
students with problems of documentation.
The instructor reserves the right to submit any written classwork to
turnitin.com or Blackboards SafeAssign to check for academic integrity
issues.
CLASSROOM DEMEANOR
Students are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Any
form of racial, ethnic, and/or other demeaning comment will not be
tolerated. Students guilty of such behavior will be excused from class. In
addition, students practicing any behavior that is disruptive to classmates
such as eating, sleeping, playing music/wearing headphones, reading
periodicals, texting, and/or talking out loud while others are speaking will
also be excused from the class.

EMAIL/COMPUTER USE
Each student must have a John Jay e-mail address. If you do not already have
a John Jay email account, please obtain one immediately. Occasionally,
course or exam schedules may change and notification may occur via email.
If I send an email, I assume that you received and read it.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Unforeseen circumstances may require changes in the schedule or
assignments. Students will be notified in advance of any such modifications
via John Jay email!

Topic and Date

1: Introduction and
overview
February 3rd
2: Reading Social
Science Research;
Research
questions; data
exercise
th
February
3: Theory,10
literature
review
February 17th

4: Research design;
Units of Analysis
February 24th
5: Intro to defning
and
measuring
variables
March 2nd
6: Data analysis 1
March 9th

7. Experiments
March 16th

Readings to do before this

Assignments due at midnight
class
the
Monday
before
this class
Van Thiel, Chapters 1
and 2, excerpts
(blackboard)
Annotated bibliography
Articles for homework
part 1 (be prepared to
Schroeder, Johnson, and
describe one of your
Jensen (1985). Reading
articles in class!)
Research Reports: A
Brief Introduction (blackboard)
Van Thiel, up
to p 121
Data entry/data file
Chapter
3, only.
setup (email excel
excerpts
sheets

Turnitin
Gazley, B. (2008). Beyond
cannot
the contract: The scope
manage excel).
and nature of informal
List of 5 citations in
governmentnonproft
preparation
for
partnerships. Public
literature
review
administration review,
to turnitin).
68(1),
141-154.and Straits, Ch. 4
Singleton
(upload
Topic ideas
for research
proposal.
Theory and research
Conceptual and
Singleton and Straits, Ch. 5
operational
Thoits, P. A., & Hewitt, L.
definitions from the
N. (2001). Volunteer work
literature.
and well-being. Journal of
Research questions &
health and social behavior,
hypothesis. (Note:
115-131.
areofrequired.
Eller, Gerber and
both
Outline
literatureYou
Robinson, Chapters 15
review with references
and 16
(see sample outline in
blackboard and also
Skim data section:
guide on
Trautner, M. N., Hatton, E.,
& Smith, K. E. (2013).
writing with outlines).
What Workers Want
revised research
Depends: Legal
questions/ hypothesis
Knowledge
and
the
Desire
needed. (optional
Singleton and Straits,
as
Experiments
Chapter 7 (only up to
assignment.
staging section). Skim
Chapter 8 (esp: validity
threats; skim designs)
Pager, D. (2003). The
Mark of a Criminal
Record. American journal
of sociology, 108(5), 937975.
Allen, H., Baicker, K.,
Taubman, S., Wright, B.,
& Finkelstein, A. (2013).
The Oregon health
insurance experiment:

Topic and Date

8: Data collection
surveys
March 30th
(No class Mar 23rd
classes follow a
Friday schedule)
9: Data Collection
Existing Data/Desk
research
April 6th

10. Presenting
and
workshopping
initial research
design
and
presentations
11: Sampling and
Observation
April 20th

12: Data Analysis II

May 4th
(No class April 27th
spring break)
13. Case studies
May 11th

14. Wrapping up
May 18th

Readings to do before this

class
Eller, Gerber &
Robinson 2013,
Chapter 11
Survey article fnd one
related to your topic
(see example in
blackboard)
Van
Thiel, Ch 9 (focus esp.
on introduction, 9.1,
section on secondary
analysis, and box 9.4)
Singleton and Straits, Ch
12 (focus esp on
sources and
methodological issues
sections)

Chapter 6, Singleton and

Straits (focus on first part
of the chapter up to
factors determining
sample size.)
Chapter 11, Singleton and
Straits (only introduction
to p. 355; sections on
and of
research
Van Thiel,design
remainder
Chapter 10
Additional TBA
Homework article
Eller et al 2013, Chapter 8
See example: Van
Slyke, D. M., &
Hammonds, C. A.
(2003). The
Privatization Decision
Do Public Managers
Make a Diference? The

Final Paper Due: May 25th

conclusions

Assignments due at
midnight the Monday
beforeliterature
this class
Draft
review (include the
reference list).
Write 3 survey
questions that
could get at your
Identify 3 data sources
that could be useful
for your paper (even if
you intend to use a
diferent method)
Design draft 1.
(outline form or use
template)
(optional: send your
research of 2-3
draft
Presentations
slides (Others take
notes with template.
Email to
m by 9 am the day of
class.
Observation exercise:
cellphone behavior
Sampling worksheet

Data homework

Homework: identify a
case study article and
summarize

Design
draft
2:
narrative
format,
include introductory
paragraph,
sampling
Revised literature review, design, with
introduction
and