The origins of the influential American philosophy classical pragmatism and of American public administration overlap. On the surface, it appears that classical pragmatism had no influence on the emerging field of American public administration. Why were the two never properly wed? This essay first traces the historical connections that link public administration and classical pragmatism. Second, using a framework that is simple to remember, the tenets of classical pragmatism—practical, pluralistic, participatory, and provisional—are explored and applied to public administration. The marriage of classical pragmatism and public administration should prove endlessly fertile.
While hypotheses frame explanatory studies and provide guidance for measurement and statistical tests, deductive, exploratory research does not have a framing device like the hypothesis. To this purpose, this article examines the landscape of deductive, exploratory research and offers the working hypothesis as a flexible, useful framework that can guide and bring coherence across the steps in the research process. The working hypothesis conceptual framework is introduced, placed in a philosophical context, defined, and applied to public administration and comparative public policy. Doing so, this article explains: the philosophical underpinning of exploratory, deductive research; how the working hypothesis informs the methodologies and evidence collection of deductive, explorative research; the nature of micro-conceptual frameworks for deductive exploratory research; and, how the working hypothesis informs data analysis when exploratory research is deductive.
Are the unstable residential and personal lives of homeless mentally ill (HMI) individuals so difficult as to preclude their inclusion in rigorous, longitudinal research protocols? The continued presence of HMI individuals in U.S. society has prompted the mental health research community to reconsider the question of whether clinical trial and demonstration research protocols are feasible with this population. This article briefly examines the existing research literature on recruitment and retention rates in recent studies of this population and, in more detail, the specific strategies used by researchers to recruit and retain HMI individuals as research participants. In general, with sufficient resources and the persistent use of existing strategies for recruitment and retention, HMI individuals can be successfully studied over time. Finally, to demonstrate this potential, the recruitment and retention strategies of the San Diego McKinney Homeless Mentally Ill Demonstration Research Program are described.
Since 1998, the capstone papers of students at Texas State University have won the Pi Alpha Alpha masters student paper award five times 1 . The papers are so successful because students have mastered the art of building and using intermediate theory or conceptual frameworks. This paper introduces the notion of microconceptual frameworks and examines how students use them to connect all aspects of empirical inquiry (e.g., problem definition, purpose, literature review, methodology, data collection, and analysis). These conceptual frameworks act like a map that gives coherence to the enterprise. They are a critical "missing link" in successful student empirical research.
Capstone ProjectOur MPA students learn about conceptual elements of empirical research as they prepare to write their Applied Research Project (ARP). The ARP is written in a twocourse sequence. The first class (POSI 5335 Problems in Research Methodology) 2 is a
This article argues that the community of inquiry notion of the classical pragmatists has much to offer public administration theory and practice. The community of inquiry is an ideal position from which public administrators can effectively examine how they approach problems, consider data, and communicate. Participatory democracy is a vital component of the community of inquiry developed by John Dewey and Jane Addams. The recognition of participatory democracy's place in public administration is underdeveloped. The community of inquiry context provides a useful lens to show how participatory democracy can nurture a creative public service.
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