Journal Articles

Trends in the Study of Public Administration : Empirical and Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review, 2000–2009

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What are the apparent research and methodological trends in PAR’s content over the past decade? From the perspective of the journal’s 70-year history, with its aim to “mesh” practitioner and academic knowledge creation, topical coverage since 2000 reflects striking continuity, emphasizing many of the “bread and butter” administrative issues such as planning, human resources, budgeting, and public management. A marked increase in coverage is apparent in the application of more sophisticated quantitative statistical methodology, as well as in the number of female authors, while the number of practitioner authors declined sharply. Throughout the first turbulent decade of the twenty-first century, three intellectual themes stood out: evaluations of New Public Management, connections between practitioners and academicians, and responsiveness to immediate social, economic, and political challenges. Given the constant demand for usable knowledge, scholars seem to have marginalized attention to the historical context and epistemological foundations of the study. The central challenge in the years ahead will be to effectively use research methods in response to the big questions of government and society that defy measurement.

Since many [empiricists], especially the younger, do not know very much about epistemology, they tend to be quite dogmatic about the one set of canons that dominate them.

—C. Wright Mills, 1959

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Detail Information

Series Title

Public Administration Review

Call Number

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Publisher

Hoboken, United States : Wiley-Blackwell., 2011

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

00333352

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 71, Issue 1, Jan/Feb 2011, pages 19–33

Subject(s)

New Public Management (NPM)
Trends in the Study of Public Administration

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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