University of New Haven

School of Business
Department of Public Management
Summer ONE 2014
PADM 6690 01
Cynthia Conrad, Ph.D.
Research Seminar
cconrad@newhaven.edu
ONLINE CLASS Office: Gate House 105

Office Phone: 203/932-7486

Office Hours:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, (some) Thursdays 2-
6pm, (subject to faculty meetings.)
and by appointment
Skype: dr.cynthia.conrad

Prerequisites:

PADM 6611 required; Graduate Standing; MGMT 6630 Recommended

Required Texts:

Berman, E. and Wang, X. Essential Statistics for Public Managers and
Policy Analysts, 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2011, ISBN: 0-
87289-413-4

Recommended Texts:
SPSS Users Guides: there are many, so students choice, if needed.

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Kate L. Turabian, Revised
by John Grossman, University of Chicago Press, most recent edition.

Course Description:

This course provides an overview of research methods and statistical methods for public
administrators. We focus on the use of research methods for program evaluation and
performance measurement, both of which enhance the effectiveness and accountability of
programs. In addition, understanding statistical analysis and being able to work with data are
important competencies for public administration professionals to have. Course topics include
program evaluation, sampling, data collection and measurement in public administration,
descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, processes for selecting statistical tests, and
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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.


assessment of statistical assumptions. Recognizing the social, political, and economic context
of data collection, analysis, and reporting practices in the public sector, we also discuss the
ethics of data analysis and information technology policy and management.

This course will give the student an opportunity to apply and further develop his or her
research skills. We will discuss research methodology, approaches, and expectations all within
the framework of quasi-experimental design. Each student will prepare a data based research
project and a presentation for class. Class sessions will include formal lectures, discussion of
readings, and individual tutoring in software applications.

This is an online course, in which students will see lectures in Tegrity (the lecture capture
system found in Blackboard) and do all readings to be successful in the class. Requirements of
the course are assignments, two online exams (midterm and final) and a research project that
will all be through Blackboard. The final research project will be a data based research report,
using actual data and the statistical methods learned in the class. Guidelines for the paper
appear at the end of this syllabus.


Course Objectives:
To understand the research process and methodology.
Be able to describe relationships between and among variables in an equation.
To understand the aspects associated with planning for and completing a research
project.
To be fully comfortable in using all appropriate software for personal computers,
including SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.)
To be capable of using and understanding statistical output and to draw conclusions
from it.

Computer and Software Access.
The hands-on, computer-based assignments are an important part of this course. Also, the
requirements of the final project are that you use a data set and analyze it with SPSS, which is
available on most computers on campus. However, unless you have easy access to computers
on campus, with SPSS software, and are willing to go to campus to use it, it is strongly
recommend that you invest in SPSS (student version) and a computer.

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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.


Calendar
WEEK OF TOPIC READING
March 31, 2014 Introduction; course
expectations, basics of
research
Why Statistics for Public
Managers and Analysts?

Assignment 1
Berman, Chapter 1
April 8, 2014 Section II
Research Design
Assignment 2
Berman, Chapter 2
April 15, 2014 Conceptualization and
Measurement
Measuring Performance
Assignment 3
Berman, Chapters 3,4
April 22, 2014 Data Collection
Questionnaire
Construction and
Secondary Data
Accessing and Using Data
in SPSS
Assignment 4
Berman, Chapter 5
April 29, 2014 Section III: Descriptive Statistics
Central Tendency
Measures of Dispersion
Assignment 5 - Frequencies and
Split Files in SPSS
Berman, Chapters 6,7,
May 6, 2014 Contingency Tables
Getting Results
Online Midterm, covering
chapters 1-9, goes live at 12:00am
on Tuesday May 6, 2014. Due
11:55pm on Tuesday May 13,
2014.
ALL OUTLINES FOR PROJECTS
MUST BE TURNED IN BY May 13,
2014.

Berman, Chapters 8,9
May 13, 2014 Section IV
Hypothesis Testing with Chi
Square
Control, Elaboration, and
Multivariate Analysis
Assignment 6: Crosstabs with
controls in SPSS

Berman, Chapter 10









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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.


May 20, 2014 Measures of Association
Assignment 7: Alternatives to Chi
Square lambda analysis and other
measures of strength of
association with chi square.

Berman, Chapter 11
May 20, 2014
The T-Test
Assignment 8: T-tests

Berman, Chapter 12
May 27, 2014 Correlation and Simple
Regression
Assignment 9: Correlation and
Partial Correlation and
Regression in SPSS

Berman, Chapter 14
June 3, 2014 Multiple Regression
Assignment 10: Multiple
Regression
Berman, Chapter 15
June 10, 2014 Logistic Regression, Time Series
analysis
Berman, Chapters 16,17


June 17, 2014 Online Final, covering chapters
10,11,12,14,15,16 and 17, goes
live at 12:00am on Tuesday,
June 17, 2014. Due 11:55pm on
6/30/14.

ALL PROJECTS AND
ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE
TURNED-IN BY 11:55PM ON
6/30/14.

Please note: any project turned
in that does not follow the
attached guidelines and
include SPSS analysis of data,
will be returned ungraded.


Course Requirement Values
Midterm 20%
Final 20%
Research Project 40%
Assignments 20%



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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.



Attendance Policy:

Students should endeavor to keep up with weekly lectures and assignments on Blackboard.


Special Considerations:

This course will be entirely online using the Blackboard 9 system, which is an online, Internet
based instructional program, which facilitates the exchange of information among students
and between the instructor and students. Lectures from Dr. Conrad will be posted on Monday
of each week of the trimester as indicated in the syllabus. Students are responsible for
concomitant readings and assignments.

Contacting the Instructor.

The preferred way of contacting the instructor is through e-mail or during office hours. check
my e-mail almost daily (except when on travel), and will respond. If you send an e-mail, I may
ask you for a phone number to contact you for follow-up, if necessary

Disabilities.

Our university is highly supportive of the full participation and success of students with all
types of disabilities. Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her
from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact the university Office of Student
Disabilities, as soon as possible so that this office can discuss and determine appropriate
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate student educational
opportunities.

Term Paper Proposal
Due May 13, 2014.
The term paper proposal is a two-page description of your proposal, which identifies the
following: the research question you intend to pursue, the aspects to be identified, and
discussion of the importance and centrality of these questions. In addition, include your
(tentative) conceptualization measures (see below). This is not a project you can leave to the
last minute. You should be working on it for the majority of the trimester. Once you have
determined your research question, the next step, which is critical, is to either find or collect
data you may manipulate to determine the answers to your research questions. Papers that do
not use a data set as the center piece of the analysis, will be returned to the student ungraded.

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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.


Guidelines for PADM 6690
Research Project
Cynthia Conrad, Ph.D.

This paper must be based on YOUR ANALYSIS OF A DATA SET. You may collect the data
yourself or use someone elses empirically collected data. If you are confused about what this
means or have any questions about the expectations of this research project, please contact
Dr. Conrad. Also, plan on turning in an outline to Dr. Conrad, of what you intend to research
and what data you plan on using. The outline is due 5/13/14. It is not optional, although you
will not receive a grade for it, you will receive 10 points as if it were an assignment, and
guidance on what you are planning.

Please design your project study with the following requirements in mind.

You should be asking a very specific research question which your research will endeavor to answer.
You need to develop a fully articulated outline describing your project, on which both you and I
agree. It will then act as a template for your project.
You should take full advantage of research resources such as library publications, internet sources,
and personal interviews, as well as the data set you choose or develop.
Please do not use sources more than five (5) years old and stick to books or journals that are
either peer reviewed or technical with editorial oversight.
If you interview individuals, please get a business card or letterhead from them with a note that
they met with you on a specific date. This relates to phone interviews too.
Your final paper for the project should be approximately 20 pages long, exclusive of the
bibliography, exhibits or appendices. It should be fully cited (rule of thumb: when you use more
than 7 words of someone elses writing in the same context, you must cite it, otherwise it is
plagiarism.) Please use a standard footnoting style and be consistent throughout the paper.
All papers should be typed, double-spaced, in no smaller than a 12 point font. All graphs and tables
should be included in the text of the paper at the appropriate places.

Suggested Format

I. Introduction

Specify your research question and discuss how you plan to seek the answer. Be sure to say
why you feel this is an important question, meriting the effort or your research and the time of
the reader.


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II. Literature Review

Discuss an overview of what the literature says about your question and any specific studies
that have dealt with the question at hand. Consider the merits and validity of the research you
have found.

III. Methodology

Discuss your methodological approach to answering your research question. This should
include a discussion of your data source or collection methods, threats to validity, and potential
problems with the data that you must acknowledge. You should also specify what statistical
tests you plan to use to test hypotheses you derived from your research question.

IV. Analysis and Findings

Present the results of your statistical analysis and the findings you make from the analyses. Be
as specific as possible in terms of variables and controls you use in the analysis and how they
relate to specific hypotheses.

V. Conclusions

Considering your findings from the literature and quantitative analysis, conclude the most valid
answer to your original research question. Be sure to defend your conclusions with specific
illustrations from both areas.

VI. Indications for New Research

Discuss any new questions your findings and research raise and your thoughts of how future
scholars address those questions.
VII. Bibliography and Endnotes
Showing all sources of reference material, in the format you have chosen.
VIII. Appendix
Any additive material, such as survey forms or other such documents you want to add to
illustrate your study.

Suggested data sources for secondary data:
Please feel free to use data from your place of work or other organization, as long as
the organization agrees to your utilization of their data and your research project.
ICPSR available data sets for download in SPSS format
CDC ascii and PDF files
US Vital Statistics

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Please read all pages of this syllabus carefully and contact Dr. Conrad with any questions.


Recommended Free On-Line Electronic Support:
Electronic Statistics Textbook: http://www.statsoftinc.com/textbook/stathome.html
HyperStat Online Textbook: http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat
Statnotes: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/statnote.htm
Witte Applet Demonstrations: http://bcs.wiley.com/he-
bcs/Books?action=resource&bcsId=1503&itemId=047143017X&resourceId=1250
Engineering Statistics Handbook: http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook