Practical Research Methods for Nonprofit and Public Administrators

Gary R. Rassel has a Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He taught and held administrative positions at North Carolina State University, University of Virginia, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA. He was program manager in the North Carolina Division of Health Services. He is co-author of a textbook, Research Methods for Public Administrators (Routledge, 2021), now in its seventh edition, journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers. Jocelyn DeVance Taliaferro has a Ph.D. from University of Delaware and an MSW from Howard University. She is a Professor of Social Work at NC State University. Her teaching and research interests include teaching using contemporary television, social work lobbying, and Black women’s mental health. She has authored books, articles, and reports about capacity building for individuals, organizations, and communities. Stacy M. Rassel has a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, USA. She is the Director of Consulting at The Improve Group, a research and evaluation consulting firm based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her work focuses on conducting external evaluations and building the evaluation capacity of organizations and individuals. Elizabethann O'Sullivan, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at North Carolina State University at Raleigh, USA, passed away in 2014.

SECTION I. Research in Nonprofit and Public Programs Chapter 1. Research in Public and Nonprofit Programs: The Basics Chapter 2. Measurement Chapter 3. Ethical Treatment of Research Subjects; SECTION II. Performance Measurement Systems: Their Design and Analysis Chapter 4. Designing Performance Measures and Monitoring Systems Chapter 5. Analyzing Performance Measures; SECTION III. Citizen Surveys Chapter 6. Selecting and Contacting Subjects Chapter 7. Questions and Questionnaires for Surveys and Interviews Chapter 8. Describing Relationships Among Variables Chapter 9. Generalizing From Research Data: Applying Inferential Statistics Chapter 10. Analyzing Interviews and Open-Ended Questions; SECTION IV. Programs and Community-Based Research Chapter 11. Research To Evaluate Programs Chapter 12. Community-Based Participatory Research Methods Chapter 13. Working With Geographic Information Systems Chapter 14. Communicating Findings