Gary R. Rassel - Böcker

As academic disciplines, public administration and public policy programs have struggled to link theoretical and conceptual grounding with practical application. Students often have discrete courses in human resources, finance, organizational behavior, policy analysis, and planning, but rarely are they offered an opportunity to pursue these through actual cases and problems facing public managers.

The Public Manager Case Book is a collection of eight public administration cases that allows students to practice the decision-making skills they will need in their jobs as public managers. Each case focuses on the local administrative issues managers most often face in their day-to-day responsibilities, and each encourages students to collaborate with others in order to gain the necessary cooperation and information. The cases are multi-dimensional and challenge students and professors to draw from a variety of knowledge areas to develop alternative recommendations, decisions, or actions.

An instructor's manual is available for useful background material, references, theoretical and conceptual framework, and teaching tips.

About the Editor

Terrel L. Rhodes is Professor of Public Administration and Vice Provost for Curriculum and Undergraduate Studies at Portland State University.

Practical Research Methods for Nonprofit and Public Administrators, Second Edition, covers basic principles of research design, data collection, data analysis, reporting and ethical principles of research. The discussion describes the skills as they would be used in practice in a not-for-profit or public administration environment.The book gives pragmatic instructions for designing research to ensure that results will be accurate and administrators can have confidence in them. It covers techniques to assure that researchers are measuring what they intend to measure and in a way that will be useful and manageable. Sampling methods to find out about larger populations are discussed as are survey, interview, and focus group data collection procedures. The book describes how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used to obtain information on the locations of service needs and providers and to draw maps showing these. Participatory research methods including community needs assessments and asset mapping are discussed. The book includes chapters on statistical analysis, visual displays of data, reporting of results and evaluation of programs. The use of computer programs for analyzing data is detailed and illustrated by examples. The appropriate software for analysis and mapping is discussed. A chapter updates the ethics and government requirements for research. Each chapter includes examples and exercises to enhance learning.The book is intended for administrators in not-for-profit and public administration organizations, providing practical skills that can be used in many situations. It is also intended for use as a text in academic programs in administration and management.