This document provides an introduction to April Heyward, the instructor for PUBA 601 Research Methods for Public Administration. It outlines her professional background, which includes roles managing South Carolina's EPSCoR program, being a 4th year doctoral student researching e-government and data science, and serving as a grant reviewer. The document then discusses key concepts in research methods, including definitions of research, the scientific method, and components of models like variables, hypotheses, and literature reviews.

1. PUBA 601 Research Methods for Public Administration
Section 01
2021 Summer II Express Session
April Heyward, MRA
Adjunct Faculty
College of Charleston
Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program
Thursday, July 15, 2021

2. Introductions

3. April Heyward Introduction
SC EPSCoR Program
Manager – South
Carolina Research
Authority
4th Year Doctor of
Public Administration
Student and
Researcher - Valdosta
State University
R Programmer – Data
Science and Machine
Learning
Columnist – ASPA PA
Times
Vice President of the
South Carolina
Academy of Science
Health Resources and
Services
Administration
(HRSA) Grant
Reviewer

4. SC EPSCoR
Program Manager
EPSCoR = Established Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research
EPSCoR is a science-driven state-based National Science
Foundation (NSF) program.
Develops, implement, and manage STEM programs and
initiatives to increase research capacity, research
competitiveness, and the STEM workforce pipeline in
South Carolina.

7. Doctoral Student and Researcher
Doctoral Student and
Researcher at Valdosta
State University
Doctor of Public
Administration
Program in the
Department of Political
Science
4th Year Student
Enter Candidacy – Fall
2021
Currently in
Dissertation Phase of
Doctoral Program
Dissertation Focus –
Comparative E-
Government: Developed
Countries vs
Developing Countries

8. Research Interests
Computational
Social Science
Data Science
Decision
Science
E-Government
Machine
Learning
Public
Administration
Public Policy
Research
Methods
Social Media
Research

9. Current Doctoral
Research Projects
Quantitative Research – “A Data Science and
Machine Learning Approach to Comparative
COVID-19 Policy Responses”
• Study Aim – Investigate health and economic policy
responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in developed countries
and developing countries.
• Prior research indicated more rigorous research is needed for
contribution to the body of knowledge from a public policy
perspective.
• Research Aim – Answer how does data science and machine
learning inform public policy about the COVID-19 pandemic
and what is the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in developed
countries and developing countries.

10. Current Doctoral
Research Projects
Quantitative Research – “Measuring the
Effectiveness of E-Government Delivery Models
from a Public Administration Perspective”
• Study Aim – Investigate the effectiveness of E-Government
in Developed Countries and Developing Countries.
• Two-phased study.
• Prior research indicated more rigorous research is needed
for contribution to the body of knowledge from a public
administration perspective as literature is dominated by
information systems discipline.
• Research Aim – Answer what is the state of e-government
delivery models globally.

11. Current Independent
Research Projects
Quantitative Research – “A Public
Administration Research Approach and
Empirical Perspective of COVID-19”
• Study Aim – Investigate public administration
approaches to COVID-19.
• Prior research indicated more rigorous research is
needed for contribution to the body of knowledge from
a public administration perspective as literature was
initially dominated by epidemiology and other sub-
disciplines of public health.
• Research Aim – Employ data science and machine
learning algorithms in a public research administration
approach and perspective of COVID-19.

12. Current Independent
Research Projects
Quantitative Research – “Integration,
Challenges, and Future Direction of
Data Science in Public Administration”
•Study Aim – Investigate the application of data
science in public administration.
•Prior research revealed limited rigorous research
on data science in public administration.
•Research Aim – Answer what is the state of data
science in public administration.

21. What is Research?

22. What is Research?
Research is a systematic investigation involving the steps of the scientific method. The
steps of the scientific method include but not limited to:
 Make an observation
 Generate a question
 Develop a hypothesis (or hypotheses)
 Test hypothesis (hypotheses)
 Analyze data
 Draw an empirical conclusion of the data and results to validate or invalidate the
hypothesis (hypotheses)

23. Public Administration Research
 The field of public administration has been contested since inception due to
comparison to the sciences, mathematics, and their rigorous process.
 The scientific method is conducted with the development of scientific/research
problems, hypothesis, methods, and results. This leads to the contribution of new
knowledge and identification of future research.
 Raadschelders and Lee (2011) presented trends in the study of public administration
and the quality of knowledge is determined by its methods.
 Quantitative methods and mathematical models are viewed as more scientific, factual,
and independent of bias based on prior research.

24. Research Models

25. Types of Models
 Schematic Models – Visual depiction of a theory, research framework, relationships
between variables, causal relationships, etc. Other examples are flow charts and logic
models.
 Symbolic Models – Word descriptions of verbal and mathematical models.

26. Schematic Image by April Heyward

27. Proposed Causal
Statement
• The proposed study postulates a causal
relationship between the information
and communication utilization and the
variation in e-government.
• The manner or methods of the
government’s utilization of information
and communication technology causes
variation in e-government in developed
countries and developing countries.
• An example from prior research is the
examination of e-government
implementation strategies employed by
the United Kingdom and Slovakia
(Weerakkody et al., 2012).
Schematic Image by April Heyward

28. Components of Models
Rassel et al. (2021) describes components of models primarily as follows:
 Hypotheses (e.g., research hypotheses, null hypothesis)
 Primary Variables (e.g., independent variable, dependent variable)
 Units of Analysis
 Relationships between the independent variable and the dependent variable.
 The role of control variables (if applicable)

29. Variables, Hypotheses, and Units of Analysis
 Independent variables impacts dependent variables. If there is a change in the independent
variable, then there will be a change in the dependent variable. An example would be
education level as the independent variable and income as the dependent variable.
 Hypothesis – Statement about a relationship between the independent variable and
dependent variable. There can be more than one research hypothesis and would be noted as
H1, H2, H3, H4, H5. Null hypothesis is noted as H0. An example is the more education an
individual has the more income the individual will generate.
 Units of Analysis – COVID-19 is analyzed by the number of individuals tested, number of
cases of confirmed COVID-19, number of deaths due to COVID-19, number of recovered from
COVID-19.

30. Literature review

31. What is Literature Review?
• Shares results of other studies.
• Relates a study to the ongoing dialogue in the literature.
• Provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study.
• Provides a benchmark for comparing the results to other findings.

32. Types of Literature Reviews
 Literature reviews that integrate what others have done and said.
 Literature reviews that criticize previous works.
 Literature reviews that build bridges between related topics.
 Literature reviews that identify the central issues in the field.

33. Literature Review Impact on the Research Process

34. References
 Raadschelders, J., Lee, K. (2011). Trends in the Study of Public Administration: Empirical and
Qualitative Observations from Public Administration Review, 2000-2009. Public Administration Review,
71(1), 19–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02303.x
 Rassel, G., Leland, S., Mohr, Z., O’Sullivan, Elizabethann. (2021). Research Methods for Public
Administrators. Routledge.