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Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators
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Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators
A Practical Guide



September 2013 | 392 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

"The approach is well executed. The problems encountered by [the characters] represent real-life issues than administrators are faced with and the applications needed to address them."

—Lee W. Payne, Stephen F. Austin State University

Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators: A Practical Guide is a comprehensive, easy-to-read, core text that thoroughly prepares readers to apply research methods and data analysis to the professional environments of public and non-profit administration. The authors expertly incorporate original case examples to demonstrate concepts using “real actors,” facing specific scenarios, in which research methods must be applied. This unique approach—presented in language accessible to both students new to research as well as current practitioners—guides the reader in fully understanding the research options detailed throughout the text.


 
PART I: RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
 
1. When a Practitioner Becomes a Researcher
 
2. Research Alignment
 
3. Identifying the Focus of the Research: Research Objective and Research Question
 
4. Research Design
 
5. Sample Selection
 
6. Data Collection
 
PART II. DATA ANALYSIS
 
7. Quantitative Data Preparation and Descriptive Statistics
 
8. Hypothesis Testing and Statistical Significance: Logic of Inferential Statistics
 
9. Comparing Means Between Two Groups
 
10. Comparing Means of More Than Two Groups: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
 
11. Bivariate Correlation
 
12. Chi-Square Analysis
 
13. Regression Analysis
 
14. Qualitative Data Analysis
 
PART III. SUMMING UP: PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
 
15. Writing Reports
 
16. Using Research Methods for Continuous Improvement: Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement
 
Appendix A: Additional SPSS and Excel Instructions
 
Appendix B: Emily’s Survey Form

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
Calling all instructors!
It’s easy to log on to SAGE’s password-protected Instructor Teaching Site at www.sagepub.com/nishishiba1e for complete and protected access to all text-specific Instructor Resources for Nishishiba, Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators. Simply provide your institutional information for verification and within 72 hours you’ll be able to use your login information for any SAGE title!

Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:

  • A Microsoft® Word® test bank, is available containing multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • A Respondus electronic test bank, is available and can be used on PCs. The test bank contains multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions for each chapter and provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding. Respondus is also compatible with many popular learning management systems so you can easily get your test questions into your online course.
  • Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course. Highlight essential content, features, and artwork from the book.
  • Suggested classroom exercises are designed to promote students’ in-depth engagement with course material.
Student Study Site
Use the Student Study Site to get the most out of your course!
Our Student Study Site at   is completely open-access and offers a wide range of additional features, including something no other publisher offers:
  • Data sets are posted to the website for students to use as they apply their knowledge through hands on activities in the book.
  • Sample result write-ups are provided for several chapters in order to give student's valuable examples of how to write your research findings.

"The case approach used in the text presents a very exciting way for students to apply research methods/statistics to cases, rather than applying it to short problems at the end of most textbooks."

James S. Guseh
North Carolina Central University

An excellent combination of real life issues to conceptualise the theoretical perspectives of research in the not for profit sector.
Thank you

Mr Michael Hall
Management , City College Norwich
July 16, 2014

This book has very clear examples about correctly using some of the most common statistical tools. It is an interesting manual that will be very useful for a large range of graduation and post-graduation courses, in the field of Social Sciences.

Dr Paulo Mourao
School of Economics & Management, Minho University
February 25, 2014

The applied context of the book makes it an interesting support for students who are undertaking research methods in programs which are practice-oriented. I particularly the case made for research skills as leadership skills, in the first chapter.

Dr Amélie Gourdon
Kingston Business School, Kingston University
December 20, 2013
Key features

KEY FEATURES:

  • Integrated cases that align the complete research process: Readers understand the “big picture” of the research process before launching into defining the research questions.
  • Original, “real-world” case examples: Common, pragmatic organizational and community issues help readers link chapter concepts to research they may want to conduct in their professions.
  • Support materials—including case-specific exercises data sets in both SPSS and Excel—allow readers to work through the same problems that the case actors are engaging.  

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 4

Chapter 13


For instructors

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