Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Research Methods in Public Administration

PADM 6440-71I

Course: PADM 6440-71I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: PSCJ
CRN: 32439

Course Description

Students develop critical-thinking skills as they apply quantitative and qualitative research methods to research projects. Public service values serve as a framework for conducting research, evaluating programs, and interpreting analyses. Students leave with the ability to design research projects, conduct surveys, and analyze policies and programs. Cyber Security and Information Assurance (CSIA) majors may register with MPA program approval. (Fall, Spring [Online]) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): PADM 6000 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: B- Registration Restriction(s): Graduate students only

Required Texts

Berman, Evan M. and XiaoHu Wang. (2014). Essential Statistics for Public Managers and Policy Analysts. 4th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press. (ISBN 978-1506364315)

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and discuss the concepts and procedures of sampling, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

2. Develop data analytics skills using SPSS/Excel and AI for meaningful interpretation of data, so as to solve complex management issues within public administration.

3. Communicate complex data analysis to others in a meaningful way to drive effective decision-making.

Course Requirements

Each week, there will be a synchronous class which will consist of the instructor’s lecture and exercise/discussion. This lecture and discussion will be recorded and posted each Tuesday following the meeting. All are required to either participate in the synchronous lecture or to watch the posted video in the week it was posted. Reading text before class and regular attendance (or watching) are required. All course materials, including lecture slides, will be posted on Canvas under the heading of “Module.” Following each class, a practice question will be posted and must be submitted before the next class in order to earn full participation points. A final grade will be calculated based on the following components and breakdowns.

Participation  | 12% (Lectures and Practice Problems)
Problem Sets | 28% (14% each)
Midterm Exam | 30%
Final Exam | 30%
Total | 100%

Participation:
Effective participation during class discussion and the completion of the weekly practice problem. Because this is an online course, physical participation in the weekly lecture is not required. However, to obtain the participation points you must watch the weekly video and complete the weekly problem. This will require that your mental presence is fully aware – listening, taking notes, asking questions (through chat and email), and mulling things over in your head. Failing to watch the weekly lecture and completing the practice problem will result in one point being deducted from your participation grade. No make-up assignment for failing to watch the video and completing the problem will be available. More than five absences in total may result in a failing grade.


Weekly problems and exercises usually require the use of IBM SPSS. See SPSS Free Download Instructions on Canvas.


Problem Set:
Two problem sets will be assigned to prepare for each exam. Discussion among students to solve a problem set is allowed. Yet, answers (and how the answers are calculated) must be independently written. Students will be given full points once a completed problem set is submitted.


Exams:
Exams will be made available online through Canvas and will be submitted through Canvas on the date stated in the course schedule below. Exams are open-book and note but closed to peer discussion. The exams will be designed to test students’ understanding of major subject matters that are covered during the weekly lectures. 

Course Outline


Weekly Lecture ZOOM Access:

Weekly Module homework will be due before 3:30 PM each Monday unless adjustments for holiday schedules (see Canvas for more details).

Module 1 (WEDNESDAY 9/3): Introductory and Overview Meeting

Topics: Introduction; syllabus overview; research process; data and statistics; making arguments; ethics in research; quantitative and qualitative research; causality conditions

Reading: 

Berman (4), Ch.1; pp. 17-20

Module 2 (MONDAY 9/8): Research Design

Topics: Experimental design; internal and external validity; threats to internal validity; random sampling; quasi-experimental design; non-experimental design

Reading: 

Berman (4), Ch. 2

Research method section of the articles:

James, O. (2011). “Performance Measures and Democracy: Information Effects on Citizens in Field and Laboratory Experiments,” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21(3): 399-418.

Duckart, J. P. (1998). “An Evaluation of the Baltimore Community Lead Education and Reduction CORPS (CLEARCorps) Program,” Evaluation Review 22(3): 373-402.

*Module 1 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 3 (9/15): Measurement and Data Collection

Topics: Measurement levels and scales; validity and reliability in measurement; outputs and outcomes; efficiency and effectiveness; data collection; unit of analysis; sources of data; surveys; sampling; data input and basic analysis using SPSS

Reading:

Berman (4), Chs. 3,4,5

*Module 2 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 4 (9/22): Descriptive Statistics I

Topics: Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode); measures of dispersion (standard deviation, range, interquartile, quartile); Box-whisker plot; frequency distribution

Reading:

Berman (4), Chs. 6, 7

*Module 3 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 5 (9/29): Descriptive Statistics II

Topics: Calculating probabilities with normal distribution

Reading: 

Berman (4), Ch2. 7, 8 (pp. 132-138) and Ch. 11

*Module 4 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Problem Set #1 (Submitted by 11:59 pm on 10/5 Sunday)

Module 6 (10/6): Contingency Tables, Chi-square Test, and Correlations

Topic: Constructing contingency tables, hypothesis testing, Chi-square test, covariance, correlation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient

*Module 5 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 7 (10/13): Midterm Exam – No meeting, use the time to work on the midterm

Midterm must be submitted by 11:59 pm on 10/19 Sunday

Module 8 (10/20): Survey Research Methods

Topic: Survey types; conceptualization; cover letter; IRB process; crafting survey questions; sampling methods; sampling error; nonresponse bias; factor analysis

Reading: 

Berman (4), pp. 109-110

*Module 6 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 9 (10/27): T-tests

Topics: T-test assumptions, test statistics, Independent-samples t-test; paired-samples t-test; one-sample t-test; t-distribution

Reading: 

Berman (4), Ch. 12

*Module 8 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 10 (11/3): Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) 

Topics: One-way ANOVA; post-hoc tests; ANOVA assumptions; F-distribution

Reading:

Berman (4), Ch. 13

*Module 9 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 11 (11/10): Hypothesis Testing & Simple Regression

Topics: Hypothesis testing; Type I error and Type II error, sampling distribution; population regression line and sample regression line; regression coefficient; confidence interval

Reading: 

Berman (4), Ch. 14

*Module 10 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Module 12 (11/17): Multiple Regression & Assumptions of Ordinary Least Squares;

Topics: Interpretation of multiple regression results; model fit; unstandardized and standardized coefficients; dummy variables; multicollinearity; heteroskedasticity; autocorrelation; specification error

Reading:

Berman (4), Chs. 14, 15

*Module 11 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

Problem Set #2 (Submitted by 11:59 PM on 11/16 Sunday)

Module 13 (12/1): Wrap-up – PS2 review and Q&A

Topics: Review for the FINAL

*Module 12 Problem Due before 3:30 PM

*Module 13 Problem Due before FRIDAY 12/5 11:59 PM

Module 14 (12/8): Final Exam & Portfolio Update

The final must be submitted before 11:59 PM on Monday, Dec 8th. 

Your portfolio must be submitted with the template questions answered before Tuesday, Dec 9th.

The course schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Students will be notified of any modifications to the plan.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

I do not accept late work for this class. If a student has work that will be late, the student is required to meet through Zoom to discuss options for catching up. 

Attendance Policy

Each week, there will be a synchronous class which will consist of the instructor’s lecture and exercise/discussion. This lecture and discussion will be recorded and posted each Tuesday following the meeting. All are required to either participate in the synchronous lecture or to watch the posted video in the week it was posted. Reading text before class and regular attendance (or watching) are required. All course materials, including lecture slides, will be posted on Canvas under the heading of “Module.” Following each class, a practice question will be posted and must be submitted before the next class in order to earn full participation points.

Course Fees

N/A

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.