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Qualitative Research for Public Administration
Public administrators are often coping with scarce resources and high levels of needs. Using quantitative data to support decision-making is common to justify cost-benefit analysis. However, ultimately, public policy decisions affect human beings very personally and in a very individual way. This type of intimate input ultimately requires qualitative as well as quantitative data. Soliciting the thoughts and feelings of people who are affected by policy decisions is necessary to ensure that the policy truly reflects the needs of the community the policy is intended to serve: a qualitative research paradigm centers everyday human experiences and understandings of the world. It is rooted in meaning-making and shines in its ability to capture the richness and depth of the research context (Ford & Goger, 2021, par. 3).
When a public policy maker engages in quantitative research, the questions the research study is embarking upon are already predetermined. Talking to people one-to-one versus solely using surveys or consulting demographic data can offer contextual insights about what it is like to live in poverty, to face a lack of resources, face discrimination, or other experiences that have dimensions that can be difficult to quantify in standard numerical measures. Feelings, hidden obstacles, and multifactorial impacts may not be captured by a narrow quantitative study.
For example, when analyzing the economic impact of suffering chronic pain, a quantitative analysis might examine lost days of productivity or medical costs, but a qualitative study might allow a sufferer to talk about social isolation, fatigue, and other less tangible aspects of suffering from chronic pain that can cause depression and limit their ability to socially network, drive long distances, and other impacts upon their ability to work as effectively as their fully healthy and mobile coworkers.
Qualitative research uncovers unexpected attitudes, challenges, and perspectives that make it difficult for people to make optimal decisions. Qualitative research offers insights about why...…valuable it is well worth the investment of public policy researcher to conduct it. Love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). Getting to know ones neighborthe people who are actually impacted by policy and taking the time to know their needs and thoughtsis at the heart of qualitative research. It also builds a sense of community between policy-makers, researchers, and communities, and forces researchers to engage in more intensive and immersive outreach with participants that cannot be found submitting survey or consulting a database of demographic research.
Qualitative research enables participants to articulate what they need and to express why past decisions by policymakers why initiatives may not have worked. Instead of painting recipients of social services as ungrateful or insensitive to the aid that is being offered, going out into the field, being humble, and listening to the constituencies that social programs are designed to serve is the best use of time and energy possible. Qualitative research will not eliminate the…
References
Ford, T. N. & Goger, A. (2021, October 14). The value of qualitative data for advancing equity
in Policy. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/value-of-qualitative- data-for-advancing-equity-in-policy/
Stickley, T., O’ Caithain, A., & Homer, C. (2022). The value of qualitative methods to public
health research, policy and practice. Perspectives in Public Health, 142(4), 237–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/17579139221083814
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