Research Methods for Public Administration or A Time to Lead

Research Methods for Public Administration

Author: Elizabethann OSullivan

This accessible text offers an abundance of engaging examples and provides step-by-step instructions to illustrate common research methods and techniques, providing students and future administrators with a sound foundation in model building, research design, measurement, and sampling. The book's statistical section focuses on correct use and interpretation of commonly used statistics, including linear regression.

 

The book's overall aim is to develop effective, efficient research skills among future public administrators so that they will be better policy makers. It accomplishes this not only by providing a solid foundation in technique, but also by developing an awareness of the ethical issues associated with conducting research and reporting findings.

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A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country

Author: Wesley K Clark

Four-star General Wesley K. Clark became a major figure on the political scene when he was drafted by popular demand to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2003. But this was just one of many exceptional accomplishments of a long and extraordinary career. Here, for the first time, General Clark uses his unique life experience—from his difficult youth in segregated Arkansas where he was raised by his poor, widowed mother; through the horror of Vietnam where he was wounded; the post-war rebuilding of national security  and the struggles surrounding the new world order after the Cold War—as a springboard to reveal his vision for America, at home and in the world. General Clark will address issues such as foreign policy, the economy, the environment, education and health care, family, faith, and the American dream.Rich with breathtaking battle scenes, poignant personal anecdote and eye-opening recommendations on the best way forward, General Clark’s new book is a tour de force of gripping storytelling and inspiring vision.

Publishers Weekly

Army generals frequently remain little known outside the military. That was true of four-star general Clark until he decided to seek the Democratic Party nomination for the 2004 presidential race. In a combination memoir, patriotic tract and broadside about contemporary American politics, Clark explains how his dismay with the Bush administration's determination to invade Iraq "without good reason" primed him to seek the presidency. On the campaign trail, Clark suggested that using military force to defeat terrorists would likely prove futile. Instead, he touted the value of negotiation. How a four-star general ended up less hawkish than the civilian in the White House is linked to the events of his life, from growing up in the segregated city of Little Rock, Ark., to becoming NATO's supreme allied commander, Europe. The freshest material covers his command of international peacekeeping troops in Kosovo, as the 1990s civil war in the former Yugoslavia threatened to engulf neighboring countries. Little will be unfamiliar to those who supported Clark's presidential bid, or of interest to those who didn't. (Sept.)

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Leigh Mihlrad - Library Journal

Four-star General Clark (former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO; Waging Modern War), a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, joins with military historian Carhart (Lost Triumph: Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg-and Why It Failed) to focus his third book on leadership. Recounting his childhood in segregated Little Rock, AR, military service at West Point, 30-plus years in the U.S. Army, and presidential campaign, he lays out his thoughts on the current war in Iraq and other pressing issues. Placed in the context of life events, his thoughts come across as entirely genuine. For instance, he refers to receiving help for a speech defect in public school when explaining his belief in the public education system and supports increased opportunities for single mothers, having been raised by a single mother himself. While not overtly political, this book demonstrates that Clark does not approve of the way today's leaders are handling the Iraq War. Regarding leadership, he states flatly that it's "about performance. That's the bottom line." Clark ends with a call for strong leadership to ensure that America's good name and values thrive in the future. Suitable for all public libraries and undergraduate libraries with large military collections.

Kirkus Reviews

Leadership lessons from a life of war and peace. Clark (Winning Modern Wars, 2003, etc.) has been many things during his adventurous life, including a Rhodes Scholar, a four-star Army general and an ardent presidential candidate. In this spare but engaging autobiography, he recounts his evolution from a struggling Arkansas youth with a speech defect to a military man and respected strategist who led troops at home and abroad. To the book's detriment, much of it is couched as a leadership manual; even the valid lessons smack of management coaching vernacular and are often superfluous to the events at hand. Fortunately, the events themselves make fascinating reading. Clark begins with a terse, visceral account of a bloody ambush in the jungles of Vietnam. The easy choice would be to glorify his military experience, but the book's vivid descriptions of his hazardous duties are understated and candid, whether he's recalling a failed attempt to rescue soldiers from a burning convoy while under fire or limning the treacherous political minefields of Washington. Another tense stretch came during Clark's posting in Kosovo, where he played a life-and-death game of chicken with Yugoslavian president Slobodon Milosevic and raced the Russians to capture Pristina International Airport. Clark's willingness to admit tactical failures is admirable, and his strategic insights are piercing yet clear-cut. "Only soldiers win battles," he writes. "The top leaders can lose by making mistakes, but the winning is done by the troops, by their skill, cunning, discipline, intuition, and motivation." His measured criticisms of America's approach to problems in Africa and the Middle East are equally cogent, deliveredin the careful language of a political platform and drawing strongly upon his personal vision for American intervention and diplomacy in the world's conflict zones: "pushing for the United States to do what was right, not just what was easy."An earnest reflection on war and peace from a commander's unique point of view. First printing of 200,000

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments     ix
Preface: In the Line of Fire (1970)     1
Introduction     13
Strength from Adversity (1944-1958)     17
Finding a Purpose (1958-1962)     33
The Profession of Arms (1962-1966)     43
Standing Up For America (1966-1968)     67
Vietnam (1968-1970)     83
Healing Wounds (1970-1980)     95
Building a Force (1980-1982)     117
Forging the Modern Army (1982-1991)     129
Recognizing New Challenges (1991-1994)     149
Pursuing a Fresh Strategy (1994-1995)     161
Diplomacy, Diplomacy, Diplomacy (1995-1997)     177
War as a Last Resort (1997-2000)     193
Rediscovering America (2000-2007)     227
America's Promise     245
Index     259