Public Policy and Administration (PPAD)

PPAD 711. Seminar in Public Policy I. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Restricted to doctoral students only. Provides a critical and comparative review of public policy and administration focusing on the empirical and theoretical literature in the field. Emphasizes the development of the policy studies field and its epistemological foundations. Includes alternative approaches to policy analysis, the place of analysis in the decision-making environment and the role of policy in shaping administrative institutions.

PPAD 712. Seminar in Public Policy II. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: PPAD 711. Enrollment is restricted to doctoral students. This seminar aims to facilitate examination of public policy in its macro context. It will assist participants in gaining an overview of fundamental and contextual features of public policy as it has evolved. It will explore underlying and outlying perspectives that shape thinking and theorizing and action about public policy, and that suggest fresh ideas about public policy. This will include selected aspects of philosophy of public policy, philosophy of methodology relating to public policy and epistemic pluralism as it relates to public policy. Continuation of PPAD 711.

PPAD 715. U.S. Political Processes and Institutions. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course examines the operation of the major national political institutions in the United States, the processes that help to define and shape those institutions, and the contexts in which these entities operate. The course familiarizes students with a broad range of scholarship and with the principal theoretical debates about U.S. politics.

PPAD 716. Public Policy Economics. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course is designed to introduce students to a set of applied microeconomic models that can be used to understand and evaluate important policy issues. Students will be shown how these models can be used as tools to design, to predict the effects of and to evaluate public policies. Specific models used in this course will include consumer theory, production theory, cost theory and the theory of economic organization. Discussions of policy analysis and evaluation will rely upon theoretical approaches to welfare economics.

PPAD 717. Law and Public Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. An introduction to basic legal and constitutional issues that shape and limit the creation of public policy. An examination of court cases leads the student to examine the interaction between legislative policymakers, courts and administrative implementers, and how the law may be used both to support the role of policymakers as well as to constrain them. Issues to be examined include health care, regulation of commerce, First Amendment issues, the environment and educational policy.

PPAD 720. Public Organization Design and Behavior. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Enrollment restricted to doctoral students only. Provides an intensive examination of the public (and nonprofit) organization design and behavior literature. Students will review theories, models and latest research findings as vehicles for understanding behavior in and the design of effective public organizations.

PPAD 721. Survey of Applied Research Methods in Public Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Enrollment is restricted to doctoral students. The study of the methods of policy and organization analysis including the assumptions, applications and limits of various research methodologies. Includes quantitative and qualitative methods; focus groups; probability and non-probability sampling; mail, telephone and in-person interviewing; design of instruments; evaluation research, experiments and quasi-experiments; content analysis; observational and unobtrusive methods; cost-benefit and forecasting models; sources for secondary data analysis; and ethics of research.

PPAD 722. Survey of Data Analysis Techniques in Public Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: PADM 624 or equivalent; and PPAD 721. Enrollment is restricted to doctoral students. This is a second-level course in statistical data analysis for public policy and administration. It is a study of the levels of measurement and selection of appropriate analytical tools and the analysis of data. Focus will be kept on integrating data and analysis into decisions regarding research design and on understanding the application of a wide range of modern techniques to specific decision-making situations, rather than on mastering the theoretical underpinnings of the techniques. Upon successful completion of the course, students should possess valuable practical analytical skills that will equip them with a competitive edge in their research. The course covers methods that are aimed at description, inference, prediction, classification, clustering, visualization and data-reduction techniques.

PPAD 723. Survey Research Methods. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Overview of survey research methods with an emphasis on hands-on training in how to evaluate, conduct and analyze survey research.

PPAD 724. Seminar in Advanced Analytical Methods. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: PPAD 721 and PPAD 722, both with a minimum grade of B. Enrollment restricted to students in the Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration program or with permission of instructor. This seminar is the final in a three-course sequence that introduces students to methods of research and its many different applications in public policy analysis and management. Building upon the knowledge and skills learned in the prerequisite courses, students will be trained to tackle some of the advanced statistical techniques in various applied public policy and management settings. The final sequence is especially intended for doctoral students who are serious about publishing in top peer-reviewed public policy and public management journals using quantitative techniques.

PPAD 726. Advanced Research Design. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Covers skills needed to develop independent research projects including all aspects of research design, measurement design, data analysis planning and interpretation, and report writing.

PPAD 728. Seminar in Qualitative Research Methods. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 seminar hours. 3 credits. Enrollment is restricted to doctoral students. This seminar approaches qualitative research methodology in policy, administration and organizations from a research design perspective. Students learn to select a qualitative paradigm that is appropriate for their topic and interests; to develop research questions, research objectives and specific aims that are well-suited for qualitative methods; to develop data collection necessary to address specific aims using direct elicitation such as interviews, focus group discussions and open field survey items; using indirect elicitation such as participant observation and go-alongs and existing data sources such as documents, media and social media; and to prepare an initial data analysis plan. Students also learn how to conduct methodological literature searches and how to prepare for ethical and quality considerations unique to qualitative methods.

PPAD 730. Seminar in Health Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Examines key issues and alternative policy responses in health. Presents a framework for understanding health policy in terms of the regulatory environment, developing initiatives and emerging trends. Designed to assist students to build a program of research in health policy.

PPAD 740. Seminar in Public Management. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Doctoral students only. Examines key theoretical and empirical literature in public sector administration with an emphasis on state and local government. Covers the management of human resource, financial and information systems. Includes the impact of leadership, organizational design and policy on the conduct of public activities. Designed to assist students to build a program of research in public management.

PPAD 741. Advanced Theory in Public Administration. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This seminar aims to contribute to understanding public policy by examining the public administration context. It will assist participants, first, in gaining an overview of fundamental features of varieties of traditional public administration. The categories of public administration theory are described by Harmon and Mayer as classical, neoclassical, systems, human relations, market, interpretive and critical theories. Elsewhere, they are described in terms of science, technology, enterprise and hermeneutics. Second, this overview will also include exploring underlying and outlying perspectives that shape thinking and theorizing about public administration. Perspectives include traditional, business, economic, political, critical theory, post-structural, psychoanalytic, neuroscience, feminist, ethical and data. Third, this overview will provide post-traditional examples that can assist students in developing their own view of how public policy and administration theory and practice should be shaped.

PPAD 742. Institutions and Organizations. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Organizational and institutional theories, in the broadest sense, look to the political, organizational and cultural contexts that shape social life. Some theories conceptualize environments in terms of networks and resources, within which social actors are “embedded.” Others stress historically built-up structures (e.g., laws and governmental agencies) that shape and channel subsequent dynamics. More radical theories argue that the core features of modern social actors, themselves, are largely products of social context, rather than existing a priori as many theories assume. This course explores theories of institutions and organizations to inform our thinking about the roles and responsibilities of the public, business and nonprofit organizations in shaping public life in a democratic society.

PPAD 750. Seminar in Urban Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Doctoral students only. Examines key issues in urban policy. Explores public policy as it relates to the natural, built, social, economic and political environments of urban life. Designed to assist students to build a program of research in urban policy.

PPAD 760. Criminal Justice Policy and Program Evaluation. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the main concepts of program evaluation, including but not limited to goals and objectives, needs assessment, process evaluation, and outcome evaluation in criminal justice settings.

PPAD 761. Risk Assessment in Criminal Justice. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. A large portion of criminal justice policy, research and practice has been devoted to risk assessment at the individual, group, and community or environmental levels. This course will assess what is known about applying existing risk, classification and prediction methods in the criminal justice system, and how data can be used to test the efficacy of these methods in different settings.

PPAD 780. Synthesizing Seminar in Public Policy. 3 Hours.

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: PPAD 711, PPAD 712, PPAD 721 and PPAD 722. Enrollment is restricted to doctoral students. This is a required course for the Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration. It is designed to expose students to various areas within public policy, particularly those of the concentration areas within the program: public policy (e.g. health and education), public administration, criminal justice policy and urban and regional policy. The course is designed to acquaint advanced doctoral students with the academic profession with primary focus on research, teaching and service.

PPAD 791. Topical Seminar. 1-3 Hours.

Semester course; 1-3 credits. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits. Prerequisites: doctoral standing and permission of program director and instructor. An in-depth study of a selected topic in public affairs, policy or administration.

PPAD 792. Independent Study. 1-3 Hours.

Semester course; 1, 2 or 3 credits. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits. Prerequisites: doctoral standing and permission of program director and instructor. Independent study and research in selected areas of public affairs, policy and administration under the guidance of a graduate faculty member.

PPAD 898. Dissertation Research. 1-12 Hours.

Semester course; 1-12 hours. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: admittance to doctoral candidacy. Research on an approved dissertation subject.