Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making

To be successful, public administrators need to be able to analyze and evaluate policies, and to understand analyses and evaluations. They need to have some understanding of statistics. Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making 2nd Edition, offers research design and basic applied statistics. However, the primary purpose is not to help public managers master statistical theory but to demonstrate how statistics can help them do their jobs better. At the same time, a minimal understanding and appreciation of statistical theory is necessary to use data correctly. The goal is to make public administrators educated consumers of statistical information. Statistics is a language. A secondary goal of this book is to make public administrators effective translators. That is, a public employee needs to be able to communicate information to the appropriate audience, whether it is a local government manager, the city council, the board of trustees, the board of commissioners, a department head, or the public. After reading this book, you should be able to: â– Understand and describe general approaches to and problems with public sector research and data measurement â– Conduct basic statistical analyses of raw data â– Evaluate statistical research performed by others.