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Shields </title>  <meta name="robots" content="noodp, noydir"> <meta name="description" content="This chapter demonstrates how pragmatism as a philosophy of science is used in a Public Administration Research Methods Class. This class is designed to get students ready to write an empirical capstone project. Three elements of the course are developed--finding a topic, developing a research question, and choosing a conceptual framework. The notebook method, a tool to find a topic and develop the research question, is presented. Conceptual frameworks are classified into five types and linked with the research purpose, question, modes of research, and statistics. Both the notebook method and the classification of conceptual frameworks are discussed in light of their pragmatic roots. Specifically, they are linked to the ideas of Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey."> <meta name="keywords" content="pragmatism, public administration, conceptual framework, philosophy of science"> <meta name="bepress_citation_series_title" content="Faculty Publications-Political Science"> <meta name="bepress_citation_author" content="Shields, Patricia M."> <meta name="bepress_citation_author_institution" content="Texas State University - San Marcos, Dept. of Political Science"> <meta name="bepress_citation_title" content="Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science: A Tool for Public Administration"> <meta name="bepress_citation_date" content="1998"> <meta name="bepress_citation_pdf_url" content="http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=polsfacp"> <meta name="bepress_citation_abstract_html_url" content="http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/33"> <meta name="bepress_citation_online_date" content="2007/1/4">   <link rel="stylesheet" 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/33" class="ignore">33</a> </p></div> </div> </div>   <div id="series-header">  <h2 id="series-title"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp">Faculty Publications-Political Science</a></h2></div> <div style="clear: both"> </div> <div id="sub"> <div id="alpha"> <div id="title" class="element"> <h4>Title</h4> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=polsfacp">Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science: A Tool for Public Administration</a></p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="authors" class="element"> <h4>Authors</h4> <p class="author"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/query.cgi?field_1=lname&value_1=Shields&field_2=fname&value_2=Patricia&advanced=1"><strong>Patricia M. Shields</strong>, <em>Texas State University - San Marcos, Dept. of Political Science</em></a><br/> </p></div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="document_type" class="element"> <h4>Document Type</h4> <p>Article</p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="comments" class="element"> <h4>Comments</h4> <p>Reprinted from <em>Research in Public Administration</em>, Editor: Jay D. white, Vol. 4, Patricia M. Shields, "Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science: A Tool for Public Administration", Pages 195-225, c1998 (ISBN: 1-55938-888-9) with permission from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://www.elsevier.com/">Elsevier</a>. .</p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="abstract" class="element"> <h4>Abstract</h4> <p>This chapter demonstrates how pragmatism as a philosophy of science is used in a Public Administration Research Methods Class. This class is designed to get students ready to write an empirical capstone project. Three elements of the course are developed--finding a topic, developing a research question, and choosing a conceptual framework. The notebook method, a tool to find a topic and develop the research question, is presented. Conceptual frameworks are classified into five types and linked with the research purpose, question, modes of research, and statistics. Both the notebook method and the classification of conceptual frameworks are discussed in light of their pragmatic roots. Specifically, they are linked to the ideas of Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey.</p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="recommended_citation" class="element"> <h4>Recommended Citation</h4> <p>Shields, Patricia M., "Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Science: A Tool for Public Administration" (1998). <em>Faculty Publications-Political Science.</em> Paper 33.<br>http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/33</p> </div> <div class="clear"></div> </div> </div> <div id="beta"><div class="articleInfo">     <div id="button" class="ignore"> <div id="btn-inner"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120320044357/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=polsfacp" title="PDF (1.1聽MB) opens in new window" target="_blank"><em><img title="art-download.gif" alt="Download this Article" width="14" height="14" src="/web/20120320044357im_/http://ecommons.txstate.edu/assets/md5images/a8020009ce482ec6259a90a4b9871ae2.gif"> Download</em></a> </div> </div> <div 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