Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better

Maureen BernerAs a public administrator, you need to be able to analyze and evaluate policies, and understand analysis and evaluations done by others. This means having a solid working knowledge of how to apply statistics to the types of data used in local government so that you make good decisions. Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making, a completely updated edition of Statistics Unraveled, focuses on demonstrating how statistics can help you do your job better, rather than on a mastery of statistics.The goal of this book is to make you, as a public administrator, an educated consumer of statistical information—and an effective translator of statistical information. You get the tools you need to design an analysis, gather, analyze and interpret data, present results, and make recommendations. This book is a hands-on, practical, and easy-to-understand introduction to the basic concepts and methods used to analyze data in local governmen t. Vignettes at the beginning and end of each chapter illustrate the concepts through the dialogue of fictional local government employees as they attempt to identify and solve problems. Packed with tables, charts, figures, and review questions to reinforce the concepts, the author’s conversational tone and casual style will set you at ease and make you forget any math phobia you might have! With this book, you’ll be able to understand the general approaches and problems with public sector research and data measurement, conduct basic statistical analysis of raw data using a variety of methods, and evaluate the validity of statistical research performed by others. No other publication is aimed at explaining statistics specifically to the local government audience. There are other books with the purpose of simplifying statistics for a broad audience, but Statistics for Public Administration: Practical Uses for Better Decision Making, uses specific government examples and problems to make the concepts in the book both concrete and applied for local government readers. You get a solid understanding of how data and data analysis can make you more effective in your role in local government. And you’ll see how the sometimes theoretical sounding concepts in analysis can be used to create concrete solutions to everyday problems. About the Author Maureen Berner first joined the School of Government in 1998, teaching program evaluation, statistics, and budgeting. Between 2003 and 2005 she directed efforts to provide new outreach activities for local governments based on the UNC model at the University of Northern Iowa. In 2005 she returned to teaching and writing for MPA students and public officials at the School of Government. Berner has been active in research and teaching in both academia and in government, and her publications include a variety of books, textbooks, and journal articles. She worked for four years with the Budget Issues Group at the U. S. General Accounting Office, including a rotation to the U. S. House of Representatives Budget Committee while serving as a Presidential Management Intern. Berner received an MPP from Georgetown University and PhD in public policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.