Research Methodology in the "Public Administration Review," 1975-1984

Public administration was in an early stage of development when Luther Gulick' called for a "science of administration."Gulick's exhortation became a source of heated and continuing controversy that centers around positivist versus alternative views of appropriate research methodology.2This paper examines the last ten years of Public Administration Review (PAR) methodology and suggests directions for its future development.Two general methods are used in this study: historical and statistical.Past and current assessments of research methodology in public administration are reviewed in order to set the context for this analysis.Also, published research in PAR from 1975-1984 is analyzed statistically to provide a baseline for evaluation of the state of research methodology.In the final portion of the paper we generate some recommendations for future directions within the field.Clarifying