Applied Research Methods in Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Chapter TwoApplied Research Questions, Literature, and Theory

In this chapter, we take up three linked components that are integral to a quality research design: asking research questions, using existing scholarship to develop an empirical theory about the question, and developing research expectations to test that theory. We begin the chapter with a discussion of research questions and how those fit in generally to the basic research process. In the second section of the chapter, we turn to the process of developing theory for applied research in community settings, which typically present challenges associated with complex and interconnected problems. Applied research projects are often concerned with identifying, defining, and solving contemporary ...