Creating and Applying Thought Experiments in Public Administration
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12450416 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cindy L Pressley (Stephen F. Austin State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 549-565 |
| Publication date | 2011-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Administrative Theory & Praxis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-1806 • E-ISSN: 1949-0461 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2753/atp1084-1806330403 |
| OpenAlex | W2036805646 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 15 |
This article expands the dialogue on the use of thought experiments as a strategy of inquiry in public administration. Literature on scientific and philosophical thought experiments is presented, and a genre of thought experiment, the utopic thought experiment, is created with the discipline of public administration in mind. The purpose of the utopic thought experiment is for a researcher to challenge his or her own assumptions regarding a problem found in public administration. The utopic thought experiment draws on works in the thought experiment, utopian literary, and public administration fields. An example of a utopic thought experiment is provided in which the Federal Reserve is given constitutional status. The steps used to create the thought experiment are provided and a major criticism of the use of thought experiments generally is discussed. The article supports the use of thought experiments as a strategy of inquiry in public administration
Administration (probate law · Criticism · Economics · Epistemology · Political science · Positive economics · Academic Freedom and Politics · American History and Culture · Ethics in Business and Education · Law · Philosophy
Stories Managers Tell
Reason and Agreement in Social Contract Views
Taking Language Seriously
Using the Classics to Expand Public Administrative Thought
Why Thought Experiments Are Not Arguments
Quantum politics
Galileo and the Indispensability of Scientific Thought Experiment
Fiction and Imagination
Some Evidence of a Pluralistic Discipline
Stories Managers Tell
Fiction Phenomenology, and Public Administration
Administrative Fiction and Credibility
Social Constructions of People with Aids
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2022 (9) |
| Highly cited | No |