Korean Public Administration Research 1999-2009: Research Themes, Methodologies, and Scholarship

This article examines three major characteristics-themes, research methods, and authorship-of Korean public administration research written in the Korean language during 1999 to 2009. It suggests that this research has evolved and advanced both quantitatively and qualitatively. Recent Korean scholarship can be characterized as consisting of more reform-oriented topics, more quantitative methods, and more diversified authorship. These characteristics were partially caused by increasing social demand for government reform and growing emphasis on methodological rigor in public administration research, as well as increased government research funding for graduate programs. This also concludes that the Korean public administration research has advanced greatly in past decades but needs a better thematic and methodological balance as well as balance between theoretical and prescriptive studies.