Prescriptive Thinking: Normative Claims as Scholarship

In: Administration & society, Band 38, Heft 2, S. 147-165

Abstract

This article presents a conceptual model related to normative truth claims and is advanced as part of a larger project involving the development of a logical taxonomy of options available to public administration scholars as they assess projects of various kinds. The model differentiates among five types of truth claims, two paradigmatic options, various theoretical perspectives, four forms of argumentation, and several kinds of evidence, creating a roadmap that can be used by scholars—particularly those just entering the field—to conceptualize and articulate their projects. It also provides a framework against which normative truth claims can be evaluated.