How to Write an Analysis Essay in Public Administration: A Manual for First-Timers

Before you start composing your paper, spend time deciding on key aspects of analysis essays. As far as the Internet offers many manuals for those who have never written them before, it is very important to specify the main information. Let’s make it clear, an analysis report is a written work dedicated to developing your analytical skills. In particular, you have to choose a topic, and decide on the patterns you will discuss. For instance, if students take poems, short stories, scientific articles, they can trace the lines such as how the authors declare their main ideas, and how they reveal the purpose of writing or specific themes. In addition, your work may deal with researching the main plot with the subplots, and of course the relationship between particular characters. However, one thing should remain the obligatory one – support all your ideas, provide kind of research, and make your readers understand the idea you develop.

How to Write an Analysis Essay in Public Administration: The Subject

Once students have a basic understanding of the analysis essay’s purpose, it is important to find out the subject’s goals. Most people think of public administration as something complicated and inherent to governmental facilities. At the same time, those who study it understand that it is nothing than the implementation of administrative procedures for the public. To be more precise, it deals with resources and people who legally serve society to make it better.

Accordingly, this type of paper will be a perfect tool for professors to find out whether students enrolled in this course are aware of all the administrative instruments. Most importantly, it serves as an indicator of critical thinking within students and allows them to pursue their careers further on. Do not think writing a paper has no sense. You will find helpful skills for even running your business.

How to Write an Analysis Essay in Public Administration: Key Aspects

What are these aspects? Some universities or colleges provide their students with syllabus or guides where professors decide on the requirements. If you do not have such helpers, refer to online educational pointers. They are:

1. There should be ONE central idea and it must be outlined at the beginning of your essay, put it in the thesis. When you choose the topic, do not try to play smart encompassing a few ideas, it will do no good;
2. The essay should contain a few paragraphs that will develop the central idea and provide your vision and research. Such work is not considered to be an explanation writing. You cannot just write – Public Administration in America lags behind or whatsoever. A reader will understand that your analysis is biased;
3. A preparation stage should include questions. For developing the analysis in a scientific way, ask yourself – Who is the author?, What was the target of writing?, Do you agree or disagree with him? and so on;
4. Outline. If a student is still stuck with the composition, try to generate an approximate outline. It will help to have a better idea of what you want to write. Some students believe this stage is aimed to structure and organize the paper;
5. Suggest creativity. For instance, if your professor allows a lit bit of creative touch in essays, use this opportunity. It may deal with discovering interesting facts about the author that could somehow provoke him to write his work. Or, interesting details related to publishing or feedback from the public.

At last, do not try to find the path of the least resistance. Do not choose topics that have been already perfectly analyzed. Especially, it concerns students who find in the Internet ready samples of works and completely paraphrase them. Note, even if you paraphrase the whole text, some tools can detect such intentions, and a professor will mark your essay as failed or plagiarized one.

How to Write an Analysis Essay in Public Administration: Choose Your Stellar Topic

Even though an analysis essay may be assigned to books, movies, articles, and events, it is crucial to choose an interesting topic. The first tip is to brainstorm ideas while looking at your studying materials. There are for sure examples of works on Public Administration, or classes that you can base your analysis on. Another solution is to ask your supervisor about possible options. And, if you want to fully do everything from scratch, check the next sources for your inspiration:

• Journal of Public Administration Articles. There is a depository of interesting articles and publications dedicated to public behaviors, history of public regulations, environmental policies, and so on;
• Library of Public Administration Works;

Otherwise, you can look for material on the next topics:

• The Efficiency of Public and Private Educational Institutions;
• Community Participation in Public Events;
• Challenges Faced by Administrators in Various Organizations;
• Anti-Corruption Policies;
• Taxation;
• Budgeting in Public Facilities;
• Motivational Solutions for Communities;

Otherwise, students can turn to such business magazines as the New York Times or even Forbes. However, after choosing an interesting article from there, ask your professor for approval.

How to Write an Analysis Essay: Writing Stage

For historical or academic reasons, any type of paper starts with a thesis. And, students should always remember about it otherwise a reader or professor will have no clue of the purpose of your essay. So, a good-looking thesis should be precise, declarative and short. The last requirement is due to the length of the whole work, which is usually of 500-800 words only. So, think about dedicating about 100 words for your introduction. It will look like this:

Prachi Juneja’s article on Public and Private Administration addresses the similarities and differences of these two seemingly separate fields.

Thus, your central idea for developing the plot will be focused on analyzing the features. Moreover, you can prolong the thesis with a hook that will make a reader think or analyze on his own about the purpose of your writing. For instance, write the previous thesis this way:

Prachi Juneja’s article Public and Private Administration addresses the features of these two fields. However, there are a few factors that make the public sphere more beneficial and here is why.

As a result, you mentioned the topic and work of your essay (note, it is one of the requirements to mention the full title of a selected work). And, then you provoke a reader for some food for thought.

The Body of the Essay

As per requirements concerning this part, it is important to provide at least 3 subparagraphs that are more than enough to reveal your central idea and analysis. Accordingly, each paragraph will contain evidence from the text to support your thesis. For instance, let’s divide your work:

1. The first subparagraph will tell about the matter such as Public and Private Administration in the USA or another country. Tell what the author tried to address, what was the main goal, and so on;
2. The second subparagraph will be dedicated to the analysis of the author’s observations. You can attach your opinion or compare it to other official or non-official studies on the same occurrence. For instance, mention what approaches modern administrators try to implement to make a society law-abiding;
3. The third subparagraph can again be dedicated to your opinion that will slightly finalize the author’s thought, or you can deal with the impact of the studies.

When finishing the body part, make sure you do not summarize the work because this task is always left for the conclusion.

The Conclusion

At this final stage, the main rule is to not introduce new ideas or topic. Sometimes students reveal brand new observations and a reader can get puzzled. As a result, he cannot find out the conclusion and what you were trying to analyze. Upon the professor’s permission, you can attach anecdote or rhetorical question. It can look like this:

What will our generation change about public administration? What are the ways to make society law-abiding?

Note, this trick is beneficial if you declare your work in front of the audience. So, to make the atmosphere more relaxed, do not neglect the chance to joke. Frankly speaking, many people think of Public Administration as something too boring but in practice, it is not. So, a student can also end with some jokes connected with ridiculous rules of administration in some states, cities, or countries.

Extra Tips for Writing A-Grade Analysis Essay in Public Administration

Some students forget about the importance of an attractive title. Even though you have to analyze one particular work, mentioning its full name in the title is not a sign of satisfaction. Try to play with words or add catchy phrases to make a reader interested. Here are the examples of good-looking titles:

• Public and Private Administration: Which One is More Beneficial?
• Public versus Private Administration: Confronting Features.

Then, let’s again involve the main body of your essay. The most common mistake is to retell the plot of the work. Imagine you are a professor and ask yourself whether you will be interested to read the plot of an article. Probably not because all you want to see is the analysis, facts, purpose of writing. Most importantly is to always refer to textual evidence, in particular, some details or quotations. For instance, if you need to analyze the author’s saying, do not paraphrase it but add it to the text and cover it with quotation marks. If you lack some extra recommendations, check the guides from educational sources.

What About Post-Writing Stage?

Before submitting any type of work, it is vital to double-check the essay on mistakes. So, here are a few instructions to make this process friendly.

Be communicative. The mistakes can be related not only to spelling or grammar but a common sense in the text. If you have a chance to discuss the ongoing writing with your professor, do it. Sometimes, works do deserve the highest grades but a slight fluctuation in your composition makes essay no longer an analytical one.

Use Online Helpers. If you hesitate about the correctness of words, or you are not sure about used grammatical tenses, there are dozens of online correctors that will highlight the mistakes. Otherwise, some websites can detect the readability of your sentences.

Rest for some time. Another solution to detect the defects of your work is to spend some time away. If you have time in stock, come back to the revision of an essay the next day. It helps to fastly recognize where are errors.

Ask for feedback. Along with your friends or beloved ones, you can use social networks where students share their essays to get feedback. Or, at any time you can check the samples of other analytical essays and borrow some ideas. On the other side, this opportunity may be too seductive for students who want to copy someone’s work. Make sure, you do not steal ideas but get inspiration and hints.

Double-check the basic requirements of the composition. Your work must be of no more than 800 words and not less than 500. Exceeding or failing to reach the minimum will lead to a bad grade. Then, the text must be in Times New Roman, 12-pt, and double-spaced. If you managed to attach evidence or facts from other works, cite them again with specialized services. And, if you used quotes, check on the quotation marks.

Remember, an analysis essay is an academic work that should never be biased with your opinion. Develop critical thinking, choose interesting topics, conduct research, and use rhetorical questions or anecdotes. Then, always try to dedicate some time to research the topic well and provide a professor with enough analytical skills. With the tips above, the whole process may be less challenging. So, if you follow them, your work will be stellar and evaluated with the highest grade.

References:

1. GRE Analytical Writing: Solutions to the Real Essay Topics- Book 1 (Test Prep Series). (2017). 3rd ed. Vibrant Publishers.
2. Shafritz, J. and Hyde, A. (2017). Classics of public administration. Boston: Cengage Learning.
3. Shanafelt, C. (2011). Literary Analysis & Essay Writing Guide.