American Public University System
American Public University, American Military University,
American Community College
Student Course Guide
This Syllabus was designed by staff at American Military University
It meets the requirements for the following courses:
RC511 Research Methods in Public Administration
RC580 Research Methods in Peace and Conflict Resolution
Professor: William C. Overton, PhD
Scope:
Research Methods is a required course for all AMU National Security Studies, Public
Administration, Political Science, and Peace and Conflict Resolution majors. Other AMU
graduate students interested in learning social science research methods may also register for the
course. This course teaches the student to design his/her own empirical research, and evaluate
the research of others, in any of the sub-fields of Political Science. The course begins with a
quick introduction to graduate school. It then introduces the student to the field of Political
Science. It introduces the philosophy of social science and several theoretical approaches used in
Political Science. The course then concentrates on teaching the details of social science research
design, data collection, and data analysis. The course takes the student step-by-step through
social science qualitative, comparative, and quantitative research design, data collection, and data
analysis methods. During the course, students will complete a number of assignments that lead
to the development of an empirical research paper in an area of their interest in their major of
National Security Studies, Public Administration, Political Science, or Peace and Conflict
Resolution.
Objectives:
The successful student will be prepared to complete the following learning objectives:
1. Categorize approaches to Political Science theory development.
1
2. Locate sources and prepare a literature review of existing knowledge on a research topic of
their interest.
3. Formulate qualitative, comparative, and quantitative research designs.
4. Collect empirical data on a research topic using social science methods.
5. Formulate qualitative and comparative analyses.
6. Assess basic quantitative (statistical) analyses.
7. Prepare an empirical research paper on a research topic in your field of interest.
Textbooks:
There are five (5) required textbooks for the course. The textbooks, along with lesson handouts
and Internet material, make up the course’s required and supplemental readings.
Booth, Wayne C., et al., The Craft of Research (2nd ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2003. ISBN 0226065685 (paperback).
Creswell John W., Research Design, Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches
2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2002. ISBN: 0761924426 (paperback).
Fry, Ron, How to Study (5th ed.), Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2000. ISBN 1564144569
(paperback).
Johnson, Janet Buttolph, Richard A. Joslyn, & H. T. Reynolds, Political Science Research
Methods (4th ed.). Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2001. ISBN: 1-56802-329-4
(paperback).
Pyrczak, Fred & Randall R. Bruce, Writing Empirical Research Reports (4th ed.), Los Angeles:
Pryczak Publishing, 2003. ISBN 188458537X (paperback).
Ritchie, Jane & Jane Lewis, Qualitative Research Practice, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, 2003. ISBN 0761971106 (paperback).
2
Grading:
There are a total of 100 points for this course broken out as follows:
Seven Homework assignments (HW)*
140 points**
One Research Paper (RP)*
100 points
Seven weekly reading and progress reports 35 points
* Two-letter code used in assigning credit to weekly lessons and designing filenames.
** Each homework assignment is worth 20 points.
Evaluation Procedures:
Students are also encouraged to participate in voluntary course Chatroom sessions. Students may
also contact the instructor by email (wo406@online.apus.edu). I will normally answer emails
within 48 hours. When online in the AMU course web site, I will not regularly contact students
when they are also in the web site. However, when students see that I am in the AMU web site,
please feel free to contact me at any time. If I am working in another course, it may take a minute
or two for me to get back to you; please be patient.
There are seven required homework assignments. All required student contacts, completed
homework, and the final research paper will be uploaded to the student’s folder on the AMU
course web site or sent by e-mail. Student contacts should be initiated with the instructor and all
homework assignments should be uploaded to student folders, no later than the last day of the
week they are due. On weeks that homework assignments are not due, please check in and/or
report your progress on readings and other work to you instructor. If you have been in the field
or otherwise unable to complete work, please contact me asap upon your return to report so I can
give you credit for the contact.
All assignments will be evaluated on a combination of: (1) meeting assignment requirements; (2)
quality of the work; and (3) correct use of spelling, grammar, structure, and style. All students
should review The Elements of Style and The Online English Grammar , which provide guidance
on proper spelling, grammar, and structure. Additionally, students are encouraged to use spelling
and grammar checkers available with most word processing programs. Students should also
have a second person proofread their assignments before submission, if possible.
Although distance learning provides you with a flexible schedule to meet your professional,
personal, and academic responsibilities, you are expected to follow the student course guide and
submit assignments on schedule. If you know you are going to be late, please e-mail me in
advance that you will be late and provide me with your planned completion date. Or, e-mail me
as soon as possible after the due date with a planned completion date. I will be happy to work
with you on late assignments but you must keep me informed of your situation and you will also
receive credit.
To do well in this course requires the submission of quality work. Following are a few hints that
will help the student in meeting course requirements and that will enrich your learning
3
experience. Students should complete all the required reading assignments. While reading each
assignment, it is recommended the student use highlighter markers or margin notations to
identify key concepts and material. Make sure you understand the material in all tables and
graphs presented in the readings. After a first (or even second) reading, the student should make
notes on each reading assignment to include identified theses statements, key definitions, and the
outline of key arguments and information. Your real learning of the course material takes place
in this note-taking process. Students should keep up with the assignments as presented in this
course guide. Students are encouraged to work progressively on the literature review and final
research paper assignments—neither of these assignments can be put off until the last minute if
they are to be completed in a quality manner. This course is designed to maximize student
interaction with the course material in order to enrich your learning experience. .
Final letter grades are awarded as follows:
Score
94-100
90-93
87-89
84-86
80-83
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
64-66
60-63
0-59
Letter
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
I
W
X
Quality Points
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
0.7
0.0
Comments
Work is of superior quality
Work is above average
Work is average
Work is below average
Work is unsatisfactory
Work is failing
Incomplete
Withdrawn
Audit grade
The course’s literature review homework and final research paper assignments must be typed in
double-spaced format. All other assignments may be single-spaced. For all assignments, set all
margins at one (1) inch. Use MS Word 12 or similar font size. Use black lettering and white
backgrounds. Use a standard font style (i.e., Times New Roman, Ariel, etc.). If graphics are
included (tables, graphs, diagrams, etc.), place them either in the text just after where they are
first cited (i.e., at the next paragraph break) or as an appendix. Use black and white formats for
all graphics. Avoid large and colored graphics files that take considerable time to upload online.
Use in-text citations, for example: (Huntington, 1968, pp. 55-63), for all assignments. A list of
references for all in-text citations should be included at the end of assignments. Do not use
footnotes. Endnotes may be used for substantive material that the student does not want to
include in the text. Endnotes should be placed just prior to lists of references. List of references
may use any style format (Chicago, MLA, Turabian, American Psychological Association
[APA], etc.) provided it is used consistently. Examples of these styles can be found through
4
Internet searches. The Internet material, however, only summarizes the style formats. It is
recommended that students purchase one of the standard style manuals (Chicago or APA are
best) for use in their graduate writing. APA Style Samples can be found at
http://www.miracosta.cc.ca.us/home/jmegill/Sabbatical/apa/default.html.
5
Course Overview Table:
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
Dates (2004)
See assignment
schedule
Lesson Subject
Introduction to Graduate School
Introduction to Graduate
Research and Writing
Introduction to Social Science
Research
Literature Reviews and
Theoretical Frameworks
Research Types, Goals, Sources,
and Building Blocks
Sampling Theory
7
8
9
10
Research Designs
Literature Review
Research Design
11
12
Empirical Data Collection 1
Empirical Data Collection 2
13
Introduction to Qualitative and
Comparative Analysis
Introduction to
Quantitative Analysis
The Research Report
14
15
Administrative Information
Course Begins; contact
professor
By e-mail
Progress report by e-mail
Progress report
Progress report
Submit Research Questions
Homework (HW1)
Submit Sampling Homework
(HW2)
Progress Report
Progress Report
(HW3) Lit Review
Submit research proposal
homework (HW4)
Progress report
Submit data collection plan
homework (HW5)
Submit comparative analysis
homework (HW6)
Submit quantitative analysis
homework (HW7)
Submit research paper (RP)
6
Weekly Lesson Schedule:
Week 1 - Introduction to Graduate School.
Scope: This lesson will introduce the student to the expectations of graduate education.
Objectives:
1. To examine the process of studying for graduate courses.
2. To understand the comprehensive examination taken at the end of your graduate courses.
Required Readings:
Fry, Read Entire Book.
Lesson Handouts. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handouts
with following filenames.
Welcome to Graduate School (LH100).
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Post your name and a short biography on the course Newsgroup (Student
Biographies). See the instructor’s biography in Appendix A as a sample of the detail desired in
your posted biography. Contact instructor by e-mail when you have done this.
First Student Contact. Upload to your student folder student a letter consisting of any
information you would like the instructor to know that you do not wish to post in your
Newsgroup biography.
Notes: Welcome to the course. In anticipation of your literature review assignment (see Week
7), make arrangements to take your local library’s classes on Internet and library research, if
available. Learn Venn diagrams and Boolean logic used in electronic searches (Information on
Venn diagrams and Boolean logic is available at most library web sites. See
http://www.albany.edu/library/internet/boolean.html as a particularly good explanation of Venn
diagram and Boolean logic use in electronic searches.) Learn how to conduct searches of the
Internet, library holdings (local, research libraries, Library of Congress, etc.), and online or local
CD-ROM network databases (i.e., First Search, PAIS International, Colombia International
Affairs Online, Global Newsbank, Lexis-Nexis, JSTORS, ABC PoliSci, etc.). Become familiar
with the AMU Online Research Center, including the procedures for interlibrary loan requests.
You may find all of this is not possible because of your location, but avail yourself of as much as
possible.
7
Week 2 - Introduction to Graduate Research and Writing.
Scope: This lesson will introduce the student to the issues involved in graduate research and
writing.
Objectives:
1. To examine the process of graduate research.
2. To introduce the different types of graduate writing.
Required Readings:
Booth, Colomb, and Williams (hereafter BCW), Read Parts I-III, pp; 3-181; Review Parts VI-V,
pp.185-324.
Fry, Reread Chapter 7.
Pyrczak and Bruce (hereafter PB), Review Entire Book.
JJR, Review Chapter 14.
RL, Review Chapter 11.
Lesson Handouts. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout
with following filename.
Graduate Research and Writing (LH103).
Supplemental Readings:
Strunk, William, Jr., The Elements of Style. Available in bookstore reference sections or online
at http://bartleby.com/141/index.html. (Recommend read the entire book if you do not regularly
use it as a reference.)
The Online English Grammar. Available at http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar.
Turn-In: Read the Newsgroups (if any; you may be the only student in the section) of other
students and post your replies to their answers.
Note: Begin course Chatrooms at your convenience.
Week 3 - Introduction to Social Science Research.
Scope: This lesson will survey social science research and introduce the student to the
philosophy of social science.
Objectives:
8
1. To critique the process of social science research.
2. To synthesize major works on the philosophy of social science.
3. To distinguish between the “etic” and “emic” approaches to empirical research.
Required Readings:
Johnson, Joslyn & Reynolds (hereafter JJR), Chapters 1, 2.
Ritchie and Lewis (hereafter RL), Chapter 1.
Lesson Handouts. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handouts
with following filenames.
Introduction to Political Science Research (LH1).
Introduction to Social Science (LH2).
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Week 4 – Political Science Theoretical Frameworks.
Scope: This lesson will survey several approaches to social science theory development and
introduce procedures for conducting literature reviews.
Objectives:
1. To assess historical and behavioralist approaches to social theory.
2. To identify the differences between agency and structural approaches to social theory.
3. To judge the levels of analysis framework used in social science research.
4. To compare and contrast the realist, idealist (liberal), Marxist, and postmodern approaches to
social science theory.
5. To devise research questions.
6. To examine existing research based upon on-line, archival, library, and other sources.
7. To differentiate between primary and secondary sources of information.
8. To critique existing research and use it to develop a literature review.
Required Readings:
Creswell, Chapters 2 and 7.
JJR, Chapter 6.
RL, Chapter 2.
PB, Chapters 5-6, App. A & B.
Lesson Handouts. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout
with following filename.
Introduction to Political Science Theory (LH3).
Designing and Refining a Research Question (LH4).
9
Critiquing the Literature (LH5).
Sample Literature Reviews (LH5A).
Supplemental Readings:
Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War by R. J. Rummel at
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rummel (review web site, especially sections on Democratic Peace“What is the Democratic Peace,” Conflict and Violence, and Methods).
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Week 5 – Research Types, Goals, Sources, and Building Blocks.
Scope: This lesson will introduce different types of research and the different goals associated
with certain types. This lesson also highlights the important role of causal diagrams, hypotheses,
concepts, operationalized variables, and measurement in research.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To diagram the research cycle and differentiate between deductive and inductive research.
To assess the differences among qualitative, comparative, and quantitative research.
To develop causal diagrams.
To formulate hypotheses from theoretical propositions.
To develop theoretical concepts into operationalized variables.
To assess the different levels and importance of variable measurement.
To distinguish the concepts of reliability and validity as used in research.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapters 3, 4.
Creswell, Chapter 6.
PB, Chapters 1-3.
Supplemental Readings: None
Turn-Ins: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit research questions homework (HW1). Upload this homework to your student folder
using filename
yourlast nameHW1.doc).
Week 6 - Sampling Theory.
10
Scope: To learn the different methods of representative and non-representative sampling.
Objectives:
1. To assess simple-random, systematic, and stratified methods of representative sampling.
2. To categorize non-representative sampling techniques.
3. To explain the importance of proper sampling to research inference.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapter 7.
RL, Chapter 4.
Lesson Handout. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout with
following filename.
Sampling Theory Overview (LH6).
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit sampling homework (HW2). Upload this homework to your student folder using
filename
yourlast nameHW2.doc).
Week 7 - Research Design.
Scope: To learn how to formulate a research design.
Objective: To assess the importance of the introduction, purpose statement, research building
blocks, definitions, delimitations, and research significance in formulating a research design.
Required Readings:
Creswell, Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 8.
JJR, Chapter 5.
RL, Chapter 3.
Lesson Handout:
Research Design—A Few Comments (LH7).
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
11
Week 8 – Qualitative, Comparative, and Predictive Research Designs.
Scope: This lesson will lead the student through the process of formulating qualitative and
comparative research designs.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To categorize the different types of qualitative and comparative case studies.
To assess the concept of descriptive inference.
To formulate qualitative and comparative research designs.
To assess the Delphi and LAMP techniques for predictive research.
Required Readings:
Creswell, Chapter 10.
RL, Review Chapters 1-3.
Lesson Handouts. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout
with following file name.
Introduction to Case Studies (LH8).
The Delphi Technique (LH9).
The Delphi Technique in Social Science Research (LH10).
Supplemental Readings: Review LAMP web site at http://www.lamp-method.com/.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Week 9 - Quantitative and Mixed Method Research Designs.
Scope: This lesson will lead the student through the process of formulating quantitative research
designs.
Objectives:
1. To introduce statistical inference.
2. To understand how to formulate quantitative and multi-method (triangulated) research
designs.
Required Readings:
Creswell, Chapters 9 & 11.
JJR, Reread Chapter 5.
Supplemental Readings:
12
For additional statistics information, see any statistics textbook or go to
http://www.statsoftinc.com/textbook/contents.html.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit literature review homework (HW3). Upload this homework to your student folder using
filename
yourlast nameHW3.doc).
Week 10 - Research Ethics.
Scope: To learn the importance of proper ethics in social science research.
Objectives:
1. To appraise political science research ethics.
2. To assess legal and ethical concerns in social science research.
Required Readings:
“The Wrong Rules for Social Science?” Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and
download handout with following filename: Ethics (LH12).
A Guide to Professional Ethics in Political Science at
http://www.apsanet.org/pubs/ethics.cfm#state (Read sections specific to ethics, research, and
human subjects. Review remainder of sections.)
Complete the human subjects online training module at
http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/extramural/extramural_training.html (takes approximately one hour).
Register for the Simple Completion Certificate. Complete training and obtain certificate. Save
digital copy of the certificate to your computer for use in data collection plan homework.
Supplemental Readings:
Integrity, Ethics, and the CIA at
http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/spring98/Integrity.html.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Week 11 - Empirical Data Collection 1.
Scope: This lesson introduces methods of empirical observation and document analysis.
Objectives:
13
1. To design and conduct participant-observation data collection.
2. To design and conduct unobtrusive observation data collection.
3. To design and conduct content analysis data collection.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapters 8, 9.
RL, Chapters 5, 6.
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Begin work on data collection plan homework (HW5).
Week 12 - Empirical Data Collection 2.
Scope: This lesson introduces interview, focus group, and survey methods of empirical data
collection.
Objectives:
1. To plan and conduct interviews.
2. To plan, organize, and conduct a focus group.
3. To plan and conduct survey research.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapter 10.
RL, Chapter 7.
Lesson Handout. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout with
following file name.
Focus Group Overview (LH11).
Supplemental Readings: None.
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit data collection plan homework (HW5). Upload this homework to your student folder
using filename
yourlast nameHW5.doc).
Week 13 - Introduction to Qualitative and Comparative Analysis.
14
Scope: This lesson introduces qualitative and comparative analysis techniques.
Objectives:
1. To demonstrate the procedures and techniques of qualitative and comparative analysis.
2. To explain the use of descriptive statistics and descriptive inference in qualitative and
comparative analyses.
3. To allow students to employ the latest qualitative and comparative analysis techniques in their
own research.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapter 11.
RL, Chapters 8-10.
Lesson Handout. Click on Course Materials/Lesson Handouts folder and download handout with
following file name.
Qualitative and Comparative Analysis (LH13).
Comparative “Truth Tables” Analysis Technique (LH104).
Comparative Analysis: The Truth Table Approach (LH105)
Supplemental Readings:
Review - QSR NVivo web site at http://www.sagepub.com. Click: Shop Sage—Software
Listing—QSR NVivo. Read Full Description and Features (The Project, The Data, The
Analysis). Review remainder of sections. Download and try demo (if interested).
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit qualitative analysis homework (HW6). Upload this homework to your student folder
using filename
yourlastnameHW6.doc).
Week 14 - Introduction to Quantitative Analysis.
Scope: This lesson introduces the basic techniques of bivariate and multivariate statistical
analysis.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
To assess basic bivariate analysis techniques.
To assess basic multivariate analysis techniques.
To assess the validity of bivariate and multivariate analyses.
To allow students to interpret the quantitative studies of other researchers.
15
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapters 12, 13.
PB, App. C.
After completing the above required reading, go to the Regression by Eye web site at
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~lane/stat_sim/reg_by_eye/index.html. Read the instructions, including
the links on regression lines, Pearson’s correlation, and least squares. Play the simulation several
times until you are able to closely predict both the regression line (match MSE) and r values.
Supplemental Readings:
1. Review - SPSS web site at http://www.spss.com/spss11. Review SPSS 11 base material.
Download and try SPSS 11 demo (if interested).
2. Review handout “Hypothesis Testing Using MS Excel” (LH106). This is a very long
document (61 pages).
Turn-In: Check weekly Newsgroup discussion.
Submit quantitative analysis homework (HW7). Those having problems with HW7 should see
lesson handout HW7 Hints (LH107). Upload this homework to your student folder using
filename yourlast nameHW7.doc).
Week 15 - The Research Paper.
Scope: This lesson provides information on completing a research paper.
Objectives:
1. To assess the need to tailor your research report to its audience.
2. To diagram the basic parts of a final research report.
Required Readings:
JJR, Chapter 14.
RL, Chapter 11.
PB, Chapters 5, 7-12.
Supplemental Readings: See sample empirical paper by instructor “The Effects of Political
Corruption on Caribbean Development” at
http://lacc.fiu.edu/publications_resources/publications_frm.htm.
Strunk, William, Jr., The Elements of Style. Available in bookstore reference sections or online
at http://bartleby.com/141/index.html. (Recommend read the entire book if you do not regularly
use it as a reference.)
16
The Online English Grammar. Available at http://www.edunet.com/english/grammar.
Turn-In: Upload to your student folder final course any comments or remaining questions from
lessons 1-15. Include recommendations for future course revisions. You may also e-mail me
your comments.
Submit research paper assignment (RP). Upload this homework to your student folder using
filename
yourlast nameRP.doc).
Notes: Congratulations on finishing the course.
Appendix A - Additional Course Information
PROFESSOR BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Overton earned a PhD degree in Adult Education, Research Emphasis, from the University of Idaho in Moscow.
He also holds a Master of English degree (Washington State University) and a Master of Public
Administration/Political Science degree (Boise State University). His bachelor’s degree is in English Writing and
American Literature and he earned an AA in Social Science. He has taught for a variety of universities and colleges
as an Adjunct Professor for over 20 years.
He has completed graduate classes in Social and Intellectual History of the U.S., Major American Writers, Western
American Literature, Literary Criticism, Non-Fiction Prose, and History of the English Language. Graduate work
also includes coursework in Administrative Law, Program Evaluation and Quantative Analysis, Intergovernmental
Relations, Fiscal Administration and Public Budgeting, Organizational Theory and Bureaucratic Structure, Public
Policy Formulation and Implementation, and The role of the Executive in Decision Making. Graduate work toward
the PhD includes Conciliation Training, Practices and Concepts of Research, Accessing, Organizing, and
Synthesizing Data, Learning Styles, Communication Skills for Teaching Adults, Principles of Statistics, Instructional
Methods, Strategies for Teaching Adults, Writing for Publication, Statistical Research, Data Collection and Analysis,
Psychology of the Adult Learner, Teaching Critical Thinking Skills, Sampling and Survey Analysis, and Research
Methods. He was awarded the PhD degree in Adult Education with a Research Emphasis in December, 1998. He
has traveled throughout the United States, in Japan and Europe and maintains basic fluency in the German language.
Dr. Overton served in the United States Army (139th Combat Engineer Battalion, 145th Engineer Group, and in the
Idaho National Guard) as an NCO. He has been teaching on the campus of Boise State University as well as serving
military personnel at the Gowen Field Armor Training Center through an Extended Studies Program for over 20
years. He teaches courses including Freshman Composition, Study Skills, American Literature, Introduction to the
Integrated Humanities, Business Management, Supervisory Skills, Business Communications, Technical
Communications, American National Government, State and Local Government, Organizational Theory and
Bureaucratic Structure, and Introduction to Public Administration. He has been affiliated with American Public
University System for three years, developing and teaching courses in, Technical Communications, Business
Communications, Introduction to Peace Studies, and The Politics of Civil Rights. He is currently developing other
courses for American Military University.
Dr. Overton served for over 25 years in state government and law enforcement in a variety of positions, including
Director of Research and Statistics, Public Affairs Officer for a state law enforcement agency, and several
management positions, including Deputy Bureau Chief of Support Services. Dr. Overton is a Certified Instructor for
the Idaho Peace Officers and Training Academy and the Idaho State Correction Academy. He worked closely with
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, managing the Uniform Crime Reporting Program for the state of Idaho.
17
He has published articles in Police, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Texas Field Officer’s Quarterly, Police Chief
(published by the International Association of Chiefs of Police), Idaho Peace Officer, and Law and Order. He has
written chapters and introductory materials for many governmental publications, as well as numerous newspaper
articles and releases.
Dr. Overton enjoys working with adult learners, especially those who are seeking to improve their lives through
education and are intent on becoming life long learners. He prefers to live in Idaho, where the West is still Wild, and
the deer and the antelope play!
Office Hours:
You may contact me any time you see me up in the AMU web site. If you want to contact me by
telephone, please feel free to call anytime from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm MST weekdays, or from 9:00
am to 5:00 pm MST weekends and holidays. If I am not home or in my office, please leave a
message on my answering machine, including your return telephone number and email address. I
will normally answer emails within 48 hours. Since I travel frequently, the best way to contact
me is by e-mail, since I take my laptop with me.
Phone: 208-939-2081
Email: wo406@online.apus.edu
18