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CHAPTER – III
DESIGN OF THE STUDY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter delineates the research design adopted for the present
investigation. The main themes of this chapter revolves around the method
used for investigation, variables involved in the study, nature and size of the
samples selected for the present investigation, tools used for the collection of
data, method of data collection and coding, and the statistical techniques
employed for analysis and interpretation of the data.
3.2 THE METHOD
The term ‘Normative’ implies the determination of normal or typical
conditions, facts or practices. The term normative survey is generally used for
the type of research, which purposes to ascertain what is the normal or typical
condition or practice at the present time. The survey type of research is often
confused with the mere gathering and tabulating the data while it goes beyond
this. According to Best (1978), “The survey is an important type of study. It
must not be confused with the mere clerical routine of gathering and tabulating
figures. It involves a clearly defined problem and definite objectives. It requires
expert and imaginative planning, careful analysis and interpretation of the data
gathered and logical and skillful reporting of the findings”.
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In order to achieve the objectives of the present study Normative Survey
method was used for investigating the inter-relationships amongst the variables
viz head teachers’ leadership style in relation to school effectiveness.
3.3 POPULATION
A population may refer to all of any specified groups of human being or of
non-human entities such as objects, geographical areas, time units, methods,
test or schools. The population for the present study could be considered as all
head teachers, teachers, students and parents of government schools at the
secondary stage in Mysore City, (India) and Shiraz City, (Iran).
3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING FRAME
The population for the present study has been identified as the head teachers,
teachers, students and their parents in Mysore City and Shiraz City. The
population has been further limited to the head teachers and teachers who are
working at the secondary stage and students who are in 9th and 10th standards
along with their parents.
For the selection of sample, the researcher collected the details of all the
schools in both these cities. Using simple random procedure from the list of
schools the researcher identified 30 schools from the city of Mysore and 30
schools from Shiraz City.
Further, from each of the identified schools, one head teacher,
6-7 teachers, 5 students and 5 parents were randomly selected.
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The final sample for the present study consists of 60 secondary school
head teachers (30 head teachers from Mysore City in India, and 30
head teachers from Shiraz City in Iran), 390 secondary school teachers (194
teachers from Mysore City and 196 teachers from Shiraz City, 277 parents (138
parents from Mysore City and 139 parents from Shiraz City) and 283 students
(141 students from Mysore City and 142 students from Shiraz City). The
sampling frame is summarized below in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1: Sampling Frame
Country No. of Head Teachers
No. of Teachers
No. of Parents
No. of Students
India 30 194 138 141 Iran 30 196 139 142 Total 60 390 277 283
3.5 DESCRIPTION OF TOOLS USED
The selection of suitable instruments or tools is of vital importance for
successful research. As the study involved 2 main variables, namely, leadership
style and school effectiveness, the following two tools were employed for
measuring these variables in the study.
(i) Multifactor Leadership Style (MLQ-5X) revised by Bass and Avolio
(1995).
(ii) School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SEQ) developed by Baldwin et al.
(1993).
In addition to these two tools, a Personal Information Sheet was also
developed and administrated to get background information of the school
head teachers. The tools are briefly discussed below.
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3.5.1 Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X)
The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) was first developed by
Bass in 1985 and was revised several times through subsequent research. The
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) was revised by Bass and
Avolio (1995) to measure the transformational and transactional leadership
styles. According to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Manual and
Sampler Set (Avolio and Bass, 2004), The MLQ-5X Short is “available in a
validated form of 45 items for organizational survey and research purposes and
for preparation of individual leader reports” (p. 5). Furthermore, the MLQ-5X
Long is “available in a validated form of 63 items for training, development
and feedback purposes” (p. 5). The researcher utilized the MLQ-5X short form
in the study. A copy of the questionnaire is provided in Appendix 2. The
MLQ-5X incorporated a leader form and a rater form. Rater form of this
questionnaire was used in this research. Each questionnaire included 45 items
with a specific variable selected for each leadership factor (five subscales for
transformational leadership and four subscales for transactional leadership and
one for non-leadership factor). The Transformational subscales were the
following: ‘Idealized Influence-Attributed’ (IIA), ‘Idealized Influence-
Behavior’ (IIB), ‘Inspirational Motivation’ (IM), ‘Intellectual Stimulation’ (IS),
and ‘Individual Consideration’ (IC). The Transactional subscales were
‘Contingent Reward’ (CR), ‘Management-by-Exception-Active’ (MBEA), and
‘Management-by-Exception-Passive’ (MBEP). The non-leadership subscale
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was ‘Laissez-faire’. There were three outcomes of leadership, ‘Extra Effort’
(EE), ‘Effectiveness’ (EFF), and ‘Satisfaction’ with the Leadership’ (SAT).
MLQ-5X has 12 subscales which have been mentioned in Tables 3.2,
3.3 and 3.4.
Table 3.2: Transformational leadership constructs and individual statements related to the specific construct in the MLQ-5X-Short Form.
Leadership Construct
Item Number
Item Statement
6 Talks about his/her most important values and beliefs.
14 Specifies the importance of having a strong sense of purpose.
23 Considers the moral and ethical consequences of decision.
Idealized Influence
(Behavior)
34 Emphasizes the importance of having a collective sense of mission.
10 Instills pride in others for being associated with him/her.
18 Goes beyond self-interest for the good of the group. 21 Acts in ways that builds my respect.
Idealized Influence
(Attributed)
25 Displays a sense of power and confidences of decisions.
9 Talks optimistically about the future. 13 Talks enthusiastically about what needs to be
accounted. 26 Articulates a compelling vision of the future.
Inspirational Motivation
36 Expresses confidence that goals will be achieved. 2 Re-examines critical assumptions to question
whether they are appropriate. 8 Seeks differing perspectives when solving
problems. 30 Gets me to look at problems from many different
Intellectual Stimulation
32 Suggests new ways of looking at how to complete assignments.
15 Spends time teaching and coaching. 19 Treats me as an individual rather than just as a
member of a group. 29 Considers me as having different needs, abilities,
and aspirations from others.
Tra
nsfo
rmat
iona
l Lea
ders
hip
Individual Consideration
31 Helps me to develop my strengths.
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Table 3.3 (continued): Transactional leadership constructs and individual statements related to the specific construct in the MLQ-5X Short Form.
Leadership Construct
Item Number
Item Statement
1 Provides me with assistance in exchange for my efforts.
11 Discusses in specific terms who is responsible for achieving performance targets.
16 Makes clear what one can expect to receive when performance goals are achieved.
Contingent Reward
35 Expresses satisfaction when I meet expectations.
4 Focuses attention on irregularities, mistakes, exceptions and deviations from standards.
22 Concentrates his/her full attention on dealing with mistakes, complaints, and failures.
24 Keeps track of all mistakes.
Management-by-Exception (Active)
27 Directs my attention to failures to meet standards.
3 Fails to interfere until problems become serious.
12 Waits for things to go wrong before taking action.
17 Shows that he/she is a firm believer in “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.”
Management-by-Exception (Passive)
20 Demonstrates that problems must become chronic before I take action.
5 Avoids getting involved when important issues arise.
7 Is absent when needed. 28 Avoids making decisions.
Tran
sact
iona
l Lea
ders
hip
Styl
e
Laissez-faire
33 Delays responding to urgent questions.
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Table 3.4 (continued): Other leadership constructs and individual statements related to the specific construct in the MLQ-5X Short Form.
Leadership Construct
Item Number
Item Statement
39 Gets me to do more than they expected to do. 42 Heightens my desire to succeed.
Extra Effort
44 Increases my willingness to try harder. 38 Uses methods of leadership that are satisfying. Satisfaction 41 Works with me in a satisfactory way. 37 Is effective in meeting my job-related needs. 40 Is effective in representing me to higher authority. 43 Is effective in meeting organizational
requirements.
Lead
ers’
Out
com
es
Effective
45 Leads a group that is effective.
3.5.1.1 Validity and Reliability of MLQ-5X
MIQ has been used in nearly 200 research programs, doctoral
dissertations and master’s theses around the world. Since this instrument fits
well into the description of head teachers’ leadership styles, the researcher
posited that the MIQ-5X was a valid research instrument to be used in this
study. The reliabilities within each data set generally indicated that the
MLQ-5X was reliably measuring each leadership factor across the initial nine
data sets used by Bass and Avolio (1995).
Researchers constructed the MLQ-5X from a series of studies. The
development of the MLQ-5X included many revisions and involved various
researchers. According to Avolio and Bass (2004), the MLQ is a “full range”
leadership instrument.
MLQ-5X means, standard deviations and reliabilities have been
mentioned in Table 3.5.
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Table 3.5: MLQ-5X means, standard deviations, and reliabilities
MLQ-5X Factors Means Standard Deviation ReliabilitiesIdealized Influence (IIA) 2.56 .84 .86 Idealized Influence (IIB) 2.64 .85 .87 Inspirational Motivation (IM) 2.64 .87 .91 Intellectual Stimulation (IS) 2.51 .86 .91 Individual Consideration (IC) 2.66 .93 .90 Contingent Reward (CR) 2.20 .89 .87 Management-By-Exception Active (MBEA)
1.75 .75 .74
Management-By-Exception Passive (MBEP)
1.11 .82 .82
Laissez Faire (LF) .89 .74 .83 Extra Effort (EE) 2.60 1.16 .91 Effectiveness (EFF) 2.62 .72 .91 Satisfaction (SAT) 2.57 1.28 .94
N=2080 (Avolio, Bass and Jung, 1995)
Rowold (2005), furthermore, validated the instrument. He stated “…The
MLQ has been developed and validated (Avolio and Bass, 2004). It is now the
standard instrument for assessing a range of transformational, transactional and
non-leadership scales” (p. 4). According to Avolio and Bass (2004), the
MLQ-5X is a full range leadership model. “This full range includes leadership
dimensions which are highly transformational at one end to those which are
avoidant at the other end.” (p. 45).
Descriptive statistics and reliabilities for the MLQ-5X are shown in
Table 3.5 for all items in each scale for the initial sample set. According to
Avolio and Bass (2004) these scale scores are based on ratings by others
evaluating a target leader from the initial set of nine samples (N=2, 154)
reported in the 1985 MLQ Technical Report. No self-ratings are reported.
Reliabilities for the total items and for each leadership factor scale ranged from
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.74 to .94. All of the scales’ reliabilities were generally high, exceeding
standards cut offs for internal consistency recommended in the literature.
Table 3.5 also presents the reliabilities for each leadership factor broken down
for each individual sample (pp. 48-55).
3.5.1.2 Scoring of MLQ-5X
The MLQ-5X rater form was used to determine each head teacher’s
leadership style. Transformational leadership questions were items 2, 6, 8, 9,
10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34 and 36. Transactional
leadership questions were items 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 28,
33 and 35. Head teachers were then classified either into transformational or
into transactional based on the results of the survey. The highest mean score
was the dominant leadership style. Participants answered the questionnaire
using a 5-point Likert scale with the scores, for example: 0=not at all, 1=once
in a while, 2=sometimes, 3=fairly often, 4=frequently, if not always.
Leadership styles of the head teachers were determined based on the mean of
teachers’ response to the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire in each school.
3.5.1.3 Norms
3.5.1.3.1 Raw Score Norms for Leadership Style
For the interpretation of the scores on the secondary school head teachers’
leadership style raw score norms have been prepared for the total sample.
Table 3.6 shows the raw score norms on the secondary school head teachers’
leadership style.
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Table 3.6: Raw score norms for the secondary school head teachers’ leadership style.
Interpretation Range of Raw Scores Excellent 117-144 Good 88-116 Average 59-87 Weak 30-58 Very Weak 1-29
The scores on the secondary school head teachers’ leadership style in
Mysore City and Shiraz City were 75.70 and 82.97 respectively. This showed
that the obtained scores in both countries were within the average range. Also,
it showed that the head teachers in Shiraz City had obtained higher scores than
their Indian counterparts.
3.5.1.3.2 Raw Score Norms for Transformational Leadership Style
For the interpretation of the scores on the secondary school head teachers’
transformational leadership style raw score norms have been prepared to the
total sample. Table 3.7 shows the raw score norms on the secondary school
head teachers’ transformational leadership style.
Table 3.7: Raw score norms for the secondary school head teachers’ transformational leadership style.
Interpretation Range of Raw Scores Excellent 65-80 Good 49-64 Average 33-48 Weak 17-32 Very Weak 1-16
The scores on the secondary school head teachers’ transformational
leadership style in Mysore City and Shiraz City were 36.81 and 55.73
respectively. This showed that the averaged obtained score in Mysore City was
in the average category whereas in Shiraz City it was in the ‘good’ range.
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Also, it showed that the head teachers in Shiraz City had obtained higher
transformational leadership style scores than their Indian counterparts.
3.5.1.3.3 Raw Score Norms for Transactional Leadership Style
For the interpretation of the scores on the secondary school head teachers’
transactional leadership style raw score norms have been prepared for the total
sample. Table 3.8 has summarized the raw score norms on the secondary
school head teachers’ transactional leadership style.
Table 3.8: Raw score norms for the secondary school head teachers’ transactional leadership style.
Interpretation Range of Raw Scores Excellent 53-64 Good 40-52 Average 27-39 Weak 14-26 Very Weak 1-13
The scores on the secondary school head teachers’ transactional
leadership style in Mysore City and Shiraz City were 38.89 and 27.25
respectively. This showed that the obtained scores in Mysore City and Shiraz
City were within the average range.
Also, it showed that the head teachers in Mysore City had obtained
higher transactional leadership style scores than their Iranian counterparts.
3.5.2 School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SEQ)
The School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SEQ) developed by Baldwin,
Coney, Fardig, and Thomas (1993) was utilized for the purpose of this study.
The School Effectiveness Questionnaire grew out of a project conducted by the
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Orange County, Florida, School District in 1990. Orange County began its
project by assembling a committee of district-level staff and head teachers from
the various elementary and secondary schools. The committee also included
parent and community representatives. The committee agreed upon 11
characteristics of school effectiveness that would be measured in Orange
County schools (Baldwin et al., 1993). The committee developed
questionnaires for teachers, parents, and students.
3.5.2.1 Validity and Reliability of SEQ
The original questionnaires (Appendices 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10) were
field-tested using teachers, parents, and students in 7 schools, with 9th and 10th
standards represented. The results were analyzed and revised based on these
data. Afterwards, head teachers, teachers, parents, and students were surveyed
with the revised instruments. Cronbach’s (1951) coefficient alpha was
computed on data obtained from the secondary schools of Mysore City and
Shiraz City to provide an estimate of the internal consistency reliability for
each of the characteristics. The internal consistency reliability for all
participants had a range from .77 to .96 (Table 3.9). The questions tested from
the instrument were reliable. The high coefficient for each characteristic
created questions that were clear with no ambiguity.
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Table 3.9: Coefficients alpha reliabilities of SEQ Characteristics Teachers Parents Students
Effective instructional leadership .96 .94 * Clear and focused mission .96 .95 * Safe and orderly environment .96 .95 .77 Positive school climate .95 .94 .77 High expectations .96 .95 .80 Frequent assessment/monitoring Of student achievement
.96 .94 .78
Emphasis on basic skills .96 .95 .79 Maximum opportunities for learning .95 .94 .78 Parent/community involvement .96 .95 .85 Strong professional development .96 * * Teacher involvement in decision-making .96 * * Entire instrument .96 .96 .82
The questionnaires administered amongst teachers, parents, and students
were consistent with regard to the content analyzed, but some of the questions
varied depending on the audience. For example, teacher questionnaires
surveyed all 11 characteristics while parent questionnaires surveyed 9 of the 11
characteristics on the instrument. In contrast, only 7 characteristics were
assessed on the students’ questionnaires. Surveying varied amongst teacher,
parent, and student questionnaires (Table 3.10) due to the reality that these
different audiences would contain various abilities to answer questions about
content areas associated with the secondary schools.
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Table 3.10: Relationship of statements to characteristics of SEQ
Characteristics Teachers Parents Students Effective instructional leadership 1-8 1-6 * Clear and focused mission 9-15 7-10 * Safe and orderly environment 16-20 11-15 1-7 Positive school climate 21-30 16-22 8-14 High expectations 31-35 23-25 15-17 Frequent assessment/monitoring of student achievement
36-41 26-30 18-21
Emphasis on basic skills 42-46 31-32 22-28 Maximum opportunities for learning 47-53 33-38 29-34 Parent/community involvement 54-59 39-44 35-36 Strong professional development 60-65 * * Teacher involvement in decision-making 66-70 * *
3.5.2.2 Characteristics of School Effectiveness in Detail
Characteristics of school effectiveness may be summarized as the followings:
3.5.2.2.1 Effective Instructional Leadership
The head teacher is an acknowledgeable and effective school administrator
who encourages teachers, parents, and students to work together as a team in
order to maximize the benefits of the school educational experience.
Communication is evident amongst teachers, parents, and students. The
head teacher is at the forefront in facilitating the development of a high quality
instructional program and the monitoring of its implementation.
3.5.2.2.2 Clear and Focused Mission
The mission of the school is articulated throughout the school in a manner that
teachers, parents, and students understand. The school’s goals, objectives and
policies, and procedures, means of assessment and ways of delivering services
are clearly stated.
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3.5.2.2.3 Safe and Orderly Environment
The environment of the school is favorable for educational experiences.
Teachers can teach and students can learn without concerns for safety or undue
infringements upon the instructional process or academic freedom. Everyone is
involved and supports the discipline procedures. The buildings are clean.
3.5.2.2.4 Positive School Climate
The school climate reflects an ambiance of trust, respect, and caring amongst
administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Cultural differences are
celebrated and never cause a hindrance in the educational process. Everyone is
recognized for his or her accomplishments.
3.5.2.2.5 High Expectations
All students are expected to learn and behave at high standards. The school
ensures that teachers, parents, and students are aware of their respective roles
and are knowledgeable of their expectations.
3.5.2.2.6 Frequent Assessment/Monitoring of Student Achievement
Student academic progress is measured frequently by an assortment of
assessment methods. The results of these assessments are used to improve the
instructional effectiveness of the school. Tracking of student performance is
often discussed by teachers, parents, as well as students and modified to meet
the needs of all students.
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3.5.2.2.7 Emphasis on Basic Skills
The school has defined grade appropriate basic skills within content areas and
has set challenging standards for all student achievement. Critical/higher-order
thinking skills such as problem solving are also emphasized. These basic skills
are evident in elective subjects as well.
3.5.2.2.8 Maximum Opportunities for Learning
School activities are planned so that instructional time is maximized and geared
to meet the needs, interests, and abilities of all students.
Extracurricular and supplemental activities serve to support and enhance
the school’s instructional agenda. Teachers feel supported by their
administrators. Classes are not interrupted often, so teachers have continuous
opportunities to teach their high-interest lessons.
3.5.2.2.9 Parent/Community Involvement
The school actively seeks parent and community input in the development of
the school’s mission, policies, and procedures. In addition, parents and
community members support the school’s curricular and extracurricular
activities with resources and services. Parents have a voice developing school
policies.
3.5.2.2.10 Strong Professional Development
All teachers are encouraged to improve themselves professionally.
Consequently, teachers are provided with opportunities for enhancing their
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professional status and becoming more skilled in meeting the needs of teachers,
parents, students, community, and themselves. Teachers are able to apply their
tailored staff development to meet their individual needs.
3.5.2.2.11 Teacher Involvement in Decision-Making
Teachers are made a significant component of the school team. They are
involved indecisions related to school planning and budgeting and developing
the school’s mission and goals as well as developing and implementing school
policies and procedures.
3.5.2.3 Scoring of SEQ
The SEQ was used to determine school effectiveness. There were 70 items for
the teachers, 44 items for the parents and 36 items for the students who
answered the questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale with the scores, for
example: 5=strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=uncertain, 2=disagree and 1=strongly
disagree. School effectiveness was determined by scoring each of the
participants’ response to the questionnaire and the sum of the total score.
3.5.2.4 Norms
For the interpretation of the scores on school effectiveness raw score norms
have been prepared for the total sample. Table 3.11 has summarized the raw
score norms on school effectiveness.
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Table 3.11: Raw score norms for school effectiveness Interpretation Range of Raw Scores Very High 601-750 High 451-600 Average 301-450 Below Average 151-300 Low 1-150
The scores on school effectiveness at the secondary stage in Mysore
City and Shiraz City were 570.41 and 573.51 respectively. This showed that
the obtained scores on school effectiveness in both cities were high.
3.5.2.5 Purpose of 11 Characteristics of School Effectiveness
Baldwin et al. (1993) provided the following definitions of all 11 school
effectiveness characteristics. Each characteristic was used as a means of
identifying and understanding the perceptions of teachers, parents, and students
in the two exemplary open-enrollment charter schools in this study.
3.5.2.5.1 Teacher Questionnaire
Teachers had more questions than both parents and students. A copy of the
questionnaire is provided in Appendices 3 and 8. Questions 1 up to 8 on the
teacher questionnaires addressed effective instructional leadership while
questions 9 up to 15 questioned the secondary schools’ clear and focused
mission. Safe and orderly environments were addressed in questions 16 up to
20, and questions 21 up to 30 requested responses concerning positive school
environments. High expectations were surveyed beginning with questions
31 upto 35, and questions 36 up to 41 allowed teachers to comment on the
frequency of assessments in their schools. The characteristics associated with
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basic skills were identified in questions 42 up to 46, while questions 47 up to
53 reviewed maximum opportunities for learning. Questions 54 up to 59 dealt
with parent and community involvement, and questions 60 up to 65 requested
responses regarding strong professional development. In conclusion, questions
66 up to 70 asked teachers about their involvement in decision-making
processes on their secondary school environment.
3.5.2.5.2 Parent Questionnaire
The questionnaire administered to parents consisted of 44 questions. A copy of
the questionnaire is provided in Appendices 4 and 9. Questions 1 up to 6
requested the parents to reflect on effective instructional leadership at the
secondary schools. In addition, questions 7 up to 10 dealt with the secondary
schools’ mission. Parents expressed their feelings concerning a safe and orderly
environment of the school using questions 11 up to 15, while questions 16 up
to 22 gave parents an opportunity to revisit the school climate. High
expectations were rated on questions 23 up to 25, and questions 26 up to 30
requested parents to respond to the frequency of assessment of the secondary
schools. Questions 31 and 32 emphasized a response to basic skills, while
parents used questions 33 up to 38 to respond to the maximum opportunities
provided for learning. Finally, questions 39 up to 44 requested parents to
comment on the community and their involvement with the secondary schools.
3.5.2.5.3 Student Questionnaire
Student questionnaires examined similar content using 36 questions A copy of
the questionnaire is provided in Appendices 5 and 10. Students used questions
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1 up to 7 to respond to their safe and orderly environment. Questions 8 up to 14
gave students an opportunity to reflect on their school climate, and questions
15 up to 17 requested a response regarding high expectations. The frequency of
assessments was addressed in questions 18 up to 21 and basic skills
characteristics were in questions 22 up to 28. Questions 29 up to 34 asked for
comments about opportunities for learning. Lastly, questions 35 and 36
requested students to respond to parent and community involvement in their
schools.
3.6 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE
After the questionnaires were modified and accepted as appropriate tools to
collect the necessary data in colloquium meeting, the researcher wrote a letter
to the Principal of Regional Institute of Education through the guide to get
recommendation letter to submit to the Deputy Director of Public Institutions
in Mysore City, India and Fars Education Organization in Shiraz City, Iran.
After the questionnaires were modified and accepted as appropriate tools to
collect the necessary data in colloquium meeting, the researcher wrote a letter
to the Principal of Regional Institute of Education through the guide to get
recommendation letter to submit to the Deputy Director of Public Institutions
in Mysore City, India and Fars Education Organization in Shiraz City, Iran.
Then the researcher along with the mentioned submission letters subjected to
head teachers, selected and conferred secondary schools as the source to collect
the necessary data. About leadership style the researcher collected the data
from head teachers and teachers only. Head teachers’ background
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characteristics were collected from head teachers themselves. Then, the
teachers from the secondary schools were asked to answer the Multifactor
Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) by judging how frequently their head teacher
displayed the behaviors described in the questionnaire, using a 5-point scale
that would be mentioned in step two of data entry. For the second variable i.e.
school effectiveness, three groups of participants (teachers, parents and
students) replied the considered questionnaires. The data was collected from
Iran on during October-December, 2007 and from India during January-March.
3.6.1 Coding the Data
The first step in data analysis involved (a) creating a coding system for each of
the three questionnaires and (b) applying these coding systems to each
individual questionnaire. These two tasks were completed using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program. A code number was considered
for each country – 1 for India and 2 for Iran. Then school ID was considered
for all of the selected schools in both countries. The researcher continued
coding the data for head teachers’ gender, age, educational qualification,
academic stream and experience. Finally, different dimensions of the
questionnaires and all items of them were coded. For the purpose of this study,
descriptive statistics were used to report data included in this study. Responses
were notated for each hypothesis. All responses to each characteristic were
assigned a score by adding the total group of question responses for each
participant.
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3.6.2 Data Entry
Survey questionnaires were checked for missing data. Surveys were rechecked
for data transcription error, every survey was checked to ensure the data had
been entered correctly.
3.6.3 Generating the Response Distribution
The SPSS program was then used to create the initial response distributions for
each item in teacher, parent, and student questionnaires. A value was
designated as an identifier of the outcomes in SPSS program. Researcher used
Rater Form of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) revised by
Bass and Avolio (1995) in this research for independent variable i.e. leadership
style. Participants answered the questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale
representing the frequency of each behavior, examples are 0=not at all, 1=once
in a while, 2=sometimes, 3=fairly often, 4= frequently, if not always. For
dependent variable i.e. school effectiveness used School Effectiveness
Questionnaire (SEQ) developed by Baldwin et al., (1993), for example: “5”
was identified as strongly agree, “4” was identified as agree, “3” was identified
as uncertain, “2” was identified as disagree and “1” was identified as strongly
disagree.
3.6.4 Statistical Techniques Used
After entering the survey responses into the SPSS software and coding the data,
the description of scores on leadership style, transformational and transactional
leadership styles and school effectiveness were presented by scores obtained on
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the employed scales (minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation, median,
mode, skewness and kurtosis). Then, distributions of scores were presented
through tables and figures. Some statistical techniques such as ‘t’ test,
correlation coefficient (Pearson Correlation) and linear regression were used to
analyze the data based on the designed hypotheses for this research.
The analysis and interpretation of the data in the context of the
objectives and hypotheses of the study have been attempted in the following
chapter.
