# Instrumentation Jethro Jones My Research Question is: ![[Dissertation Research Question Draft#^ff400b]] To answer this question, I think that survey of principals using a written survey for collecting a broad range of responses is a good place to start. I'm not sure about how many I should have. I'd like to get a general idea of how principals feel about their own professional development first, and then find those who describe sustained leadership development as I define it in their answers to the questionnaire. For example, here are some sample questions: - briefly describe the professional development your district has provided. - Briefly describe the professional development you have sought out for yourself. - Briefly describe your ideal professional development - Have you ever experienced your ideal professional development scenario in your work? - Thinking of the PD provided by your district/self-discovered/ideal answer the following questions: - PD Descriptor, frequency of meeting, Cost, How did you view it as beneficial (Likert scale rating) What I'm trying to identify is what professional development experiences are offered to principals as sustainable, which means they go on over time, are personalized, and allow the principal to choose their own path. I'd like to find a preexisting questionnaire, but as of yet, I haven't found one. I'm sure there are some out there, but whether they are valid or reliable has yet to be seen. After the survey, I want to focus on 6-10 principals who have experienced high quality sustained leadership development and do an ethnographic study on them using an interview protocol. I want to be the one who does it, and I'd like to publish their full responses as a special series on my podcast. I may ask someone else to do it so that I don't taint the results, but I need to figure out the questions first. I've found a couple instruments that might be helpful, so we will see what comes of it. I'm interested in the instrument Thirlby used in her dissertation as defined by Brinkmann and Kvale (2015). I'm also going to look in to further instruments from Creswell, (2013) and Lincoln & Guba (2013). Her approach is especially intriguing because it seems to capture what I'm looking for: > The research interview is both method and craft which means that the flexibility and skill required of the semi-structured life world interview is significant (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015). The craft of in-depth interviewing has been practiced and developed by this researcher for 30 years as a leadership development coach, strategic planning consultant, and executive search consultant. A critical and direct activity of this experience has been in-depth interviewing of leaders to determine skill, motivation, and ability to change andgrow, all within the context of a career, which are all dimensions of the phenomenon of leadership development (Thirlby, 2022, p. 35). She used a process called analytic induction which "is a method for generating causal explanations of phenomena through the intensive analysis of a small number of cases, in this study the participant interviews"(Thirlby 2022, p. 36). What this will assess is "the meaning that a leader attributes to phenomena such as events, situations, or feelings, which facilitated change or growth in the leadership development process over the span of a career" (Thirlby, 2022, p. 10). ## References - Brinkmann, S., and Kvale, S. (2015). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. - Brooks, J. S., & Normore, A. H. (2015). Qualitative research and educational leadership: Essential dynamics to consider when designing and conducting studies. _International Journal of Educational Management_, _29_(7), 19–32. [https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-06-2015-0083](https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-06-2015-0083) - Creswell, J. W. (2008). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd Edition). _New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics_, _14_(2), 98–99. Communication & Mass Media Complete. - Yvonna S Lincoln & Egon G Guba. (2013). _The Constructivist Credo_. Routledge; eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). [https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=506658&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=096-820](https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=506658&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=096-820) ## Assignment Directions ## Assignment