Decisions Principals Make During Their Daily Work: An Experience Sampling Study

• In Event: Leadership and Making Meaning

Abstract

This study used a variant of the experience sampling technique (Hektner, Schmidt & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007) to examine types of decisions principals make in their daily work. Eighty school principals agreed that, upon receiving email prompts (five separate ones), to describe a decision made over the past 24 hours, with information about (a) lead time (b) anxiety levels about the decision (c) decision-comfort (d) and the involvement of others. Raters coded the 116 reported decisions into 13 categories and then a mean score was reported for each category for anxiety, comfort, other-involvement, and lead time. As well, raters rated each response in terms of the extent to which the decision had school climate implications.

Authors

• Megan McGroarty, University of Redlands

• Kenneth Wagner, University of Redlands

• Michael Adams, University of Redlands

• Marcus Funchess, University of Redlands

• Margaret Moriarty, University of Redlands

• Rodney K. Goodyear, University of Redlands

• Ross E. Mitchell, University of Redlands