Methodological Issues and Early Findings From a Longitudinal Study of a Short-Term Leadership Development Program

• In Event: Leadership Development for the Professions

Abstract

Research documenting the impact of short-term leadership development programs is limited, in part because it is difficult to fit studies of such programs into traditional research/evaluation designs. This paper documents the methodology currently being employed in a longitudinal study of one leadership program’s impact and, also, reports early results. The early results assess the relative impact of program components and, consequently, should have heuristic value for those planning or revising other leadership programs. Also, the description of the study’s methodology and the discussion of the problems that prompted the use of the study’s methods should be helpful to other leadership development researchers/evaluators who cannot fit complicated training programs with an array of potentially idiosyncratic outcomes into traditional quasi-experimental research designs.

Authors

• Kelly Metz-Matthews, University of San Diego

• Robert B. Donmoyer, University of San Diego