Exploring Internet survey techniques: A study of personal values - leadership style congruence

The study used a pioneering Internet survey methodology to survey Kentucky school superintendents and principals regarding the relationship their personal values had with their leadership styles. The study design demonstrated the feasibility of performing academic research via Internet surveying to include: (a) developing an email address list from a standard data file containing only individual components of the email address, (b) programming web pages involving more than simple Likert-type scales, (c) using a web server to receive the questionnaire data, (d) and importing the data into a standard statistical computer program (SPSS version 10) for interpretation. In addition to the complete leadership and values literature review, the report also includes an extensive discussion of the problems encountered and lessons learned from the Internet survey procedures. A follow-up telephone survey was conducted. For the Internet survey Bass and Avolio's (1990) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire were used to assess transformational and transactional elements of leadership. Although the survey results were tentative at best, with less than a 10 percent response rate, they showed an even mix of leadership styles, with 27.3 percent being Transactional Leaders, 28.6 percent being Transformational Leaders, and the remaining 44.1 percent having a mixed leadership style. Rokeach's (1973) Values Survey was used to determine value structures of subjects. Personal values were compared with leadership quotients and ten demographic items. Respondents ranked Family Security, Salvation, and Sense of Accomplishment highest among terminal values; and being Honest, Responsible, and Capable highest among instrumental values. Social Recognition and Obedience were ranked lowest in terminal and instrumental values, respectively. Largest value differences between transformational and transactional leaders were the instrumental values Independent and Polite.