Article
The relationship between the servant leadership behaviors of immediate supervisors and follower’s perceptions of being empowered in the context of small business.
Quality Criteria
1.The choice of the research design is appropriate and justified.
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) The design perfectly fits the study’s intent of measuring the relationship between followers’ perceptions of the servant leadership of their immediate supervisor and the followers’ sense of empowerment in the context of small businesses.
b) The researchers focus on describing the relationship between two main variables (servant leadership behaviors of an immediate supervisor, perceived follower empowerment) in a correlational design.
c) The literature presented by the authors is more prescriptive and acts as strong convincing explanation for why the correlational design is provided.
Quality Criteria
2. Good quantitative procedures are used to select and assign participants.
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
The way that the participants are recruited totally fits the correlational design:
a) The authors recruit the participants who are conveniently available.
b) The participants are willing to take the survey or willing to take part in the study.
Quality Criteria
3. Good quantitative data collection procedures are used.
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) This study is approved by the institutional review board prior for the data collection.
b) The authors make a survey, and the survey link is sent to possible participants. The participants send the survey link to possible participants as well. Therefore, the study provides a wide range of responses for the variables of interest.
c) The authors receive 130 surveys, and 116 are usable.
d) There is no manipulating the experiences of the participants in this study.
Quality Criteria
4. Good quantitative data analysis procedures are used.
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) The quantitative survey used in this study contains two instruments: the Essential Servant Leadership Behaviors (ESLB) and the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II (CWEQ II).
b) The ESLB measures the independent variable, and the CWEQ II measures the dependent variable.
c) The Pearson Product-Moment (PPM) correlation coefficient is used to measure the relationship between the two variables and each subscale.
d) The authors use a table to present the correlation of each subscale with servant leadership behaviors. The table also displays information about the relationships among variables.
Quality Criteria
5. Good quantitative results and conclusions are reported.
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) Claims made are appropriate for the design.
b) The authors claim that the causality cannot be assumed.
c) The study examines that the servant leadership behaviors have a strong correlation with followers’ perceptions that they are empowered.
Quality Criteria
6. The study used a rigorous research design.
Rate
2=Good
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) All elements of the study from problem to purpose to methods to results to conclusions fit the correlational design in a logical way.
b) The Data Collection section is not very concise and a little disordered. The authors have not specified the difference between possible participants and participants.
Quality Criteria
7. The use of the quantitative research design addressed the study’s purpose
Rate
3=Excellent
Evidence and/or Reasoning
a) The results and conclusions from the research design provide a rigorous explanation of the relationship of the variables that fulfills the study’s intent.
b) The analysis of the limitations of this study also addresses the deficiency of the correlational research design.
Total Score = 20 (17-21 = High quality)
References
Plano-Clark, V., & Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Van Winkle, B., Allen, S., DeVore, D., & Winston, B. (2014). The relationship between the servant leadership behaviors of immediate supervisors and follower’s perceptions of being empowered in the context of small business. Journal of Leadership Education, 13(3), 70-82.