- The sampling strategy is appropriate and justified (3/3) – Cerit provides a clear explanation of the gender, teaching experience and levels of education for the teachers that responded to the survey. The survey was sent out to 700 teachers and 595 responded. This is an appropriate sample size for the survey. Plano Clark and Creswell suggest that a higher quality sampling strategy should be “fully described and clear” (Plano Clark and Creswell, 2015, P 249). Cerit justified his sampling by stating, “no studies on this subject have been carried out in Turkey.” (Cerit Y., 2009, P 601)
- The sample size is appropriate and justified (2/3) – The sample size for this survey was appropriate. Plano-Clark and Creswell suggest that a survey study should have at least 350 responses. (Plano-Clark and Creswell, 2015, P 238). Cerit surveyed across 29 different schools and had 595 teachers respond to the survey. Plano Clark and Creswell state that in order to meet criteria for higher quality quantitative research, the author needs to strongly justify the sample size using a procedure. Cerit stated the sample size but did not justify it.
- High quality instruments are used to gather data (3/3) – Cerit provides an explanation of the instrument used in the research. The servant leadership scale (OLA), developed by Laub in 1999, is a measurement scale that uses six factors of servant leadership. Respondents were required to respond to questions using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). (Cerit, Y., 2009, P 608). Plano-Clark and Creswell state that the author should indicate that the instrument was previously developed for research purposes. Cerit provides references to other servant leadership research in which this instrument was used. (Cerit, Y., 2009, P 608).
- The data gathered using ethical quantitative procedures (1/3) – Cerit sent out 700 survey questionnaires. Of those 585 elementary teachers responded; an 85% response rate. Cerit does not indicate specifically what consent was formally obtained, if any, before the survey was sent out. One can only infer that consent was specifically asked for on the survey questionnaire document, or alternatively that consent was assumed by virtue of the fact that the teacher responded to the questionnaire.
- The data are gathered using standardized quantitative procedures (2/3) – Plano-Clark and Creswell state that all participants must be asked the same questions, are given the same choices for responding, are given the same instructions for completing the survey and can complete the survey under similar conditions such as the same amount of time etc. (Plano-Clark and Creswell, 2015, P 245-246). Cerit meets all of these criteria for using standardized quantitative procedures. A criticism of the standardized quantitative procedures for this research may be that respondents may have had the opportunity to talk to others while completing the questionnaire and I believe that this could easily influence their responses. Plano-Clark and Creswell, (2015) suggest that researchers should ensure that participants cannot talk to each other while completing the survey, however, with a sample size this large, that would be difficult to control.
- The study has a high level of internal validity (3/3) – This research measured the relationship between factors of servant leadership and job satisfaction. “Results of correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between extrinsic job satisfaction of teachers and factors of servant leadership. (Cerit Y., 2009, P 611). I believe this study has good internal validity.
- The study has high level of external validity (3/3) – The study had an 85% rate of response. Plano-Clark and Creswell (2015) suggest that 80% or higher indicates high external validity. (Plano-Clark and Creswell, 2015, P 247). The researchers also examined the demographics of the participants including gender, teaching experience and education
References
Cerit, Y. (2009). The Effects of Servant Leadership Behaviours of School Principals on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 37(5), 600. doi:10.1177/1741143209339650
Creswell, J. W. (2015). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5th Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780133570847/
Plano-Clark, V., Creswell, J. (2015). Understanding research: A consumer’s guide (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.