Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1974

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Educational Administration and Supervision

Major Professor

John T. Lovell

Committee Members

Robert S. Dotson, Peter M. Husen, Earl M. Ramer, Dewey H. Stollar

Abstract

The problem explored was how the ideal role relates to the actual role of the extension leader as perceived by his staff and further how does performance of the extension leader relate to high congruity of ideal and actual role? The following questions were explored and analyzed: (1) is there a significant relationship between high congruity of ideal and actual role (as perceived by staff members) and high performance rating of an extension leader; (2) is there agreement among staff members as to role items and segments that should constitute the job responsibilities of an extension leader; (3) is there agreement among staff members as to the manner in which role items and segments are actually being carried out; and (4) is there a relationship between congruity of ideal and actual role and perceived leader behavior (as measured by the Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire) of the extension leader? Job descriptions of the 95 Tennessee county extension leaders were analyzed and categorized into 39 role item statements. These items were further classified under five role segments. A Likert-type questionnaire was developed using these 39 role items which was used to collect data to determine ideal and actual role of the extension leader as perceived by his professional staff. The LBDQ was used as a second measure of perception of actual role. A summary of findings included the following. Congruity of ideal and actual role as perceived by an extension leader's staff was significantly correlated with his performance. Total score related to actual role, however, proved to be more highly related to performance than congruity scores. The staff of extension leaders considered that 31 of the 39 role items should ideally be a part of the job responsibility of the extension leader. Two of the remaining eight were related to coordinating training and use of volunteer leaders; three to specialist use in planning, implementing and evaluating the county program; two to training personnel; and one to coordinating security of sponsorship for all program areas. The staff of extension leaders considered that 29 of the 39 role items were actually being performed in a satisfactory manner. Eight of the remaining ten were classified low consensus in the ideal dimension and presumably were being performed at about the level staff members felt these should be. Two role items, assist staff in implementing their assigned area of work and counsel other staff members in regard to their assigned responsibilities, moved from high consensus in the ideal dimension to low consensus in the actual dimension. Thus these two items were perceived by staff of the extension leader as not being performed at a satisfactory level. Extension leaders ranking above the mean on both initiating structure and consideration scored significantly higher on 38 of the 39 role items than did leaders ranking below the mean in both these dimensions. Congruity measures used in the study were highly correlated with initiating structure and consideration scores.

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