Decision-Making by School Principals and Education Researchers: The Dilemma of Reverse Coding in Structural Equation Modeling and its Resolution in a Study of Risk-Taking in Decision-Making for School Principals

Abstract

This paper explores a theoretical dilemma that arose during a study of risk-taking in decision-making for public school principals in Western Australia. Western Australia is one of six Australian States. It is geographically diverse, including extremely remote schools serving Indigenous communities. The governance mechanism for public schools in Western Australia mandates policy and procedures for decision-making by principals. Principals take risks when they make decisions that are not compliant with established policy, as they may be exposed to criticism should negative outcomes arise. This creates a dilemma for principals who need to be able to respond to locally identified school and community needs, and simultaneously comply with all State and Commonwealth departmental requirements. A theoretical model of factors impacting on reasoned risk-taking in decision-making was developed and data collected through survey of a stratified random sample of principals in 253 Western Australian public schools. The analysis used methodology that combined sequential use of psychometric and traditional measurement techniques. This paper focuses on the cause and solution of a reverse coding problem that arose in structural equation modeling. The dilemma posed by this methodological issue had not been previously considered in the literature. It is reflected in the dilemmas posed to principals who are making decisions in their schools based on universal policy that does not necessarily account for the unique circumstances of their communities, schools and locations.

Introducing a Scale for Measuring Attachment to Urban Green

“…The items forming factor 2, discontent, were purposely reverse-coded, i.e., their intended meaning was the opposite of what was analyzed. This is in line with previous research underpinning the importance of carefully considering the wording and meaning of questionnaire items when designing and analyzing surveys to ensure accurate and meaningful results [32]. Potentially accounting for language-specific characteristics, this may also have been the case in our study due to potential variations in the interpretations of the term "green areas", as demonstrated, for instance, in the case of Spanish [33].…”

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure Risk-taking in Decision-making by School Principals

“…Whilst this paper has described the development of the measurement instrument, the results reported by Trimmer (2011;2012;2014) showed support for the model, and were consistent with comments made by principals in interviews and aligned with the education literature on the importance of the role of parents and the school community in contributing to decision-making in schools (Bennis & Nanus, 1985;Hallinger & Heck, 1999;Anderson & Minke, 2007;Fullan, 2007). The results were also consistent with behavioural models of risk-taking in decision-making developed in business settings (Beatty & Zajac, 1994;Carpenter & Westphal, 2001;Carpenter, Pollock, & Leary, 2003;Gilley, Walters, & Olson, 2002) and on the impact of stakeholders on management decisions.…”

Examining Patient- and Community-Level Factors Associated with Pediatric Mental Healthcare Access Within a Patient Navigation Program

“…Because COI 2.0 is publicly available, SDOH estimates were provided as domain scores rather than raw scores by indicator to be calculated by the research team. As a result, several indicators are reverse coded at the zip-code level, which may cause undetected and/or unintentional methodological challenges in quantitative analyses and interpretation (Appendix Table 3 ) (Trimmer, 2014 ). As such, additional research is needed to test the generalizability of the study findings relationships across contexts and datasets.…”