Higher education system governance: an exploratory study of presidential decision making in the kentucky community and technical college system

Methodological Overview

This exploratory study employed both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a more comprehensive understanding of presidential decision making in KCTCS. While the use of both quantitative and qualitative data provided a more complete picture of the

central subject of the study, it also allowed the researcher to collect different but complementary data to aid in triangulation (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007). According to Creswell and Plano Clark, it is not enough to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The data need to be mixed in some way so that together they provide a more complete depiction of the group, process, or activity under study. Mixing can occur when the researcher merges or converges the two datasets by bringing them together, connecting the two datasets by having one build on the other, or embedding one dataset within the other so that one dataset provides a supportive role for the other dataset.
Moreover, the quantitative and qualitative data were collected sequentially, meaning that data collection occurred in phases.

Phase One

The purpose of the first phase of research was to understand the location of decision making in KCTCS. Quantitative data were collected first through the administration of a modified version of a survey instrument used by Ingram and Tollefson (1996) that examined the location of decision making for specified academic, administrative, and personnel decisions. The survey used a five-category, modified Likert scale to assess whether decision making for various academic, administrative, and personnel decisions occurs: (a) at the local college; (b) primarily at the college, but with some input from the community college system; (c) equally between the system and college; (d) primarily at the system, but with some input from the college; or, (e) at the system. The survey was administered electronically through Qualtrics software to the participants consenting to participate in this phase of the study. Preliminary survey data

were used to inform the development of a semi-structured interview protocol for the second phase of the study.