This quantitative study examines the relationship of philosophical beliefs of administrators of Lutheran schools and the influence of those beliefs on discipline decision-making styles, job satisfaction, and other factors. The study patterns the survey work from William Perry (1999) and other theorists regarding philosophy and ethics. A theoretical framework postulates a positive relationship of objectivist philosophy with directed decision-making style and interpretivist philosophy with participative decision-making style.
The administrators from two Lutheran education organization’s listserves, through invitation, participated in the qualitative online survey. The investigation uses path analysis, factor analysis, and regressions to explore survey and descriptive data. Some contextual variables such as gender and training have statistically significant relationships to decision-making styles and decision actions. Objectivist philosophy correlates to the selection of directive decision-making styles, while interpretivist philosophy correlates to participative decision-making style. There did not seem to be a strong relationship to religious faith and the selection of the objectivist philosophy, but data allow for a new category of visionary educators. Factors of the student did not influence satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness of administrators. Included are limitations and future study suggestions.
","abstract_html":"<p>This quantitative study examines the relationship of philosophical beliefs of administrators of Lutheran schools and the influence of those beliefs on discipline decision-making styles, job satisfaction, and other factors. The study patterns the survey work from William Perry (1999) and other theorists regarding philosophy and ethics. A theoretical framework postulates a positive relationship of objectivist philosophy with directed decision-making style and interpretivist philosophy with participative decision-making style.</p> <p>The administrators from two Lutheran education organization’s listserves, through invitation, participated in the qualitative online survey. The investigation uses path analysis, factor analysis, and regressions to explore survey and descriptive data. Some contextual variables such as gender and training have statistically significant relationships to decision-making styles and decision actions. Objectivist philosophy correlates to the selection of directive decision-making styles, while interpretivist philosophy correlates to participative decision-making style. There did not seem to be a strong relationship to religious faith and the selection of the objectivist philosophy, but data allow for a new category of visionary educators. Factors of the student did not influence satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness of administrators. Included are limitations and future study suggestions.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Brandon, Katherine Jane"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Leadership and Counseling","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. David Anderson","Dr. Robert Carpenter","Dr. Ronald Williamson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-02-27T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-02-27T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:51Z","subjects":["decision-making","discipline","Lutheran","philosophy","administration","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/459","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. David Anderson","Dr. Robert Carpenter","Dr. Ronald Williamson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Brandon, Katherine Jane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-05-09T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Leadership and Counseling"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["decision-making","discipline","Lutheran","philosophy","administration","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/459"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This quantitative study examines the relationship of philosophical beliefs of administrators of Lutheran schools and the influence of those beliefs on discipline decision-making styles, job satisfaction, and other factors. The study patterns the survey work from William Perry (1999) and other theorists regarding philosophy and ethics. A theoretical framework postulates a positive relationship of objectivist philosophy with directed decision-making style and interpretivist philosophy with participative decision-making style.
The administrators from two Lutheran education organization’s listserves, through invitation, participated in the qualitative online survey. The investigation uses path analysis, factor analysis, and regressions to explore survey and descriptive data. Some contextual variables such as gender and training have statistically significant relationships to decision-making styles and decision actions. Objectivist philosophy correlates to the selection of directive decision-making styles, while interpretivist philosophy correlates to participative decision-making style. There did not seem to be a strong relationship to religious faith and the selection of the objectivist philosophy, but data allow for a new category of visionary educators. Factors of the student did not influence satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness of administrators. Included are limitations and future study suggestions.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Principals' decision making in discipline policy implementation: The Lutheran schools' perspective"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. David Anderson","Dr. Robert Carpenter","Dr. Ronald Williamson"],"dc:creator":["Brandon, Katherine Jane"],"dc:date.available":["2013-05-09T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This quantitative study examines the relationship of philosophical beliefs of administrators of Lutheran schools and the influence of those beliefs on discipline decision-making styles, job satisfaction, and other factors. The study patterns the survey work from William Perry (1999) and other theorists regarding philosophy and ethics. A theoretical framework postulates a positive relationship of objectivist philosophy with directed decision-making style and interpretivist philosophy with participative decision-making style.
The administrators from two Lutheran education organization’s listserves, through invitation, participated in the qualitative online survey. The investigation uses path analysis, factor analysis, and regressions to explore survey and descriptive data. Some contextual variables such as gender and training have statistically significant relationships to decision-making styles and decision actions. Objectivist philosophy correlates to the selection of directive decision-making styles, while interpretivist philosophy correlates to participative decision-making style. There did not seem to be a strong relationship to religious faith and the selection of the objectivist philosophy, but data allow for a new category of visionary educators. Factors of the student did not influence satisfaction and self-reported effectiveness of administrators. Included are limitations and future study suggestions.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/459"],"dc:subject":["decision-making","discipline","Lutheran","philosophy","administration","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods"],"dc:title":["Principals' decision making in discipline policy implementation: The Lutheran schools' perspective"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Leadership and Counseling"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:51Z"}